“1 Corinthians 13:8-13”

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

“Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

---End of Scripture verses---

So many people abuse, misuse and misunderstand what the Apostle Paul is teaching in 1 Corinthians 13:8-13. A great many of them are just honestly misguided or mistaken in their take on this passage. But people simply MUST accurately interpret this crucial section of inspired Scripture if they ever hope to come to an accurate understanding of the nature and duration of miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit. This is the definitive statement in all of Scripture that speaks to the fact that miraculous gifts were always intended to be temporary, and to the timing of their termination during this current and final dispensation of time.

First of all it must be established from the beginning that when Paul said that prophecy, tongues and knowledge would be done away (verse 8), he was undoubtedly talking about miraculous gifts granted to Christians by the Holy Spirit. He is not saying that people’s ability to “speak” things and to “know” things are going to cease to exist at some point. In chapter 12 he catalogued a long list of miraculous gifts that were given by “the same Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:4, 8, 9, 11). The gifts of “prophecy” (verse 10), “tongues” (verse 10), and “knowledge” (verse 8) were all included in that list.

Then in 1 Corinthians 13:8 he stated that there will come a time (in the future for him but in the past for us) that those MIRACULOUS GIFTS will “be done away”. And those three gifts are just a sample that represents the whole of miraculous gifts. To be clear, Paul is really emphasizing the permanency of love in these verses (“love never fails”), but he does so by contrasting that to the temporary nature of the miraculous abilities that the Christians in Corinth were so enamored with.

“For we know in part and we prophesy in part” (verse 9). That which is “in part” is contrasted with “the perfect” in verse 10. The term “in part” refers to the piece-meal fashion in which God used miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit to impart and confirm His revelation. I like the way that Mike Willis put it in his commentary on this verse: “No one person had all of God’s revelation or could communicate all of it; each had only a part of it.” This was not because of the limitations of mankind, but because of the design of the Lord. It was an intentional part of God’s plan that His word would be revealed “in part” until “the perfect” should come.

The next question to be answered then, is what WAS or IS “the perfect”? For consistency’s sake, it must be of the same nature as the thing that was given “in part” against which it is contrasted. If the “piecemeal” nature of God imparting His revelation during the period of the miraculous is that which was given “in part”, then logic would dictate that “the perfect” is referring to God’s completed revelation. God revealed himself “partially” at some point, and then afterward He revealed himself “completely”.

Once again, I like the way that Mike Willis explains this: “Spiritual gifts were temporary in nature and served the same function in relation to God’s revelation as scaffolds serve in the erection of a building. When the structure is completed the scaffolds are removed; similarly, when God’s revelation was completed, the miraculous spiritual gifts (his spiritual scaffolds) were removed.” So then, once the New Testament “canon” was completely revealed and recorded, there was no longer a need for miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit in God’s plan of revelation and salvation for mankind.

“When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things” (verse 11). Paul used this statement as an illustration to help prove the point that he had just made in the previous verses. During the age of miracles, the church was compared to Paul (or any person) when he was a “minor” or a “child”. But the church reached “adulthood” or “maturity” at the “age” of perfect revelation. At that point, just as a mature man should start talking, thinking and reasoning as an adult, so the church “did away” with “the partial” and reached the age of “majority” or “maturity”, and had no further need of the miraculous gifts of its “childhood”.

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face…” (verse 12). This is just another illustration used to prove the same point. The mirrors used in the first century were nothing like the glass mirrors backed with reflective material that we are used to today. Our mirrors produce sharp, clear reflections of ourselves. But back then, a mirror was usually nothing more than a polished piece of metal that produced a “dim”, “hazy” reflection.

During the miraculous age of “minority” of the church, they saw things “dimly” (the parallel of “in part”). But after the point of “majority” for the church, when God’s complete revelation came (“the perfect”), then people could start seeing “face to face”. Notice now, Paul is not referring to WHO or WHAT we will see, but to HOW we will see! He is not referring to seeing God’s face, but to “seeing” or “understanding” His word “clearly”.

“Now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known” (verse 12). Paul is not saying that we will know EVERYTHING there is to know at some point. He is not referring to a time when we will see God “face to face” and He will clarify to us all the things that have puzzled or troubled us in our lives. That has nothing to do with the point and the comparisons that Paul has been making in this context. The point is that when God’s completed revelation was recorded, people then had the ability to “fully know” God’s will for them in all aspects of their lives.

AND HERE IS THE CLINCHER! Don’t miss this final point because it really seals the deal. “But now faith, hope, love, abide these three…” (verse 13). After “the perfect” had come and the miracles had ceased (that which was “in part”), these three “blessings” will abide. In other words, throughout this final dispensation, “faith, hope and love” will “abide”. This is how we can know FOR SURE that Paul is not referring to the return of Christ as the “perfect” coming and the age of miracles ceasing. When Christ returns, there will no longer be a reason or a use for “faith” and “hope”!

When we actually see CHRIST “face to face”, our firsthand KNOWLEDGE of Him will do away with our need of HOPE and FAITH in Him! “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it” (Romans 8:24-25). NOW we walk by "FAITH" but THEN we will walk by "SIGHT" (2 Corinthians 5:7). When Paul said that faith, hope and love will abide, even after “the perfect” has come, he was obviously talking about the recording of God’s perfect revelation. The New Testament is referred to as “the perfect law of liberty” in James 1:25.

So then, Paul is saying that when God’s completed revelation was recorded and preserved for us, then He would no longer use people performing miracles to impart and confirm His truth. If any person who claims to be inspired by God today or to have miraculous powers bestowed by the Holy Spirit, he is either misleading you, or he has been misled himself. Paul is also saying that, even after the perfect revelation of God has come, and the partial miraculous method has been done away, faith, hope and love will remain. These are much more noble than miracles anyway and of much greater importance.

“But the greatest of these is love.” Love is the “more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31). Paul says that love is even greater than faith and hope. It’s kind of hard to fathom how love could be greater that faith! Until you stop to consider that, according to Jesus, the two greatest commandments are to love God with all heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love neighbor as self (Matthew 22:36-40)!

Please read 1 Corinthians 14:1-5 for tomorrow.

Have a great day!

- Louie Taylor

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