Exegesis of 1 Corinthians 13:8-13
By Garth Black, Minister of Gods Word
In the Apostle Paul’s first
epistle to the church at Corinth he was much concerned with the strife and
division that had arisen there over the matter of “miraculous spiritual gifts.” (Chapters12-14)
It would seem apparent from the 12th chapter that there were some who were envious
or jealous because they did not possesses these spiritual gifts, described by
the apostle in the first eleven verses of that chapter. (It is evident from
verse 29 that not all possessed these gifts.) On the other hand, there were
some who were evidently manifesting a spirit of pride and conceit because they
did possess one or more of these spiritual gifts. The result was friction and
disunity in the church. (vs. 25)
Paul makes it clear that all
members in the congregation were important. Whether or not an individual
Christian possessed one of the spiritual gifts, each member had a contribution
to make toward the good of the body as a whole. The abilities and talents possessed
by each member were to compliment and supplement those talents and abilities of
the other members in the congregation, in order that the body of Christ might
be edified and able to fulfill its purpose and mission, (12:12-28)
At the conclusion of chapter
12 Paul speaks to the Corinthians saying,
“I will show you a more excellent way.” (vs. 31) With this thought he introduces
the great passage on the subject of love, recorded in the 13th chapter. It is Paul’s
purpose here to show that spiritual gifts were not the superior way. The
Corinthians had elevated these “gifts” to a position of priority and importance
that was unwarranted. Paul begins by saying that if a man could speak with the
tongues of men and of angels but had not love he was as sounding brass or a
clanging cymbal. If he had the gift of prophecy and knew all mysteries and had
all knowledge and the faith so that he could remove mountains but had not love,
he was as nothing. It is obvious from this context that the possession of a spiritual
gift was not the criterion for determining one’s spirituality, but rather the attribute
of love was to be the distinguishing mark of the Christian. (Note John
13:34-35.)
In a previous letter to the
churches of Galatia Paul had made much the same point. In the 5th chapter of
that letter, while contrasting the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit
he denotes those characteristics or attributes which mark the Christian as one
who “walks by the Spirit” –those
characteristics being love, joy, peace, kindness, long suffering, goodness, faithfulness,
meekness, and self-control. (vs. 22-23) It is interesting to note that in
describing this “fruit” Paul mentions first the attribute of love. Those eight
attributes that follow are surely an outgrowth of true love. No mention is made
here of the “ spiritual gifts,” nor is it implied that their possession meant
that one was being “led” by the Spirit or was “walking” by the Spirit.
(Galatians 5:16-24)
In 1 Corinthians 13, beginning
with verse 4, Paul describes the nature of love and the way love conducts
itself. Obviously, it was not the way that many of the Corinthians had been
behaving themselves, even though they had received the spiritual gifts. In the
last half of this chapter, beginning with verse 8, Paul makes yet another
contrast between love and the spiritual gifts. In this verse he says, “Love
never fails,” but then he states that these spiritual gifts will cease. He
mentions the miraculous spiritual gifts of prophecies, speaking in tongues, and knowledge,
and declares that “they shall be done away.” While it is true he only mentions
three of the nine spiritual gifts that he had previously mentioned in the first
eleven verses of chapter 12, it seems evident that those three are
representative of the entire group. (The six gifts that are not mentioned here are
very closely related to the three that are. The gifts of healing, miracles and
supernatural faith were instrumental in confirming those truths revealed by
supernatural knowledge and prophecy. The gifts of wisdom and interpretation of
tongues made clear and understandable those truths that were so revealed. The
ability to distinguish between spirits made it possible for them to mark the
false prophets.) There can be no doubt that Paul here affirms the termination
of spiritual gifts.
The important question is when
will these gifts be terminated? In verse 10 Paul say they will be done away
“when that which is perfect is come.” There are those that interpret “that
which is perfect” to mean Christ, or heaven. In this case, the spiritual gifts would
last until the end of time, or until the second coming of Christ. Another explanation
of this passage is that “that which is perfect” refers to the coming of the completed
and perfect revelation of God to man. At that point, these spiritual gifts, having
served their revalatory purpose, would then be terminated. Thus, the miraculous spiritual
gifts would last only until the New Testament was completed. Regardless of
which interpretation one might choose, it is evident that Paul’s main point is
that these spiritual gifts were inferior to love, because of the duration of
time that each would last.
It is our belief that this
passage teaches the termination of miraculous spiritual gifts, at a point in time when the
perfect revelation of God to man would have come to be reality. At that time
those spiritual gifts would have served their purpose and would no longer be necessary.
These purposes were guiding, strengthening, and edifying the infant church until
such time that it would have the complete New Testament to supply those needs.
Let us now note, in some detail, the text of this passage, to see if we can
determine just when it is Paul is saying that these spiritual gifts would
cease.
In verse 8, after Paul states
that love will never fail, he adds that prophecies, tongues and knowledge will
be done away. Then, in verse 9 he says that we
know in part and we prophesy in part, indicating that the inspired writers
knowledge and prophecies were limited and “imperfect”, and that as yet a
complete knowledge and understanding of spiritual things and spiritual ways was
not available to man. If this situation was to exist until the second coming of
Christ, then it is evident that this description found in verse 9 could be an
accurate description of the state of the church throughout the Christian age. In
other words, our knowledge and understanding of those things that pertain to
religious truth would be limited during the entire church age. Yet, in the 16th
chapter of John, the Lord told his apostles that the Holy Spirit would come upon
them and guide them into all truth (vs.13). Later in the book of II Timothy the
apostle Paul was to say that the scriptures were able to furnish man completely
unto every good work (3:17). The apostle Peter, in the second epistle of Peter,
1:3, says “that God had granted to us all
things pertaining to life and Godliness through the knowledge of him that
called us by his own glory and virtue.” If that which is perfect (vs.10)
rather refers to the complete and final revelation of God to man as revealed by
the Holy Spirit through the inspired writers, then it is obvious and clear that
the spiritual gifts of knowledge and prophecy would no longer be needed, for no
longer would knowledge and prophecy be imperfect. To make this point even
clearer, Paul gives us two illustrations.
The first of these is found in
verse 11, where he writes,
“When I was a child I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I
thought as a child, now that I am become a man I have put away childish
things.”
In light of this context it is
evident that the childish things refer to the spiritual gifts, and that these
gifts were the ways of a child and to last only for the duration of childhood.
But when one becomes a man, or mature, then childish ways are no longer
necessary. In like manner, when one becomes a mature disciple of Christ and is capable
of knowing and understanding all things that God wants him to know, then these miraculous spiritual
gifts, or the childish things, are no longer needed. If these spiritual gifts
were to last until the second coming of Christ, then it is apparent that Paul
would be saying that we could not be counted as mature and fully knowledgeable
men until that time. Such a thought or concept is contrary to much of what is
said elsewhere in the New Testament.
In Ephesians 4, beginning with
verse 11, Paul says that
“the work of the apostles and the prophets and the evangelists and the
pastors and the teachers is in order that we might be perfected unto the work
of ministering and the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain
the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God unto a full-grown man,
unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
It is obvious from this passage
that the apostle Paul thought it would be possible for the Christian to become full-grown
or mature within the course of his life. One of the primary works of the apostles
and prophets was to reveal God’s will to man. When this will had been revealed,
it was then the work of the evangelists, pastors, and teachers to see that God’s
word was taught, to both Christians and all mankind. The purposes were that we
might
“attain unto the unity of the faith and to a state of maturity whereby
we would be no longer as children tossed to and fro and carried about with
every wind of doctrine by the slight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of
error.” (Ephesians 4:14).
In the book of Hebrews 6:1
the writer of that epistle exhorts us to press on unto perfection or maturity.
In Romans 8:29 Paul prays that we might be conformed to the image of his Son.
In Ephesians 3:19 the same apostle prays that we might be filled unto all the
fullness of God. Certainly such passages as these imply a state of maturity or
perfection that might be attained in this life and aptly described by the term
“full-grown man,” in contrast to the term “child.” Such a state of maturity
could only come about as a result of having available for study and guidance
God’s complete revelation to man. (Note Hebrews 6:1-3.)
In verse 12 Paul gives us his
second illustration.
“For now we see in a mirror darkly, but then face to face. Now I know
in part, but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known.”
Again the point is much the
same as in the preceding verse. As one would look into a mirror of that time,
the image was reflected very poorly. It was difficult to make out the details
of one’s face or what one saw. But the time would come when it would be like
looking at one face to face, when everything would be clear and precise. In like
manner, during the time that the spiritual gifts existed, specifically speaking
in tongues, supernatural knowledge and prophecies, it was a time when things
were not fully understood or grasped. But when that point of time comes that I
can know fully and completely, then those things now known only in part will be
fully grasped and understood. At that time the miraculous spiritual gifts would be no
more.
Two questions are suggested by
this verse. First, what is Paul talking about in reference to the subject
matter of his knowledge? What is it that he now knows only in part, but will at
a future time understand more fully and completely? The second question pertains
to the matter of time. When would it be that Paul would “know fully,” even as I was fully known”? In answer to the first
question, we look back to verse 9 where Paul says, “We know in part, and we
prophesy in part.” Reference here is to God’s revelation to man at the time of
Paul’s writing when that revelation was incomplete. At the writing of this epistle probably no more than 4 or 5 other books
of the New Testament had been written. Even though it may be logically
argued that much of God’s revelation, that was to later be written by the
inspired authors of the New Testament, had already been orally revealed by the
spiritual gifts of prophecy and knowledge, it is nevertheless obvious that there
were still some truths yet unrevealed and others that were not fully
understood. Even a superficial study of the later epistles of Paul, Peter, and
John, as well as the book of Revelation, makes this point indisputable.
The second question is most
important – when “spiritual gifts” would cease. Paul is saying that he (or all
men, as he speaks in this passage of himself as a representative of all men)
could know fully and completely. Do we today have God’s complete revelation to
man? Again we refer to John 16:13 where Jesus promised his apostles that they
would be guided into all truth. (Note also II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:3;
Jude 3.) If the New Testament is God’s complete and final revelation to man,
then man is capable of “knowing” fully and completely all that God wants him to
know with respect to his relationship to God, his needs, and the way to
spiritual maturity and life eternal. It might also be noted that if God’s
revelation to man is complete and has been complete since the writing of the
New Testament, then there is no longer a need for the miraculous spiritual gifts mentioned
in verses 8 and 9. If we are to interpret Paul to be saying here the he (we) cannot
know fully until Christ’s second coming, then how can we explain the Lord’s promise
that his apostles would be guided into “all truth”?
Still, with regard to verse
12, the question may be asked, “What does Paul mean by the phrase – “as also I
was fully known?” God knew Paul, as he does all men, fully and completely. God
knew his weaknesses, his failures, his talents, his desires and his needs. Today
as we look into the “mirror of the
perfect law of liberty” (James 1:24, 25), it reflects to us our weaknesses,
our failures, our strengths and our needs. The New Testament makes it possible
for man to “know” himself in relationship to his God just assuredly as if God
were speaking to him “face to face”. There is no weakness possessed by man that
the New Testament does not reveal. There is no need that man has that God does
not provide. The way that God provides and meets those needs are revealed in
His complete revelation to man, the New Testament. When we come to the end of
time and stand before the judgment seat of Christ, there is no indication that
we will suddenly come into some new knowledge of ourselves or of God’s nature
and will that was not already revealed to us in His Word. “All truth” has already
been revealed, and by it we shall be judged (John 12:48).
In verse 13 Paul mentions
three graces, all of which are greater and more important than the spiritual
gifts mentioned previously. Those three attributes mentioned are faith, hope
and love. Since Paul states in Romans 8:24 that “hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopeth for that which he
seeth,” it is evident that hope will terminate at the end of time. Faith by
its very definition is the assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things
that are not seen (Hebrews 11:1). When time is no more and our Lord has come again,
then faith will become a reality. It will no longer be faith. We will then walk
by sight, not by faith. While it is true that love will last throughout
eternity, since it is used here in connection with faith and hope, it would
seem more consistent to understand the apostle as saying that these three
graces should abide while the earth stands, in contrast to the miraculous gifts
that would terminate prior to the end of the world. If the spiritual gifts
mentioned in verse 8 are to last as long as faith, hope and love, then there is
no point to Paul’s contrast. He is showing the superiority of faith, hope and
love over the spiritual gifts, from the standpoint of their duration. Faith,
hope, love, these three, abide – in contrast to the spiritual gifts, which will
cease. If this point is valid, then the spiritual gifts would not last until
the end of time and the phrase “that which is perfect is come” could not refer
to the second coming of Christ. While faith, hope and love were to last throughout
the Christian age, the spiritual gifts would last only until God’s complete revelation
to man was finished.
What is evident in all this is
that a certain point in time is being alluded to by the apostle. There seems
nothing here to indicate that he is speaking about the end of time. In fact, if
such an interpretation is given to this passage it would mean that throughout
the Christian age our knowledge of God’s will would ever be in a state of evolution,
rather than being the complete and total revelation taught in the New
Testament. It would mean that we would have to resign ourselves to a permanent
state of spiritual immaturity. We could not anticipate reaching a state of
maturity or Christ – likeness in this life. It would
It is much more logical to
interpret Paul here as saying that these miraculous spiritual gifts were to last until
such time as God’s complete revelation is made known to man – a revelation that
would enable man to develop to a state of spiritual maturity and to be able to
know right from wrong, so that he might not be tossed to and fro by every wind
of doctrine.
Miraculous spiritual gifts had a very
distinct purpose. They were invaluable and needed during the time the church
was in its infancy. But to affirm that these spiritual gifts are still with us today
and are present in the church would be evidence of immaturity and weakness rather
than of fully developed power and seasoned strength. If we are concerned about marks
of spirituality, then let us note that these spiritual gifts were never such a
criterion. Rather let us emphasize the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)
as describing those characteristics which should be noted in the individual who
is both full of the Spirit and a mature child of God who has now been
“transformed into the image of His Son.”
