Charity And Its Fruits Notes - Chapter 1
Chapter/sermon 1 is called "Charity, or Love, The Sum Of All Virtue" and covers 1 Corinthians 13:1-3. There was little exposition of the verses themselves. This sermon was an introductory piece designed to introduce the topic and to show its importance and applicability in the Christian's life.
Before He could get into his title topic proper, Edwards first had to do some King James to English translating to show that the word "charity" in 1 Corinthians 13 referred to "love" in the Greek. And not just any love, but Christian love. He goes on to show the importance of love to the Christian as stated in the first 3 verses of the chapter: without love, all spiritual gifts and deeds done in obedience to God are worthless.
He then goes on to show that there is only one form of Christian love. Whether that love is directed towards God or our fellow man, it is one love.
Edwards has many reasons for stating what he does in the title. These reasons include:
Christian love is what distinguishes Christians from others because of its origin, the Holy Spirit. God is love, so if the Holy Spirit dwells within us, so does love. To be without love is to be without the Holy Spirit.
According to Edwards, love is the root of all virtues because it makes all other virtues possible. He points out that it is easy to be merciful or forgiving of selfless to someone you love. Likewise, it is easier to show honor and respect to those we love.
Love prevents hypocrisy be allowing our deeds to be more spontaneous and free. Without love, all of our deeds would be forced. Edwards states that "Religion is nothing without proper respect to God." And as mentioned above, it is easier to respect someone we love. Indeed, without love our obedience to God lacks sincerity, making it worthless.
And the fact that that all of the laws were gathered up in the commandments to love God and each other was stated by our Lord.
Like any good sermon, there is also an application section. Edwards lists several applications, some of them being:
The exhortion at the end is that we must all seek God's spirit of love, to grow in it more and more so that our works of love (and therefore our glorification of God) may abound. Indeed, it is the spirit of love that separates those who love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
Before He could get into his title topic proper, Edwards first had to do some King James to English translating to show that the word "charity" in 1 Corinthians 13 referred to "love" in the Greek. And not just any love, but Christian love. He goes on to show the importance of love to the Christian as stated in the first 3 verses of the chapter: without love, all spiritual gifts and deeds done in obedience to God are worthless.
He then goes on to show that there is only one form of Christian love. Whether that love is directed towards God or our fellow man, it is one love.
Edwards has many reasons for stating what he does in the title. These reasons include:
- Love is what distinguishes Christians from others
- Love is the root of all virtues
- Without love, all "good deeds" are hypocrisy
- Love is the sum of all that is contained in God's Law
Christian love is what distinguishes Christians from others because of its origin, the Holy Spirit. God is love, so if the Holy Spirit dwells within us, so does love. To be without love is to be without the Holy Spirit.
According to Edwards, love is the root of all virtues because it makes all other virtues possible. He points out that it is easy to be merciful or forgiving of selfless to someone you love. Likewise, it is easier to show honor and respect to those we love.
Love prevents hypocrisy be allowing our deeds to be more spontaneous and free. Without love, all of our deeds would be forced. Edwards states that "Religion is nothing without proper respect to God." And as mentioned above, it is easier to respect someone we love. Indeed, without love our obedience to God lacks sincerity, making it worthless.
And the fact that that all of the laws were gathered up in the commandments to love God and each other was stated by our Lord.
Like any good sermon, there is also an application section. Edwards lists several applications, some of them being:
- We can examine ourselves to see if we have the spirit of love within us.
- We can judge our spiritual experiences by the love the produce in us, knowing that true Christian experiences increase our love.
- We can see how many of the things we are warned about (envy, malice, bitterness) are dangerous. They eat away at our love
The exhortion at the end is that we must all seek God's spirit of love, to grow in it more and more so that our works of love (and therefore our glorification of God) may abound. Indeed, it is the spirit of love that separates those who love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
posted by Mike at 9:51 PM
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