The Death of Faith and Hope!

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13

Faith and hope will someday die, though. And frankly, folks, I can't wait.

Hold up, what? The death of faith and hope? What will we hold on to if faith and hope are gone?

Love.

Paul wrote one of his most oft quoted scriptures in 1 Corinthians 13:

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

So what about faith and hope do I have a problem with, then? Nothing. Right now, we need both of these. In the second definition of the word, faith is defined thusly by dictionary.com: "belief that is not based on proof." And the same dictionary.com, in the first definition, describes hope as, "the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best." You may already see where I am going with this, but I will explain it nonetheless.

As we live now, God is not someone I can call up on the phone, or go and visit. Sure, prayer is an amazing gift that allows me to talk to God when I want to, or need to, or just because I want to chat. And I truly believe He speaks to me all the time, but not in an auditory manner, nor in face to face interaction. I have not touched the robes of Jesus, except in a figurative sense. And I have not gazed upon His likeness, excepting of course seeing his presence in those around me who emulate His traits (or even just simply the least of these). I believe, nonetheless. This is faith. I believe in something unseen and unproven by the rigorous standards of the scientific method. Hebrews 11:1 says, "now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." That about sums it up. Some find me crazy for doing so. Their unbelief, however, is irrelevant to my belief, and as I've heard said before, "I'd rather be judged a fool by man for this time, then by God for eternity." [I don't know who originally said this or if this is even an exact quote. Give me a heads up if you do.]

Hope is a different animal altogether, but it goes hand in hand with faith. We have hope about what is to come and only through what we have read in the scripture. Titus 3:7 says, ". . .having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." This eternal life that we hope for is only possible through faith, and that is where they intertwine. But at first glance a word like "hope" looks a bit unsure. We hope that rain will not spoil our summer picnic. We hope that we will find a good job after we graduate from school. We hope that tomorrow will be better than today. None of this is assured or even possible to be so. But when it comes to something such as salvation, through faith we can be assured. It may rain on our picnic, and we may not get the job we want, and tomorrow the car may break down, but the hope that we are reconciled with God through Christ and therefore looking at a much brighter future, whether it be tomorrow or eternity, is grounded in faith alone.

So what about their deaths? I think Paul gives us the answer in 1 Corinthians 13 that I quoted earlier. Verse 12 states, "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." Right now we are in Plato's cave. We only see shadows of what reality truly is, and therefore must resort to faith and hope in what we believe to be true. Someday, however, we will know the truth with certainty. Someday we will be able to empirically prove that reality is what we had faith in all along. Because someday we will be face to face with the Creator. We will gaze upon God himself and walk with Jesus. And we will be able to reach out and touch Him and even embrace Him. (How much more empirical can you get?) Paul says in verse 10, "but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears." I believe this means that when faith and hope are dead, it is because we are with God in the flesh and there is no place for either. Completeness is love, and faith and hope are just parts in which we cling to at this moment out of necessity. Because, taking into account the rest of this passage, what need are prophecies when they have been fulfilled? What need are tongues to confess when experience can do the job. And what need is knowledge, (from a man's point of view) when all knowledge is granted from on high?

So faith and hope will be dead. For where is the need for faith when you are walking beside your God? And where is the need for hope when you are in the presence of the Creator of the universe in heaven? But there is always the need for love. Love transcends everything. Love is what this is all about. If you have any doubt, reread the Gospels. And not just the Gospels, Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Wow.

I welcome a day when faith and hope are dead. When I am someday physically walking with God and asking him mundane questions that He finds quaint. I will be in the element I was intended to be in. And I will say a prayer over the graves of faith and hope. But I will never give up love. Love is what will get us to that place. Love is what reconciles ourselves to God. Love is what caused Jesus Christ to die for a poor and undeserved sinner like myself. And love is what I would like to feel for eternity, and will!

So for now, the three remain. Faith, hope, and love. But I long for the death of faith and hope, for the greatest of these, that will remain and reign forever, is Love!

[All verses quoted in this post are from the NIV. It is not the only translation, however, and given the fact that I do not know Greek, I can't speak to their veracity as direct translations. However, having surveyed numerous translations, the only one that seems to contradict my basic premise is the New Living Translation. It states the verse as following: "Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love." Although I respect and appreciate various translations of the Bible (with all their individual probities and caveats), I find this particularly translated verse to be a bit dubious. Let me first say that I am not railing against the New Living Translation, nor did I have any ambition in defaming it in mind before I started researching this concept. My main objective is to talk about the death of faith and hope. The NLT may give some amazing insights to many things, but I take issue with this particular verse and no others (as I have not researched them). You have, no doubt, seen why. Either way, I believe the Gospels, as I have read them, and general logic seems to bear me out as far as what I am able to interpret. Correct me (with references) if you believe me to be in error.]