1 Corinthians 13:2 - Exposition

Prophecy . The power of lofty utterance belonged to Balaam and Caiaphas; yet it availed them nothing without love. "Lord, Lord," exclaim the troubled souls at the left hand, "have we not prophesied in thy Name?" Yet he answers them," I never knew you." All mysteries. Though I can speak of the secrets of God once hidden but now revealed ( Matthew 13:11 ; Romans 16:27 ; 1 Corinthians 2:7 ; Ephesians 3:3 , etc.). And all knowledge. Insight into the deeper meanings of Scripture, etc. All faith. Not here meaning "justifying faith," or "saving faith," which can no more exist without showing itself in works than light can exist without heat; but fides miraculosa, reliance on the power to work wonders. Judas, for instance, must have possessed this kind of faith, and it was exercised by "many" who will yet be rejected because they also work iniquity ( Matthew 7:21-23 ). So that I could remove mountains. It has been supposed that this must be a reference to Matthew 17:20 ; Matthew 21:21 . It is, however, much more probable that, if St. Paul derived the words from our Lord, they came to him by oral tradition. And the inference must in any case be precarious, for the phrase was so common among the rabbis that "remover of mountains" was one of their admiring titles for a great teacher . I am nothing. No expression could 'involve a more forcible rebuke to intellectual and spiritual pride.