and there we see, "The greatest of these is love."
It is not an oversight. Paul was speaking of faith just a moment
before. He says, "If I have all faith, so that I can remove mountains,
and have not love, I am nothing." So far from forgetting, he
deliberately contrasts them, "Now abideth Faith, Hope, Love," and
without a moment's hesitation the decision falls, "The greatest of
these is Love."
And it is not prejudice. A man is apt to recommend to others his own
strong point. Love was not Paul's strong point. The observing student
can detect a beautiful tenderness growing and ripening all through his
character as Paul gets old; but the hand that wrote, "The greatest of
these is love," when we meet it first, is stained with blood.
Nor is this letter to the Corinthians peculiar in singling out love as
the _summum bonum_. The masterpieces of Christianity are agreed about
it. Peter says, "Above all things have fervent love among yourselves."
_Above all things._ And John goes farther, "God is love."
You remember the profound remark which Paul makes elsewhere, "Love is
the fulfilling of the law." Did you ever think what he meant by that?
In those days men were working the passage to Heaven by keeping the
Ten Commandments, and the hundred and ten other commandments which
they had manufactured out of them. Christ came and said, "I will show
you a more simple way. If you do one thing, you will do these hundred
and ten things, without ever thinking about them. If you _love_, you
will unconsciously fulfill the whole law."
You can readily see for yourselves how that must be so. Take any of
the commandments. "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." If a man
love God, you will not require to tell him that. Love is the
fulfilling of that law. "Take not His name in vain." Would he ever
dream of taking His name in vain if he loved him? "Remember the
Sabbath day to keep it holy." Would he not be too glad to have one day
in seven to dedicate more exclusively to the object of his affection?
Love would fulfill all these laws regarding God.
And so, if he loved man, you would never think of telling him to honor
his father and mother. He could not do anything else. It would be
preposterous to tell him not to kill. You could only insult him if you
suggested that he should not steal--how could he steal from those he
loved? It would be superfluous to beg him not to bear false witness
against his neighbor. If he loved him it would be the last thing he
would do. And you would never dream of urging him not to covet what
his neighbors had. He would rather they possessed it than himself. In
this way "Love is the fulfilling of the law." It is the rule for
fulfilling all rules, the new commandment for keeping all the old
commandments, Christ's one