Publication details
Why Faith, Hope and Love are even more important than you realize...
2016, Living Belief Books – an Imprint of LivingWithFaith.org & TacticalChristianity.org
The text and images in this e-book are copyright. All Rights Reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
In a few cases, the ESV (English Standard Version ©), HCSB (Holman Christian Standard Bible ©) and NKJV (New King James Version ©) are cited, and these translations are also gratefully acknowledged.
ISBN 978-1-943846-76-4
This book is not to be sold. It is made available without charge by the publisher and free copies can be downloaded from: LivingWithFaith.org or TacticalChristianity.org .
About the Author: The author served as an ordained minister and church pastor for a number of years and holds an earned Ph.D. degree in the languages, cultures and archaeology of the ancient Near East and biblical world. He writes for a number of Christian publications and for the websites www.LivingWithFaith.org and www.TacticalChristianity.org. His other e-books are available for free download from those websites. Cover: Base image © by Noam Armonn.
CONTENTS
Introduction PART ONE: THESE THREE THINGS 1. Three Things that Matter Most 2. Three Things We Can't Ignore 3. Three Things that Lead to Crowns 4. Three Things that Last Forever PART TWO: FAITH 5. What Is Faith? 6. What Faith Is Not 7. When Faith Falters 8. Is Faith the Size of a Mustard Seed All You Need? PART THREE: HOPE 9. What Is Hope? 10. A Letter of Hope
11. The God of Hope 12. The Responsibility of Joyful Hope PART FOUR: LOVE 13. What Is Love? 14. Three Components of Real Love 15. Above All 16. How Do We Love God? PART FIVE: CONNECTIONS 17. The Tree of Faith, Hope and Love 18. The Connections of Faith 19. The Connections of Hope 20. The Connections of Love Afterword
INTRODUCTION
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love…"
(1 Corinthians 13:13).
Probably every Christian knows the apostle Paul's summary of the greatest Christian virtues found in 1 Corinthians 13:13. As new believers, it is one of the first verses we learn and one we always remember. Not surprisingly, online Bible site statistics show that this verse is one of the most frequently read of all Bible verses, yet – as we will see – many do not realize what they are missing by simply reading this verse and not looking beneath the surface to see what is implied there.
The basic meaning of Paul's statement is simple enough. Like towering mountain peaks that still stand after the surrounding landscape has been eroded down through long ages of time, or like three "rock hard" pebbles that remain when a stream has washed away the surrounding sand and soil, these three qualities "remain." They endure when most other things do not survive or are of no further use.
Because Paul continues in this verse: "But the greatest of these is love" (vs. 13b), we might think that "now these three remain …" means that all three qualities exist now, but that the things faith and hope look forward to would eventually be fulfilled and only love would then continue. As we will see in this book, this is really the opposite of what Paul was stressing – that all three would remain beyond other qualities and gifts, that they are vital now and always will be.
How important are these things? Many people spend a lifetime studying the Bible without realizing the extent to which these three qualities are stressed – literally dozens of times – in the writings of Paul as well as in the epistles of James, Peter and John.
Faith, hope and love are, in fact, qualities that are shown to be of paramount importance throughout the New Testament. As such, these qualities certainly should receive our attention and study – and that is exactly what this book does.
These Three Remain helps you see scriptures speaking of faith, hope and love when you might otherwise read right over them. It looks closely at each of the three key Christian attributes and examines how they interact with each other and with other aspects of your life. In fact, as you read this book, you may find that faith, hope and love are even more important than you ever realized!
PART ONE: