"The Christian Life" -- Open Dialogue with Dr. Martin Hanna

[Martin Hanna]

Dear Sabbath School Scholars,
Please join me in sharing questions and thoughts on this quarter’s Sabbath School Study Guide on "The Christian life." This forum is intended to be a place for raising questions related to the Study Guide and respectfully considering each others perspectives. Where we disagree we will disagree agreeably.

To get the discussion going, here are some of my comments and questions on the first three lessons which have to do with faith, hope, and love. You don’t need to respond to all the texts or all the questions. Choose at least one of the texts and/or one of the questions and let me know what you think.

Comments: Paul teaches that faith, hope and love abide, but love is the greatest (1 Cor 13:13). Also, faith waits in hope and works by love (Gal 5:5-6). Finally, we are saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8); saved by hope (Rom 8:24), and saved through love of the truth (2 Thess 2:10).

Questions: Why is love the greatest? Can we have love without faith and hope? What are the relations between faith, hope, and love?

I look forward to hearing from you!

[Leslie V. McMillan]

Love is the greatest because it is. There is no why or if. It is!
Just a short comment on your comment paragraph: Faith does not wait, nor works by love. Then, you missed the main ingredient for being saved. Remember that if we begin wrong, we cannot end at the right answer. One may be a good mathamatician, but if there is an error in putting out the problem, the correct answer or solution will never be determined.

LVM

[Martin Hanna]

Thanks for joining our discussion in such a prompt and lively way! I am reminded of your lively preaching as I grew up in the Adventist Church. It was during one of your evangelistic meetings that I was baptized and "officially" became an Adventist.

Do you mean that there is no reason why love is the greatest in the sense that we don’t need to have a reason from outside of the Bible in order to believe what the Bible clearly teaches? I agree that this is the case. I am reminded of the wonderful song that says: “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so!”

With regard to explicit biblical statements, you are correct that the Bible does not say that “faith waits” but that “we . . . wait for the hope of righteousness by faith” (Gal 5:5). I used the expression “faith waits” to indicate that we who have faith do wait for our hope to be perfectly realized. At the same time, the Bible does say that, while we wait, “faith works by love” (Gal 5:6).

On the main ingredient for salvation, among the texts that I mentioned, reference is made to grace as essential for salvation: “we are saved by grace through faith” (Eph 2:8). Another text on faith’s relation to grace, teaches that God’s “promise . . . is of faith that it may be of grace” (Rom 4:13, 16).

Of course the main ingredient of salvation may be expressed in other words from other texts. I look forward to any further comments you could make on this point.

[Barrington Brennen]

Gentleman, love, faith and hope are inseparable. Love is the base—the power, faith is the doing, hope is the waiting. They are not separate. However, they form a synergy. A synergy is a unique identifiable force that is only made possible because other forces are a part of it.

[Martin Hanna]

This idea of synergy is interesting. I hope it triggers some further discussion. Here are some other texts that come to mind based on your comment. God’s love is the base in that “we love God because he first loved us” (1 Jn 4:19). Faith is the doing in that “it is the work of God that you believe” (Jn 6:29).

[Leslie V. McMillan]

Martin Hanna said:

Thanks for joining our discussion in such a prompt and lively way! I am reminded of your lively preaching as I grew up in the Adventist Church. It was during one of your evangelistic meetings that I was baptized and "officially" became an Adventist.

Do you mean that there is no reason why love is the greatest in the sense that we don’t need to have a reason from outside of the Bible in order to believe what the Bible clearly teaches? I agree that this is the case. I am reminded of the wonderful song that says: “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so!”

With regard to explicit biblical statements, you are correct that the Bible does not say that “faith waits” but that “we . . . wait for the hope of righteousness by faith” (Gal 5:5). I used the expression “faith waits” to indicate that we who have faith do wait for our hope to be perfectly realized. At the same time, the Bible does say that, while we wait, “faith works by love” (Gal 5:6).

On the main ingredient for salvation, among the texts that I mentioned, reference is made to grace as essential for salvation: “we are saved by grace through faith” (Eph 2:8). Another text on faith’s relation to grace, teaches that God’s “promise . . . is of faith that it may be of grace” (Rom 4:13, 16).

Of course the main ingredient of salvation may be expressed in other words from other texts. I look forward to any further comments you could make on this point.

[Leslie V. McMillan]

Leslie V. McMillan said:

Martin Hanna said:

Thanks for joining our discussion in such a prompt and lively way! I am reminded of your lively preaching as I grew up in the Adventist Church. It was during one of your evangelistic meetings that I was baptized and "officially" became an Adventist.

Do you mean that there is no reason why love is the greatest in the sense that we don’t need to have a reason from outside of the Bible in order to believe what the Bible clearly teaches? I agree that this is the case. I am reminded of the wonderful song that says: “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so!”

With regard to explicit biblical statements, you are correct that the Bible does not say that “faith waits” but that “we . . . wait for the hope of righteousness by faith” (Gal 5:5). I used the expression “faith waits” to indicate that we who have faith do wait for our hope to be perfectly realized. At the same time, the Bible does say that, while we wait, “faith works by love” (Gal 5:6).

On the main ingredient for salvation, among the texts that I mentioned, reference is made to grace as essential for salvation: “we are saved by grace through faith” (Eph 2:8). Another text on faith’s relation to grace, teaches that God’s “promise . . . is of faith that it may be of grace” (Rom 4:13, 16).

Of course the main ingredient of salvation may be expressed in other words from other texts. I look forward to any further comments you could make on this point.

[Leslie V. McMillan]

I can see that you have not been in touch with me for a little while. If so, you would have been able to suspect what is my point. Here it is: Out side of Christ, nothing happens. What do I mean? He is the epitome of love. Therefore it must be the best. He is love.
That brings it to us. There is no love without Him. He is the source of love in all human beings. Now time will not permit for me to develop this concept/experience. There is no grace without Him. He is the grace. So ,one is saved by Him. It is He that produces in us the love, hope and of course the faith. He is the basis of it all. The only way to see through and accept this concept is to relate it to ones own heart or experience. You would see that Christ is the basis of everything that is truly Spiritual. We can't produce the love, faith, hope or anything else without Him. Check it out you will see that it is true......I will continue....

[Martin Hanna]

Leslie V. McMillan said:

I can see that you have not been in touch with me for a little while. If so, you would have been able to suspect what is my point. Here it is: Out side of Christ, nothing happens. What do I mean? He is the epitome of love. Therefore it must be the best. He is love.
That brings it to us. There is no love without Him. He is the source of love in all human beings. Now time will not permit for me to develop this concept/experience. There is no grace without Him. He is the grace. So ,one is saved by Him. It is He that produces in us the love, hope and of course the faith. He is the basis of it all. The only way to see through and accept this concept is to relate it to ones own heart or experience. You would see that Christ is the basis of everything that is truly Spiritual. We can't produce the love, faith, hope or anything else without Him. Check it out you will see that it is true......I will continue....

It is really good to be in touch with your again through this forum. I appreciate your comments and agree 100% with your latest comment.

[Barrington Brennen]

IT should be clear that LOVE is really meaning LOVING RELATIONSHIPS. Love has an object, it is us. Love has not reason to if there was no relationship. Here then is my adaptation of 1 Cor 13

"If I speak in tongues of nations and of angels, but have not a loving attitude, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have no love in my heart, I am nothing.

If I am a vegetarian, and do not eat dairy products to reduce my sinus problem, and cannot share lovingly with others, my diet is in vain. If I exercise five times a week at Gold’s Gym or on R. M. Bailey track, and cannot share my energy in a loving way, my walking and running will be in vain. I can still die of a heart attack.

If I am financially independent and able to give to all church projects but have not love, my giving will be in vain. If I eat lots of broccoli soup to reduce the cancer risk, make my own gluten, or eat only boil fish for meat, and refuse to share in loving relationships, my life will be meaningless. I can still die prematurely.

Love never fails. College degrees, expensive houses, designer clothing, speaking in tongues, evangelistic crusades, and health seminars, will all pass away. Now these five remains. Financial independence, a healthy lifestyle, faith, hope, and loving relationships. But the greatest of all of these is LOVING RELATIONSHIPS."


Leslie V. McMillan said:

Love is the greatest because it is. There is no why or if. It is!
J LVM

[J. Claire Cole]

Dr. Hanna

I do agree that love is the greatest attribute of our Christian experience for GOD IS LOVE. But, let's be practical or real here here. How do you explain love to a child, teenager, or an adult who has lost a loved one through death because of an accident , or some incurable illness? How do you explain love to someone who turns to the church for physical and spiritual assistance and the reply is, "I'll get back with you later - which never arrives?"

[Martin Hanna]

J. Claire Cole said:

Dr. Hanna

I do agree that love is the greatest attribute of our Christian experience for GOD IS LOVE. But, let's be practical or real here here. How do you explain love to a child, teenager, or an adult who has lost a loved one through death because of an accident , or some incurable illness? How do you explain love to someone who turns to the church for physical and spiritual assistance and the reply is, "I'll get back with you later - which never arrives?"

Good point Claire. There are times when what we need is not an explanation of love but a demonstration of love. And in our fallenness, demonstrating love can be just as hard as explaining it. I think that each one of us can start by asking God to change us so that his love can flow through us. Tragedy will still take place and some persons may still be dissapointed with the church. But I want Jesus to help me brighten the corner where I am. At the same time, lets call on others and on the church as a whole to be a more loving place. I think that what your comment is calling for.

[Leslie V. McMillan]

Barrington Brennen said:

Gentleman, love, faith and hope are inseparable. Love is the base—the power, faith is the doing, hope is the waiting. They are not separate. However, they form a synergy. A synergy is a unique identifiable force that is only made possible because other forces are a part of it.