(“… Not Sympathetic Toward Sin”)¹

I Corinthians 12:27-14:4

(I Corinthians 13:6a)

(A) CONTEXT, CONTEXT, CONTEXT!

(1) On the positive side, the church in first-century Corinth was a very gifted church – at least so far as spiritual gifts were concerned. Paul said as much in chapter one when he acknowledged that the Corinthians were: “not lacking in any gift” (c.f. I Corinthians 1:7a). According to CHAPTER TWELVE, those gifts included, “faith … gifts of healing … the effecting of miracles … prophecy … the distinguishing of spirits … various kinds of tongues, and … the interpretation of tongues” (c.f. I Corinthians 12:9-10) – to mention only seven.

(a) CHAPTER TWELVE also tells us spiritual gifts are sovereignly distributed by the Holy Spirit “as He wills” (c.f. I Corinthians 12:11) – and that they are “given … for the common good” (c.f. I Corinthians 12:7). In other words, the purpose of spiritual gifts is to “edify” or build up ALL the people in the church (c.f. I Corinthians 14:26), not just a few – or as Paul said in CHAPTER FOURTEEN, to “edify, exhort and comfort” the whole church, not just those individuals who have certain gifts (c.f. I Corinthians 14:3-4). Hence, in that same chapter, Paul told the believers in Corinth: “since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church” (c.f. I Corinthians 14:12). In other words, strive to use your gifts for the benefit of your brothers and sisters in Christ.

(b) That should still be the desire of Christians today. That should be our goal as a body of believers who meet together regularly for worship and study and fellowship – i.e. to use the gifts God has graciously given us to minister to one another – to use the gifts the Spirit has given us to “edify, exhort, and console” (c.f. I Corinthians 14:3) our brothers and sisters in Christ – to use our spiritual gifts to help each other “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (c.f. II Peter 3:18a) – and that, regardless of whether our gift is teaching or helps, administrations (c.f. I Corinthians 12:28) or service, giving or mercy, exhortation or leadership (c.f. Romans 12:7-8), or whatever.

(c) The gifts of the Spirit are for mutual ministry, not individual glory – for reciprocal service, not personal gain. Hence, they are to be used lovingly, sacrificially, and unselfishly.

(2) So, on the positive side, the Corinthian church was quite gifted. On the negative side, this church was filled with all kinds of problems. There were “divisions” and quarrels” (c.f. I Corinthians 1:10-11) – “jealousy and strife” (c.f. I Corinthians 3:3) – at least one case of incest that was not being disciplined (c.f. I Corinthians 5:1-2) – church members filing lawsuits against fellow believers (c.f. I Corinthians 6:1-8) – and abuses connected with the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (c.f. I Corinthians 11:17-34), to mention only a few.

(a) Given the overall track record of this church, we shouldn’t be surprised to learn there were also problems regarding the use of spiritual gifts. Those problems (according to CHAPTER TWELVE) included people with certain gifts (like tongues) giving their brothers and sisters in Christ (who didn’t have that gift) the impression they weren’t needed – or that they were somehow inferior – or that they weren’t even part of the Body of Christ because they didn’t have that (or some other) particular gift (c.f. I Corinthians 12:14-21).

Another problem included people using their gifts for self-edification and self-promotion, rather than for the blessing and benefit of their fellow Christians (c.f. I Corinthians 14:4-5). Hence, Paul says in CHAPTER FOURTEEN: “Let all things be done for edification” (c.f. I Corinthians 14:26c) – i.e. “for (the) edification” of the whole church. And he then went on to add that if people can’t (or won’t!) exercise their gifts in a way that edifies the whole church, they ought not exercise their gifts at all (c.f. I Corinthians 14:27-28).

Still another problem involved the chaotic nature of the Corinthian’s worship, in part, because those with speaking gifts wanted to exercise their abilities publicly, in front of the whole congregation. Hence, people with the gift of tongues (for example) were speaking without an interpreter (which meant no one could understand what they were saying, so no one was being edified or comforted!) – while those with the gift of prophecy or teaching were interrupting other prophets and teachers before they were finished, so they could say what they wanted to say. Hence, in CHAPTER FOURTEEN Paul rebuked the believers in Corinth for these abuses, saying in part, that: “God is not a God, of confusion but of peace” (c.f. I Corinthians 14:26-33) – and that “all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner” (c.f. I Corinthians 14:40)

(b) All these problems can be traced back to one thing – a lack of love for one another – specifically, a lack of agape-love – a lack of Christ-like love – a lack of that self-sacrificing, other-centered love so famously described in this morning’s Scripture lesson from First Corinthians CHAPTER THIRTEEN. Note, then, that Paul begins by saying: 1“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing” (c.f. I Corinthians 13:1-3).

We see, then, that this well-known passage on love comes right in the middle of A THREE CHAPTER DISCOURSE on the proper use of spiritual gifts. That’s why Paul refers to tongues in verse one – prophecy, knowledge and faith in verse two – and gifts of giving and martyrdom in verse three. Without love, all the speaking gifts are nothing more than a lot of irritating, meaningless noise (v. 1) – without agape-love whatever we are able to do amounts to nothing (v 2), even if we’ve moved a mountain – without agape-love, all the sacrificial gifts of the Spirit will ultimately be of no profit to us (v. 3), either now or in the future.

(c) This fact led John MacArthur to write that: “without agape-love a person isn’t simply less than they should be, they are nothing² – without agape-love a person produces nothing, is nothing, and gains nothing.”³

We can also add that no one in the church will be edified – no one will be built up in the knowledge and practice of God’s word – no one will be exhorted or comforted (c.f. I Corinthians 14:3) – no one will be encouraged or blessed, unless (or until) we Christians learn how to put the “more excellent way” of love into practice (c.f. I Corinthians 12:31b) in all our dealings with other people, both inside and outside the church.

(B) LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!

(1) Starting in verse four, down through the first part of verse eight, Paul personifies love⁴ – describing it as if it were a person, telling us what a loving person would do or not do – like the fact that a loving person “is NOT provoked, does NOT take into account a wrong suffered … (and) does NOT rejoice in unrighteousness” (vs. 5c-6a). Instead, an agape-loving person practices “patien(ce) (and) kind(ness) … (and) rejoices with the truth” (vs. 4a, 6b) (c.f. I Corinthians 13:4-8a).

(a) The Person who best personifies the kind of love described in First Corinthians chapter thirteen is our Savior. Scripture says: “God is love” (c.f. I John 4:8, 16). It also says Jesus is God come in human flesh (c.f. John 1:1, 14) – and therefore, that He is “the exact representation of (God’s) nature” (c.f. Hebrews 1:3). Indeed, Jesus is the ultimate expression of the Father’s love for sinful people like ourselves – for the Scripture says (in First John chapter four): “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (c.f. I John 4:10).

(b) John then goes on in the next verse to make this application, saying: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (c.f. I John 4:11). In other words, we ought to love each other the same way God loves us – i.e. sacrificially and unselfishly – in spite of our sins against Him, or our lack of love for Him.

Just as Jesus is the personification of love for us, we Christians ought to personify love to each other in particular, and to the world in general. Hence, our Savior tells us to: 34“… love one another, even as I have loved you … 35(Because) By this all men will know … you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (c.f. John 13:34-35).

(2) In this morning’s text, Paul says agape-love “does NOT rejoice in unrighteousness” (c.f. I Corinthians 13:6a). The NIV says: “Love does not delight in evil” – while the NKJV says: “(love) does not rejoice in iniquity.”

(a) The Greek word translated “rejoice” (“chairo”) in our text means “to be glad or joyful”⁵ – hence, to be happy or cheerful or jubilant about something.

It’s used positively of the wise men in Matthew chapter two, who are said to have “rejoiced exceedingly with great joy” when they saw the star that pointed to where the Christ had been born (c.f. Matthew 2:10) – and of the shepherd in the parable Jesus told in Luke chapter fifteen, who is said to have come home “rejoicing” after finding his lost sheep (c.f. Luke 15:5).

It’s also used negatively of the Jewish priests, who are said to have been “glad” when Judas came and offered to betray Jesus for a certain amount of money (c.f. Luke 22:5) – and of the world system of spiritual darkness, whom Jesus said would “rejoice” at the news of His death on the cross (c.f. John 16:20).

(b) We Christians are frequently exhorted to rejoice in positive ways. For example, one place says: “my brethren, rejoice in the Lord” (c.f. Philippians 3:1a) – another says: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (c.f. Philippians 4:4) – still another says: “rejoice always” (c.f. I Thessalonians 5:16) – and yet another says: “Let us rejoice and be glad and give … glory to (the Lord)” (c.f. Revelation 19:7a).

As Christians we are to rejoice when we see other believers “walking in the truth” (c.f. II John 1:4) – we are to rejoice when we “share (in) the sufferings of Christ” (c.f. I Peter 4:13) – we are to rejoice when we see erring brothers or sisters brought “to the point of repentance” (c.f. II Corinthians 7:9) – and, as today’s Scripture lesson says, we are to “rejoice in the truth” (c.f. I Corinthians 13:6b).

(c) One thing we Christians are “NOT” to “rejoice in”, however, is “unrighteousness” (c.f. I Corinthians 13:6a) – one thing Christ’s redeemed people are NOT to be glad about is sinful behavior – one thing people filled with agape-love are NEVER happy to see is a brother or sister in Christ living in sin and immorality.

Nathan wasn’t glad to hear David had committed adultery and murder (c.f. II Samuel 12:1-12) – Samuel wasn’t happy to learn Saul had disobeyed God’s command regarding the destruction of the Amalekites (c.f. I Samuel 15:1-11) – Joshua wasn’t pleased to learn Achan had broken the ban God placed on the spoils of Jericho (c.f. Joshua 7:1-26). AND, if you and I are loving people (in the “agape” sense of that word), we will never draw a measure of delight or secret satisfaction from our own sins, or those of others! Sinful acts are bad enough all by themselves – but to rejoice in them, or gloat over them,⁷ only compounds our offense before God, thereby making matters that much worse!⁶

(d) The Greek word translated “unrighteousness” (“adikia”) refers to a variety of evil things, including injustice, iniquity, wickedness, and wrong-doing⁸ of all kinds. One writer described it as, “a deed that violates law and justice”¹³ – while another defined it as, “a condition of not being right with God or men”⁹ – and still another said unrighteous people refuse to do their duty to God or men.¹⁰

The word is used twice in Romans chapter one, verse eighteen, where we’re told: “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (c.f. Romans 1:18). It’s also used in First John chapter five, where we’re told that “all unrighteousness is sin” (c.f. I John 5:17a) – and again in First Corinthians chapter six, where Paul said that “the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God” (i.e. unrighteous people – people who die with their sins unforgiven – will not make it into heaven) – and that same passage says we shouldn’t deceive ourselves into thinking they will (c.f. I Corinthians 6:19).

(e) So, the bottom line is this – if we truly love our Savior, Jesus Christ – if we are sincerely practicing agape-love toward our Christian brothers and sisters – if we are honestly trying to love those outside the Body of Christ with the love of Christ – then, we will take NO pleasure in evil¹¹ – we will NOT draw any enjoyment from things that are wrong¹¹ – we will NOT be sympathetic toward sin, in ourselves or others – as one writer said, “we will NOT share in the glee of a successful transgressor”¹² – or better yet, as Scripture says, “(we will not take) pleasure in wickedness” (c.f. II Thessalonians 2:12b).

Instead of taking some measure of pride in our sins, or approving of the sins of others (c.f. Romans 1:32), we should grieve over them – whether they were intentional or unintentional – whether they were sins of omission or sins of commission – whether they were terrible in terms of the depth of their depravity, or mildly offensive – whether public or private – national in nature, or personal⁷ – whether they were committed against us, or someone else.

Agape-love just doesn’t “rejoice in unrighteousness” – nor is it indifferent. On the contrary, it “rejoices (in) the truth” (c.f. I Corinthians 13:6) – it rejoices in what’s right by God’s standards. When it sees “unrighteousness” in itself or others, its only choice is to grieve – to grieve like Samuel grieved over Saul (c.f. I Samuel 16:1) – to grieve like a parent does over a foolish son or daughter (c.f. Proverbs 10:1c; 17:25a) – to grieve like Paul did over how hard-hearted so many of his fellow Jews were to the message of the Gospel (c.f. Romans 9:1-5) – to grieve after the example of God the Holy Spirit, whom Scripture says grieves every time we use our mouth or body to sin against Him (c.f. Ephesians 4:30).

So again, I say, that agape-love simply “does NOT rejoice in unrighteousness” no matter who is involved, or what the circumstances may be (c.f. I Corinthians 13:6a).

(3) You and I live in a day when many magazines and books, TV programs and movies, as well as much of our contemporary music (whether it be country, or rock, or opera) glorifies sin – when these genres of entertainment literally “rejoice in unrighteousness” (c.f. I Corinthians 13:6a).⁶

(a) This is particularly true when it comes to immorality. Adultery, fornication, and homosexuality are all portrayed with increasing explicity – if not visually, certainly verbally (and usually both) – thereby sending a clear unending message to us and our children, that anything goes – that every person is free to make their own decisions regarding what’s right and wrong – that the standards of morality found in God’s word are hopelessly out of date.⁶ All these things are evidences of self-love, not agape-love.

The world of unsaved men and women often calls these various forms of immorality “love” – but (at best) it’s the “eros” kind of love, not “agape” – at its core it’s selfish, rather than sacrificial – it’s a me-centered love, rather than the other-centered kind of love described here in First Corinthians chapter thirteen – it’s the kind of love that approves and delights in “unrighteousness” – instead of encouraging qualities like honor, and purity, and respect, and fidelity, and the keeping of covenant promises.

Even much of the news amounts to a kind of morbid “rejoic(ing) in unrighteousness” (c.f. I Corinthians 13:6a) – in part, because natural men find things like violence, and crime, and immoral behavior, and slander and the like attractive – or at least interesting.

(b) Nor are we Christians immune from “enjoying” these things – for if the truth be known, we find some of it entertaining – it appeals to our old nature – hence, we find ourselves being drawn to these things like metal filings to a powerful magnet.

Or, we “enjoy” “unrighteousness” (c.f. I Corinthians 13:6a) in a kind of backdoor way, in that we feel smug because we don’t do these things ourselves⁶ – kind of like the Pharisee who prayed (in part): “God, I thank You that I am not like other people …” (c.f. Luke 18:11b).

Either way, it’s NOT agape-love! Either way, we are not practicing the kind of love described here in First Corinthians chapter thirteen.

(4) There are at least two ways we can unlovingly “rejoice in unrighteousness” (c.f. I Corinthians 13:6a).

(a) One is to find enjoyment, satisfaction, or pleasure in our own sins.¹¹ The Book of Hosea talks about dishonest businessmen who “(love) to oppress” their customers (c.f. Hosea 12:7) – while the Book of Isaiah talks about rulers who “love to be bribed” (c.f. Isaiah 1:23). Psalm eleven mentions “the one who loves violence” (c.f. Psalm 11:5) – while the Book of Revelation mentions those “who (love) and (practice) lying” (c.f. Revelation 22:15).

Elsewhere Scripture talks about those who “love the world (and) the things in the world” (I John 2:15) – as well as those who “(love) the darkness rather than the Light” (c.f. John 3:19).

Let it be said, then, that fallen men and women do not and cannot express agape-love because they prefer to “rejoice in unrighteousness” (c.f. I Corinthians 13:6a) – because they love many of their own sinful behaviors – because they draw some measure of enjoyment or satisfaction (or whatever) from some of their own sinful practices. Otherwise, they wouldn’t keep doing them over and over and over again.

(b) As true as all that is, it’s more likely Paul has something else in mind in our text – that when he says agape-love “does not rejoice in unrighteousness” (c.f. I Corinthians 13:6a), he’s talking about the malicious joy we often get from the sins of others.¹¹

John MacArthur put it like this – “Sometimes ‘rejoicing in unrighteousness’ (c.f. I Corinthians 13:6a) takes the form of hoping someone will make a mistake or fall into sin.”¹⁴ He then gives this example – “I’ve known Christians who wanted to be rid of their marriage partner, or who were already divorced. But because they did not believe in remarriage unless the other party was unfaithful, they actually hoped their spouse would commit adultery so they would be free to remarry.”¹⁴

As a pastor, I’ve encountered situations like that myself. But it wasn’t until this week that I realized this is nothing more than “rejoicing in unrighteousness” (c.f. I Corinthians 13:6a).

A variation on this unloving practice is to “rejoice” (openly or secretly) when a brother or sister in Christ falls into sin – to draw so measure of malicious “joy” from another person’s failure – or from hearing something that tears them down, thereby making us feel better about ourselves at their expense. For example, my old sinful unagape-loving nature would much rather hear something negative about the preaching you heard while you were away on vacation – than to hear what a wonderful message the pastor preached when you visited such and such a church.

But I’m not alone in this, am I!? For if the truth be known, you all have similar unloving feelings of your own, don’t you?!

(5) Here, then, is one of the standards of agape-love – one of the characteristics of that love which identifies us as Christ’s disciples (c.f. John 13:34-35) – namely, the kind of love that “does not rejoice in unrighteousness” (c.f. I Corinthians 13:6a).

(a) And since it doesn’t, when we see unrighteousness in a brother or sister in Christ, we should grieve (both for them, and for their offense against God) – and we should pray for them (among other things that they would confess their sin and repent). In some cases, we should go and talk with them about their sin, for the purposes of repentance and restoration – always remembering that were it not for God’s grace we might succumb to the same sin (or one that’s even worse) (c.f. Galatians 6:1).

(b) May the Lord enable us to love each other like this – with a love that does not rejoice in each others sins, or in the consequences that come as a result of those sins.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1 Parrott: Love Is …; p. 64.

2 MacArthur: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary; I Corinthians; p. 333.

3 IBID; p. 336.

4 The New Geneva Study Bible: Footnote on I Corinthians 13:4-7; p. 1816.

5 BCS: Strong’s Concordance; Word #5463.

6 MacArthur: Ibid; p. 349.

7 Kistemaker: New Testament Commentary; I Corinthians; p. 461.

8 BSC: Ibid; Word #93.

9 Vine: Expositor’s Dictionary of New Testament Words; Vol. II; p. 260.

10 Barclay: New Testament Words; p. 123.

11 Barclay: The Letters to the Corinthians; p. 136.

12 The New Bible Commentary; p. 1068.

13 Vine: Ibid; Vol. IV; p. 173.

14 MacArthur: Ibid; p. 350.