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1 Thessalonians 1:3 – Faith, Love, Then Hope
“Faith, love, and hope.” That order doesn’t sound right, does it? Because of the beautiful passage on love in 1 Cor.13, we are used to “faith, hope, and love.” Paul uses that trilogy of virtues 4 times (unless you think he wrote Hebrews): 1 Cor.13:13; Col.1:4-5; 1 Thess.1:3; 5:8. Only once does he use the order found to the Corinthians, because obviously his focus to them was on love. However, is the natural order the one more often used by Paul although not by us? Do we naturally or supernaturally begin with faith, which leads to love, and finally to hope? That order matches the gospel message, doesn’t it. Faith in Christ comes first, which leads to our love for God because of Christ, and finally, because of Christ, we have the hope for the resurrection at the second coming. Faith, love, and hope.
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