Here are some commentaries on that passage:
Jack Cottrell (professor of theology at Cincinnati Christian University from 1967 to 2015)
The Holy Spirit: Power from on High (2007)
The Structure of
1 Corinthians 13:8-13
The key section for our purposes is 13:8-13. It is very important to understand the outline or structure of this paragraph. It consists basically of two contrasts. The first and main contrast is between things that are temporary (v. 8) and things that are permanent (v. 13). To get this point these two verses should be read together while setting verses 9-12 aside as a parenthesis, thus: 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. . . . But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Some things, Paul says, will cease-the very things you are fighting and dividing over: prophecy, knowledge, and tongues (v. 8). But the really crucial things will continue to exist-faith, hope, and love (v. 13a). The most important of all is love (v. 13b), since love never ends (v. 8a). Paul could have written just this much and still have made his point. But he knew that he had to explain the temporary nature of tongues, etc., a bit further. He knew that in the minds of many Corinthians the gift of tongues was the heart and soul of their faith. One can imagine their reaction to verse 8: "Oh, no, Paul! You can't mean that! Surely you are mistaken; surely tongues are not just temporary! Don't take away our tongues!”
In order to alleviate such concern, in verses 9-12, even before he completes his main contrast between verse 8 and verse la, Paul inserts a parenthesis with a secondary contrast. Here the contrast is to show why gifts like tongues, prophecy, and knowledge are only temporary. The reason they are temporary, he says, is because they are only "partial" or piecemeal; something "perfect" or complete will come to take their place. This four-verse parenthesis should be read as a unit:
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.
Though the Corinthians no doubt did not want to hear this, Paul tells them that the very things they have made the centerpiece of their lives will be "done away" because they are only partial. As an analogy, their individual episodes of miraculous tongues and prophesying were like single pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Something is coming, though, that will be like the entire puzzle with all its pieces put together; then you will see the entire picture. Will that not be much better?
What is this coming thing that will take the place of tongues and other such gifts? Paul calls it the teleion in verse 10, translated “the perfect." If we can just know what this teleion is, we can know when the tongues and other things will cease. This is true because Paul specifically says, "WHEN the teleion comes," the partial will cease. The coming of the teleion will be the occasion for the end of these gifts.
The identity of the Teleion
The case for the cessationist view of miraculous spiritual gifts rests to a larre extent on our ability to identify the teleion to which forms according to gender. I.e. they can be masculine,
feminine, or neuter. If teleion here were in its masculine form (teleios), since it stands alone, we would translate it as “the complete one” or “the complete man,” referring to a person. But in fact the adjective is neuter in gender, thus must be read as “the complete thing."
This is very important because some have seen the translation, “When the perfect comes," and have jumped to the conclusion that this must be a reference to the second coming of Christ. After all, Jesus is the only "perfect one," and he definitely is coming again! The implication regarding miraculous gifts, of course, would be that tongues, etc., will continue until the second coming of Jesus.
When we understand, though, that teleion is a neuter adjective, we will see that it refers not to a person at all, but to a thing. If it referred to a person such as Jesus, the gender would have been masculine. Thus the best translation is "When the complete thing comes." Paul is thus saying that the partial things will cease when the complete thing comes.
Not Connected with the Second Coming
Do we have any way of discerning what this complete thing is supposed to be? Yes. For one thing, we know the limitations as to the time when it will appear. On the one hand, since Paul uses future tense ("will cease . . . will be done away”), the teleion must still be in the future relative to the time Paul was writing this letter. This means that the complete thing cannot be love, since love was surely already present within the church to some degree. It is important to see this, since love has upon occasion been suggested as the identity of the teleion. But this cannot be.
On the other hand, we know from something Paul says here that the teleion must be something that will come before the end of the age, before the second coming of Jesus. This is extremely important, because the most common view as to the identity of the complete thing is that is must have something to do with the second coming and with heaven.
How do we know that the complete thing must come before the end times and not in connection with the second coming? How do we know that it must come while the church is still existing in this age? Because of what Paul says in verse l8. Here he declares that the teleion will come and the partial gifts will cease while faith, hope, and love still abide or remain among God's people. If hope is still present, then the teleion must come before Christ's second coming, because once Christ comes, all that we are hoping for will become a reality, and hope itself will disappear. As Paul explains in
Romans 8:24, we hope only for things we do not yet see, “for who hopes for what he already sees?" Some would apply this same reasoning to faith as well, since in one sense sight replaces faith (2 Cor 5:7) as well as hope.
In any case, verse la rules out any interpretation of the teleion that connects it with the second coming. Thus the partial gifts must cease sometime during the church age.
The Completed New Testament
A final consideration in our quest to identify the teleion is the fact that it is meant to replace some very specific kinds of gifts (v. 8). Since the complete thing replaces these partial things, it must be something similar in nature to the latter and must serve the same general purpose as the latter. What is the nature of the gifts named in verse 8? Prophecy, supernatural knowledge, and tongues (when interpreted) are all in the category of revealed knowledge. Thus the complete thing must also be in the category of revealed knowledge. Yet it is something complete, as contrasted with these partial forms.
Again this goes against identifying the complete thing as love, since love is not a revealed-knowledge kind of thing. Also, it rules out another view sometimes suggested, namely, that the teleion should be translated "mature" and that the "mature thing" is really the mature church (e.g., Robert Thomas, 79). Paul does seem to be contrasting childhood with maturity in verse 11, suggesting that the partial things are part of the church's childhood stage while the teleion is a mark of its maturity (see Unger, Tongues, 96-97). But the specific identity of the teleion must be something other than the mature church itself, since the latter is not a kind of revealed knowledge.
The only thing that meets all the requirements pointed out in this section is the completed New Testament. The teleion, the complete thing is the completed New Testament. When the completed New Testament has come, piecemeal prophecies, tongues, and knowledge will cease. Pettegrew is right: "Interpreting 'the completed teleion as the New Testament is still the most natural and logical explanation of the passage-far better than trying to introduce the Rapture, Second Coming death, or eternal state into the interpretation" (182).
This view is supported by the fact that elsewhere in the Bible God's will and word in the new-covenant era are described with this same adjective, teleios; see
Romans 12:2,
James 1:25; and Hebrews 5:146:1. Jacoby notes, by the way, that teleion is never used of heaven (Spirit, 189).
Some object to the view that the teleion is the completed New Testament on the grounds that no such document existed at the time Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, so no one would have known what he was talking about. Keener, for example, says that the idea of a completed canon "could not have occurred either to Paul or to the Corinthians in their own historical context (since at that noint no one knew that point no one knew that there would be a New Testament canon). Thus we must accept “the impossibility that Paul could have expected the Corinthian Christians to think he meant the canon” (97). This argument is completely without merit, however. All Christians from the church’s beginning would be familiar with the old-covenant canon (what "Scriptures" were the Bereans examining in Acts 17:11). They would also know that they were under a new covenant. Thus it is quite reasonable to think that they would be expecting a completed New Testament to guide them in this new-covenant age, in the same way that God's old-covenant people had the Old Testament to guide them. To call such an idea impossible-especially for an inspired apostle-is quite unfounded. "Moreover, how do we know that Paul is not telling them about the New Testament at this point? How else would the apostle explain that one day there would be a completed prophetic volume that would supplant all of the partial prophecies that had been given?" (Pettegrew, 182).
The New Testament was completed near the end of the first century, with the last writing of the Apostle John. All the New Testament books were then in circulation. Thus we must conclude that these partial gifts-such as tongues, prophecy, and knowledge-have ceased.
The Teleion and
1 Corinthians 13:12
For many people a major problem in accepting the view that the teleion is the completed New Testament is what Paul says in 13:12: "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." At first glance this seems to be a contrast between our present condition and our future heavenly existence. This is what leads many to conclude that the teleion must be the result of the second coming.
In my judgment, however, this is a serious misunderstanding of verse 12. The time reference for the contrast between "now" and "then" is the time Paul was writing this letter. Thus the contrast is still between the church's years of piecemeal revelations ("now") and the time when the full New Testament will be available ("then"). a. "In a Mirror Dimly" versus "Face to Face." The first part of this verse is not a contrast between this present earthly life and our future heavenly state, but a contrast between two kinds of revelation: the less clear and the more clear. The less clear revelation is compared with trying to see one's face in a poor-quality mirror: "For now we see in a Mirror dimly.” The more clear revelation is then compared with seeing one’s face in a very good mirror: "but then face to face." That is, "For now we see in a mirror dimly, with only occasional, scattered, incomplete revelations of God's new-covenant will; but then, when the completed New Testament has come, we will see, as it were, face to face."
The key to understanding this statement is
Numbers 12:8. The similarity of the imagery and language of
1 Corinthians 13:12a and the Greek version of
Numbers 12:8 is so strong that it is nearly certain that Paul has the latter in mind as he writes the former. In
Numbers 12 God is explaining to Aaron and Miriam why Moses as a prophet is in a class by himself compared with other prophets. God says. He speaks with other prophets in visions and dreams, but with Moses "I speak mouth to mouth, even openly, and not in dark sayings." The phrase "mouth to mouth" here corresponds to "face to face" in
1 Corinthians 13: 12a, and "not in dark sayings" corresponds to "dimly." In the latter phrasing the same Greek word is used in the Septuagint version of Numbers and in Corinthians, namely, ainigma ("riddle"). "In dark sayings" (Num 12:8) is literally "in riddles," and so is "dimly" in
1 Corinthians 13:12a.
For Moses and Paul the point is the same, i.e., a contrast between less clear and more clear revelation. Paul's image is definitely that of "seeing in a mirror." The KJV says, "For now we see through a glass, darkly," leaving the impression that Paul is talking about trying to look through a dirty window pane. Though "remarkably prevalent among Christians," this view is quite erroneous, says Kittel (179). It is also "incorrect to maintain that one of the characteristics of the mirrors of antiquity was to give indistinct pictures"; Kittel speaks of "the archaeological unsoundness of this view" (ibid.).
In the Rabbinic literature relating to
Numbers 12:8, with which Paul would have been familiar, "Moses is indeed extolled as the one who received the supreme and most direct revelation of God when he saw Him in a clear mirror" (ibid.). This is the point of reference from which we must interpret
1 Corinthians 13:12.... The contrast is between (1) seeing in a cloudy, cracked mirror ("dimly"), and (2) seeing in a clear mirror where one's face can be clearly seen.
Thus in l Corinthians 13:12 “dimly" versus “face to face" represents enigmatic, incomplete revelation versus clear, complete revelation. The former is the piecemeal, temporary prophecies and tongues; the latter is the completed New Testament. This is supported by
2 Corinthians 3:7-18 and James l;23-25, where New Testament revelation is compared with looking in a mirror.
Some may still be hung up on the idea of seeing "face to face," thinking this must be a reference to seeing Jesus "face to face.” Actually Paul does not say we shall see him face to face. There is no object for the verb "see," since no specific object is intended. The point is not what or whom we will see, but how we will see. It refers to the comparative clarity of the revelation in the completed New Testament."
An expanded paraphrase of l3:12a is as follows: “For now, in these early days of the church, while we depend on occasional revelations through prophecy or interpreted tongues, it is like trying to see yourself in a scratched and cloudy mirror. But then, when the completed New Testament has come, it will be like seeing a sharp, clear image of yourself in a bright new mirror."
"Know in Part" versus "Know Fully"
The second part of verse 12 has also been interpreted as a contrast between the knowledge anyone has in this life and the knowledge we will have in heaven. This understanding would also support an eschatological interpretation of the teleion. That is, in this life all our knowledge is partial; only in heaven will we “know fully.” Thus the partial gifts such as tongues must last until the second coming, for only then will we "know fully.”
This view is based on a faulty view of the Greek words in verse 12b. Here there are two similar verbs for “to know": inosko and epiginosko. The popular belief is that the latter word represents some special, intensified knowledge, such as one might have in Heaven. This is why Bible versions translate it as “know fully”. The "fully” is based solely on the prefix epi- on the front of epiginosko, there is no word in the Greek that means "fully.”
The idea that there is such a contrast between ginosko and epiginosko is simply not true. The latter term does not necessarily carry any stronger meaning than the former. There is no warrant for translating it "know fully,” in the sense of some kind of heavenly, quasi-divine knowledge. An examination of parallel places where these two words are used in the New Testament shows that they are used interchangeably. The article on "Knowledge” in the New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology mentions no distinction between these words. The major article on ginosko in Kittel's Theological Dictionary of the New Testament says they are used in the New Testament “interchangeably" and “with no dif ference in meaning."
The object of our knowledge is not given; it is not important. The point is the contrast between two kinds or two levels of knowledge. Paul does not say we shall know God as fully as he knows us. Knowledge of God is not really the point. It is enough to conclude that with the more complete knowledge we have from the entire New Testament, we should know ourselves with more clarity, or know what we ought to be in a clearer way (see Jas l:23-25). All thoughts of full knowledge in the sense of omniscience should be excluded altogether. Such knowledge is impossible for finite creatures, which we will always be, even in heaven.
Thus verse 12 is not speaking of a kind of end-times knowledge that will be ours only when we are glorified or only when we get to heaven or only when Jesus comes again. This verse is quite consistent with the meaning of teleion in verse lo as the completed New Testament, which is a body of knowledge that is relatively clear and complete when compared with the fragments of knowledge given in the earliest days of the church via gifts of supernatural knowledge.
It stands firm that the best understanding of the teleion in l Corinthians 13:10 is that it refers to the completed New Testament. This confirms the fact that miraculous gifts ceased being passed along after the death of the apostles. The miraculous gifts filled a need in the absence of the written New Testament. Once the New Testament writings were in hand, this need ceased; thus the gifts ceased.
Robert Thomas (Professor of New Testament at The Master's Seminary in Sun Valley, CA)
Understanding Spiritual Gifts
REASONS WHY TO TELEION CANNOT MEAN “THE PERFECT” IN 13:10
The most common definitions of the English word "perfect" applied to Corinthians 13:10 would probably include:
(a) being entirely without fault or defect
(b) corresponding to an ideal standard or abstract concept
(c) the soundness and the excellence of every part, element, or quality of a thing frequently as an unattainable or theoretical state.
Either of these three or a combination of them is the usual notion the average person attaches to the word. All three are qualitative in nature, a characteristic that renders them unsatisfactory renderings of to teleion. Four reasons demonstrate this:
[1] No other use of teleios in Paul can possibly mean "perfection" in the sense of the absence of all imperfection. In fact, the meaning of “perfection" in Greek philosophers—that of a “perfect" man—is absent from the New Testament." Utopian perfection was a philosophical notion, not a New Testament idea, for this word.“ Elsewhere in Paul the adjective is figurative and refers almost exclusively to a grown man [cf. 1 Cor. 2:6, 14:20, Phil. 3:15; Eph. 4:13; Col. 1:28; cf. also Heb. 5:14].o One other time, in
Colossians 4:12, it means "mature" in the Old Testament sense of wholeness and obedience to God's will, and picks up on his ambition for every man as stated in
Colossians 1:28." So six of the other seven times Paul uses the word, it means "mature." The remaining use is in
Romans 12:1 where its meaning is “complete."
This pattern of usage establishes a strong probability that the word includes the sense of maturity in
1 Corinthians 13:10, especially since its other two uses in 1 Corinthians have that sense.
[2] In the immediate context of
1 Corinthians 13:8–13, a qualitative word such as "perfect" is unsuitable in light of the apodosis of the sentence in 13:10, “Perfect" is not a suitable opposite to ek merous ["partial"). A better meaning would be "whole" or "complete" as antithetical to ek merous.
[3] The terminology of 13:11 is most conclusive because it is an analogy with the stages of human life [i.e., nēpios (“child"] and anēr ["man"]].
(a) The analogy directly impacts the meaning of to teleion in 13:10 because it sets up a teleios/nēpios antithesis in verses 10–11 that is relative, not absolute, and therefore incompatible with the concept of perfection. The difference between childhood and adulthood is a matter of degree, not one of mutually exclusive differentiation.
(b) The nēpios/anēr antithesis in verse 11 has the same contextual effect of ruling out the notion of an ideal state as denoted by the translation “perfect."[4] The terminology of 13:12 requires an allusion to degrees of revelatory understanding, not perfection or freedom from imperfection. The verbs blepomen ("I see") and ginõskõ ("I know") correlate with the gifts of prophecy and knowledge and their limited insights compared with the complete understanding that will prevail in the future. This is quantitative, not qualitative, so to teleion must have the same quantitative connotation.
Hence, both etymological and contextual considerations argue emphatically against the meaning "perfect" for to teleion.
REASONS WHY TO TELEION MUST MEAN “COMPLETE” OR “MATURE”
Corresponding to the reasons for not translating "the perfect" in
1 Corinthians 13:10 are four considerations pointing toward the meaning “complete” or "mature" for to teleion.
1. The idea of totality, wholeness, or completion controls the New Testament usage of teleios. In the present connection, totality takes on an added dimension: "Yet in the main the feeling of antiquity . . . was that only an 'adult’ can be a 'full' man; hence these senses can overlap in Paul."' The thought behind the overlap of "complete" and "mature" in this word's usage is that in the minds of the ancients, adulthood represented a degree of completeness not present during childhood. If ever a clear case for this overlap in meaning existed,
1 Corinthians 13:10 is that case. The background of teleios not only allows for the overlap, the circumstances of the context also require the dual concept of “complete-mature."
2. Another reason for this meaning is the consistent sense of the teleios/ nēpios antithesis in Paul, the New Testament, and all Greek literature. Whenever in the proximity of nēpios, as it is in
1 Corinthians 13:10–11, teleios always carries the connotation of adulthood versus childhood [1 Cor. 2:6 and 3:1; 14:20; Eph. 3:13–14; cf. Heb. 5:13–14)." In
1 Corinthians 2:6 Paul speaks of imparting wisdom to tois teleiois (“the mature"), but he encounters an obstacle because, according to
1 Corinthians 3:1, his readers are nēpiois ("infants"]. In
1 Corinthians 14:20, his command to the Corinthians is to be children (nēpiazete) in malice but adults (teleioi) in understanding. In
Ephesians 4:13–14, his goal is for all members of Christ's body to attain to the unity of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, i.e., to a teleios anēr ("mature man"), so that they be no longer nēpioi (“children"). The writer of Hebrews echoes this antithesis in 5:13–14 when he compares elementary teaching to milk that is suitable for a nēpios ("child" or “infant") with solid food that is suitable for teleiōn ("the mature").
3. First Corinthians 12–14 has many parallels with
Ephesians 4:1-16, a passage that teaches the gradual maturing of the church through the present age. That correspondence is all the more instructive in light of Paul's presence in Ephesus while writing 1 Corinthians. He was probably teaching the Ephesian church the same principles he penned in the Corinthian letter. Then about five years later, as he wrote back to the Ephesian church, he found it necessary to reemphasize and develop the same truths about growth in the body of Christ that he had instructed them about while present with them. The similarities between the two contexts include the following:
- All Seven unifying influences listed in Ephesians 4:4-6 are present in 1 Corinthians 12–14 [1 Cor. 12:4-6, 13; 13:13, 14:22). Particularly noticeable are one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one baptism, and one God and Father of all.
- Emphasis on unity in the body [1 Cor. 12:4-6, 11–13, 24—26; Eph. 4:3, 13) along with the diversity of the body's members (1 Cor. 12:14—26; Eph. 4:11, 16) pervades each passage.
- The noun meros (“part") in both passages depicts individual members of Christ's body (1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 4:16).
- Corporateness of the body (1 Cor. 12:27a; Eph. 4:15–16) combines with an individualistic focus [1 Cor. 12:27b; Eph. 4:4, 7, 16) as a ruling consideration in both places.
- The general subject under discussion in Ephesians (Eph. 4:7, 11) is spiritual gifts as it is in 1 Corinthians 12–14.
- The figure representing the church in both passages is the human body, as it is always when Paul talks about spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:12-27; Eph. 4:4, 15–16; cf. Rom. 12:3-8).
- Edification of the body of Christ is the stated objective in both sections (1 Cor. 14:12, 26; Eph. 4:12, 16).
- Growth from childhood to adulthood is portrayed in Ephesians 4:13–14 as it is in 1 Corinthians 13:11,
- The nēpios/teleios anēr antithesis is found in Ephesians as it is in 1 Corinthians 13:10–11 (Eph. 4:13–14)
Love is the overarching quality in the growth process in both passages [1 Cor. 13:1-13; Eph. 4:15–16).
Since
Ephesians 4:1-16 offers a distinct picture of a gradually developing and maturing body of Christ," the probability is strong that Paul intends to convey the same in
1 Corinthians 13:11, Though he may not say explicitly “the complete or mature body" [i.e., the complete or mature body with reference to revelatory activity) in
1 Corinthians 13:10, he had doubtless taught them verbally at some time during his extended eighteen-month residence in Corinth (as he did the Ephesian church) regarding this analogy so that it was perfectly clear to them what he was talking about. It remains for the interpreter to clarify what he meant by resorting to another of his writings quite relevant to 1 Corinthians.
4. The illustration of 13:11 is hardly suitable to refer to the difference between the present and a period after the parousia. So, the analogy of verse 11 must be supplying data supplemental to what is in verse 12.
a. To say that the parousia is in view in verse 11 is to see Paul as using his own adult status to illustrate a perfection that follows the parousia. Yet, in
Philippians 3:12, he views himself as incomplete in his current state as an adult [teteleiōmai ("I am brought to completeness"), a perfect tense; cf. gegona,
1 Corinthians 13:11, which has a present force: "now that I am a man"). In fact, in the very next verse,
1 Corinthians 13:12, he disclaims such a completed state by noting that currently he is among those whose present state is that of conspicuous limitations." This state of incompletion in Paul as an adult negates any possibility that he intends his adulthood of verse 11 to correspond to the state of ultimate completion in verse 12. It is also contrary to Pauline Christian humility as reflected elsewhere in the apostle's Writings that he would choose such an illustration (e.g., 1 Cor. 15:9; Eph. 3:8; 1Tim. 1:15)
b. The nature of the transition from childhood to adulthood is not Sudden as will be the change at the parousia. It is a gradual process. Adolescence is a transitional period between childhood and adulthood.
c. By nature, the process described by katērgēka ("I render inoperative") in 13:11 indicates an altered condition that Continues. It is a dramatic perfecto It indicates "a change of state which still continues; the emancipation from childish things took place as a matter of course, . . . and it continues."* If Christ did not return before a permanent body of New Testament revelation was finished, a degree of completion would arrive that would render unnecessary a continuation of the process involving the revelatory gifts.
d. The difference between childhood and manhood is a feeble illustration of the vast difference between the Christian's present state and that which will exist after the parousia.
REASONS WHY 13:8–13 REQUIRES THE COMPLETION-MATURITY CONCEPT
1. The purpose of the paragraph of
1 Corinthians 13:8–13 is to establish the eternality of love. The beginning ("love never fails,” v8) and end ("the greatest of these is love," v. 13) of the paragraph prove that.
2. Between the two points the writer shows the eternality of love by two sets of contrasts: [a] one between the duration of revelatory gifts that may or may not extend until Christ's return [13:10–11] and the triad of faith, hope, and love that will definitely extend to the time of Christ's return [13:13a), and (b) one between the triad of faith, hope, and love that continue until Christ's return [13:13a) and love alone that will remain after Christ's return (13:13b).
3. The two sets of contrasts emphasize the secondary character of the revelatory and confirmatory gifts from a temporal standpoint, and the Supreme importance and lasting character of love because of its eternality. Love lasts longer than these gifts; it even lasts longer than faith and hope to which it so closely relates until Christ's second advent.
Merrill Unger (professor at Dallas Theological Seminary)
New Testament Teaching on Tongues
"Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish."
1 Corinthians 13:8.
The gift of prophecy in the apostolic church was not forthtelling the truth of the written Word, but declaring truth which had been specially and directly revealed by the Holy Spirit to the "prophet" in the absence of the written New Testament revelation. It was, like the gift of "knowledge," the sovereign enduement of special direct revelation of truths now contained in the canonical New Testament Scriptures.
Both "prophecy" and "knowledge," therefore, were of necessity "tie-overs" to supply the church's practical needs until the New Testament Scriptures became available. In exactly the same way, although not so directly and indispensably useful as "prophecy" and "knowledge," were tongues, unless interpretation of the tongue's message was present (
1 Corinthians 14:1-22).
These truths are exactly what the apostle declares in
1 Corinthians 13:8. "Love never faileth; but whether there are prophecies, they shall fail [shall be superseded, be rendered useless, unnecessary, and meaningless, because no longer practical or needful, shall be canceled, done away with or put away]; whether there be tongues, they shall cease [be caused to cease, stop altogether]; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away [shall be superseded; the same word used of prophecy is used here also]."
Accordingly, in the original Greek,
1 Corinthians 13:8 is a strong assertion of the truth of the temporary nature of three apostolic gifts, at least: prophecy, tongues, and knowledge.
"For we know in part, and we prophesy in part."
1 Corinthians 13:9.
"In part [Greek-piecemeal, partially, bit by bit] we know and in part [same word] we prophecy." The apostolic gift of knowledge by direct inspiration because it received truth only partially and piecemeal- here in this church assembly a little, there in that church assembly a little, the gift was incomplete and gave only a part of God's truth. The same was true of declaring the truth of the partial and piecemeal revelation. Therefore the gift was lacking and temporary until the complete revelation was given which is the complete New Testament.
"But when that which is perfect is come [Greek-'to teleion', the completed and final thing, which means 'the New Testament Scriptures'], then that which is in part [partial or piecemeal revelation through the gift of directly inspired prophecy and knowledge before the New Testament was given] shall be done away with [shall be superseded, rendered unnecessary and meaningless, because no longer needed and so shall be canceled and done away with]." This is the same Greek word used of "prophecies" and "knowledge" in verses 8 and 11, "I put away childish things."
The Apostle Paul employs two graphic illustrations to make his point. The first is that of a person growing up from up from childhood into adulthood. The second is that of looking into a mirror to see oneself. Concerning the first illustration the apostle says: "When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, I used to think as a child, I used to reason as a child. But when I became an adult I put away childish things."
He is contrasting "that which is perfect" [the completed, final, and fully authoritative Scriptures of the New Testament], which he likens to an adult male, with "that which is in part" [the piecemeal incomplete revelation directly from the Holy Spirit through the exercise of prophecy, tongues, and knowledge], which he likens to a child.
Having to depend upon prophecy, tongues, and knowledge for instruction and edification until the completed New Testament became available was similar to childhood in the experience of the church. Speaking in tongues, for instance, had a purpose in the apostolic church like the chatter of the child has a similar purpose in childhood and like the child's thinking and reasoning processes have a similar purpose in his growing up into manhood. The same was true of knowledge and prophecy. But now that the church has grown up into adulthood, so to speak, with a complete revelation given it, it has 'put away childhood things'; that is, it has set aside as superseded [same word as in verse 8] tongues, prophecies and knowledge, as having no needful place in its adult life, and belonging only to its childhood requirements.
Concerning the second illustration the apostle says, "For now [just now, at this present moment, close upon it before or after] we see through a mirror, indistinctly, but then distinctly. Now [just now] I know partially, but then I shall understand as I am understood". The apostle is comparing the state of the church before the New Testament Scriptures were added to the Old Testament Scriptures to a person looking into a mirror made of polished metal and which reflected only a blurred image. Piecemeal and partial revelation by prophecy, tongues, and knowledge to tide the church over yielded only an imperfect understanding of divine truth. "But then distinctly" refers to the time when the New Testament revelation would become available and enable accurate and full comprehension of spiritual truth, as a person sees another "face to face" and so clearly recognizes him.
"Now I know partially," in fragmentary fashion, as a result of the limited revelation possible through the exercise of gifts of prophecy, knowledge, and tongues. "But then I shall know" fully and completely, because a complete written revelation will be available to me for personal study, "even as I am known" by God who reveals my true condition through His Word.
"And now abides [remains permanently throughout the church age in contrast to prophecy, tongues, and knowledge, which are to be superseded and cease] faith, hope, and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love"
1 Corinthians 13:13.
Robert Gromacki (Professor Emeritus of Bible and Greek at Cedarville University)
The Modern Tongues Movement
“Logically, to telion must refer to completeness or perfection in the same realm as that referred to by to ek merous. Since to ek merous refers to the transmission of divine truth by revelation, the other term to telion must refer to God’s complete revelation of truth, the entire New Testament (taken of course with its foundational book, the Old Testament).”
...
If the gift of tongues involved the revelation of truth from God to man or about man, then its purpose is no longer needed because God has completed His revelation (Rev. 22:18–19). The need for today is to understand what He has already revealed, not to have new revelation. The silence of church history will confirm the fact that the gift of tongues was not intended to become a permanent part of church life. Otherwise, how could the church of Jesus Christ have functioned in those centuries of silence?
…
Paul’s two illustrations (13:11–12) serve as a third argument. Progressive development from infancy to maturity in Paul’s personal life would best suit the development of the body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor 12). There may be a subtle inference here to the gifts of tongues (“spake”), knowledge (“understood”), and prophecy (“thought”) which would be “put away” or rendered inoperative by maturity (same word is used: katargethesetai, 13:8; cf. katergeka, 13:11). The second illustration is a little more difficult to understand. Weaver argued that it does not refer to the second coming of Christ: “If the mirror [glass] is metaphorical for something, then the ‘face to face’ experience is also metaphorical. If the mirror represents imperfect knowledge, then the face to face encounter is metaphorical for the complete knowledge.” This is consistent with the context of partiality and completeness. By looking into the partially revealed Word, man got a partial picture of himself; however, when the Word was completed, then man could see himself exactly as God saw him. Why? Because God had completely revealed the purpose of man and the church in the Word.
Myron J. Houghton (Senior Professor of Systematic Theology at Faith Baptist Bible College)
A Reexamination of 1 Corinthians 13:8–13
Full paper at
http://www.gospelrenewal.com/blog/w...eological-Training-Session-6-Supplemental.pdf
Conclusion: "If one begins with the end of this passage by attempting the explain the words, "now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have fully known" (v.12b), very likely an eschatological interpretation will be adopted, and support for a cessationist viewpoint will not be found. If, however, one begins with verse 8, the revelational character of prophecy, tongues, and knowledge will be emphasized and Paul's comparison between the temporary gifts, which communicated partial revelation, and the full and final revelation found in the completed canon of Scripture will be understood (vv 9-10). The remaining verses in this passage (vv 11-13) can be interpreted consistently with the understanding of verses 9-10.
Andy M. Woods, (professor at Chafer Theological Seminary)
The Meaning of the Perfect in 1 Corinthians 13:8–13
Paper available at
http://www.chafer.edu/files/the_meaning_of_the_perfect.pdf?r=25671561
Conclusion: "Of the three dominant interpretations of to teleion (“the perfect”), the canon view best fits the immediate context of
1 Corinthians 13:8–10. Unlike the other views, it does not pit a quantitative concept against a qualitative one but rather allows two quantitative concepts to live in natural harmony and symmetry with one another. The semantic range of to teleion includes the notion of scriptural revelation (
James 1:25), which provides a suitable antithesis to the incomplete revelation provided by prophecy, knowledge, and tongues. Moreover, the canon view fits well with the material that follows in verses 11–13, and the criticisms raised against the canon view in particular and cessationism in general are answerable. In comparison with the weaknesses of the ideal and maturity views, the canon view offers the most attractive interpretation of to teleion in
1 Corinthians 13:8–10. Despite its waning popularity in today’s theological climate, evangelicals should take this view more seriously."
David Farnell, professor of New Testament studies at The Master's Seminary
“When Will the Gift of Prophecy Cease?” BSac 150 (April–June 1993): 171–202;
Full article at
When Will the Gift of Prophecy Cease? by F. David Farnell | Grace Online Library
The Second view is that toV tevleion refers to what is ‘mature’ or ‘complete’ rather than ‘the perfect state.’ Understood in this sense, toV tevleion draws on the figure of the church as Christ’s body collectively growing up during the age since the day of Pentecost. The gifts of 1 Corinthians 13:8-9 gradually ceased with the close of canonical revelation and the increasing maturity of the body of Christ (cf. Eph. 4:11-16, esp. v. 13, eij’ a[ndra tevleion, ‘the mature man’).
Conclusion: "Thus the gift of prophecy, along with tongues and knowledge, was a temporary gift which is no longer operative today."
T. R. Applebury (former professor of New Testament at Pacific Christian College, California)
Studies in First Corinthians
But what is the perfect thing? Commentators suggest that it is Christ or the perfection that will be known when He comes. But there is no reference to the coming of Christ in this context. The word translated “perfect” means “mature” when it refers to persons as in 2:6. Paul says, “We speak wisdom, however, among them that are fullgrown.” When it refers to things, as in this case, it means the end or purpose achieved by the thing, complete. That which was in part must balance with that which is complete. The things that were in part, the spiritual gifts, were used of the Lord to bring the revelation of His will to man. Without the work of the inspired apostles we never would have known the “wisdom of God.” The spiritual gifts given by the Spirit through the laying on of apostolic hands made it possible for others to reveal the same wisdom of God. But when this revelation was committed to writing as it was in the first century, there remained no further purpose to be fulfilled by these gifts. Therefore, when the completed revelation-the Bible -came, the things that were in part were abolished.
By walking in the most excellent way, the Corinthian church should have been able to use the gifts for the benefit of the whole church while awaiting the day when the completed revelation would be available for all to use.
When I was a child.-The apostle clearly indicates that the spiritual gifts belonged to the childhood period of the church; their possession and use were not the mark of spiritual maturity.
now that I am become a man.-As the mature man puts away childish things, the church could look to the time when it was to have the completed revelation of the Word and put away the transitory spiritual gifts.
For now we see in a mirror darkly.-The subject is still spiritual gifts. It is not a reference to, time as opposed to eternity. By “now” Paul points to the situation which existed at Corinth. They had the gift of tongues, but it was like seeing an imperfect reflection in a mirror in contrast to the perfect view possible through completed revelation in the Bible.
but then face to face.-This is not a reference to the coming of Christ when we shall see Him as He is. By “then” Paul is indicating the time when the completed revelation would be available for all.
now I know in part.-This was true of the time when the gifts were being used as opposed to the full knowledge that would be possible through the complete revelation in the Bible. It is not a reference to the partial knowledge of this life as opposed to knowledge in heaven. Context does not permit the application to heaven.
as I am fully known.-Just as God knew the needs of all men so He has given complete instruction in His Word for life and godliness (II Pet. 1 :2-4).
Walter J Chantry
“Signs of the Apostles”, Banner of Truth.
When and why they must disappear from the church is clearly stated in verse 9-12. Knowledge and prophecy were only partial and imperfect forms of revelation. But there is something 'perfect' coming. At once our minds think of heaven. That is the perfect state. But the word translated 'perfect', in its New Testament usage, does not always mean ideally perfect. The very same word is used again in
1 Corinthians 14:20, where it is translated 'men'. The idea is 'mature' in contrast with 'childish'. That this meaning of the word is intended in 13:10 is quite clear from the continuation of the contrast with 'childish' in verse 11. When fully matured or adult revelation comes, then the partial revelations of a childish state will be put away.
Certainly the thought of this text must be seen in the light of
2 Timothy 3:16-17. 'All scripture is given by inspiration of God .. that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.' In neither passages does 'perfect' have in view the glorified man in heaven. It refers to the man completely equipped for life in this world, the man come to full maturity. When Scripture is completed, then the church will have revelation thoroughly suited to her condition on earth. Our complete Bible is perfect in the sense that it is utterly sufficient revelation for all our needs. Paul is saying, 'When the sufficient comes, the inadequate and partial will be done away. Tongues will vanish away, knowledge will cease at the time that the New Testament is finished.'
Douglas Judisch (former Professor of Biblical Studies at Concordia Theological Seminary),
An Evaluation of Claims to the Charismatic Gifts (Grand Rapids: Baker)
1 Corinthians 13:8-13. The force of the apostle Paul's argument is that faith, hope and love will outlast the gifts of prophesying, speaking in tongues, and knowing divine truths by direct revelation. He implies that love will outlast faith and hope. The prophetic gifts will come to an end when the "perfect has come" (vs. 10). Therefore, if the "perfect" has come, then any claim to the prophetic gifts in our day is automatically counterfeit and invalid. What is the "perfect" thing of verse 10? The Greek word means "complete, a conclusion of the parts, whole." Paul makes the contrast between the "in part" and the "perfect" (see vs. 9). The "perfect" cannot be the Second Coming of Christ for three reasons:
1. It is foreign to the context. Paul makes no other reference to eternal bliss or the second coming of Christ in this section of
1 Corinthians 12-14 which is a discourse on the use of spiritual gifts.
2. It destroys the contrast between "in part" and "complete." The contrast is not one of quality but of quantity, i.e.. between a "whole" and "its parts," not between "better" and "best."
3. It is a contradiction in terms. "Faith" and "hope" will not and cannot continue in eternity or remain at the second coming of Christ.
4. The face that is seen in verse 12 is our own, as in a mirror, and is not the face of Jesus.
Therefore, the apostle is making the point that "faith, hope, and love" will continue after the prophetic gifts cease. They will cease when "the perfect has come." The "perfect" or "completed" thing is the sum of its parts. Our cue must be taken from the identification of what constitutes the "parts." Verse 9 tells us that the "in part"things are "prophesying" and "knowing" and by implication "speaking in tongues." The "perfect" thing, as seen in this context, is the composite of all the individual pieces of prophecy, tongues, and prophetic knowledge. In other words, the "perfect" thing is the complete revelation of God to man through the means of the prophetic gifts - the Scriptures. The prophetic gifts, then, cease when God's prophetic activity is complete, when His revelation is complete, that is, when the Bible is complete.
W E Vine - 1 Corinthians
This applies the principle in verse 10 to the future state of perfection to be brought in at the Parousia of Christ. It is also applied to the distinction between the period in which the gifts of tongues and prophecy were in exercise, as being one of partial vision, and the subsequent period of clear vision through possession of the complete Word of God, a face-to-face condition, so to speak, a knowledge which the believer has the capacity even now of knowing, not in part, but fully.13
David Lipscomb - First Corinthians
8 Love never faileth:-He now shows that spiritual gifts were temporary, and must pass away; while love, the doing of God's will to all, as a principle of action and a means of justification, would never pass away. Love is the ruling principle in heaven, and is eternal,
but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; -Prophecy, the fore telling of future events and the teaching by inspiration the will of God after it had been given by the apostles, would be done away, whether there be tongues, they shall cease:-The speaking with tongues they had never learned would cease, whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away-The time would come when miraculously bestowed knowledge would be known no more. All those spiritual gifts pertained to the introductory age of the church. These powers were given to help men do what they could not do without the power, as the New Testament had not been completed.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;-At the time this was written, some things were unknown, had not been revealed. For the knowledge of God's will they were dependent upon those possessing the gift of prophecy. Most expositors think this refers to the partial knowledge of divine things we possess in this world, compared with the clear vision we shall possess when we shall have passed into the future; but this is wholly outside the scope of the apostle's writing here. He is contrasting the spiritual gifts, their teachings and blessings, with the service of love under the completed and perfect law.
10 but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.-These gifts were to continue in the church to guide and instruct it until the completed will of God was made known. They were to serve a temporary purpose; then when their office was fulfilled, they were to pass away and give place to it. That perfection was completed, so far as God's work of the revealing work of the Spirit is concerned, when the full will of God should be revealed, or made known, and his provisions for saving men should be set in operation, as is set forth in the following: "And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ: till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men in craftiness, after the wiles of error; but speaking truth in love, may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, even Christ." (Eph. 4: 11-15.) In this passage Paul explains the whole matter; showing that these miraculous gifts were to serve till the full knowledge was received to make them one in faith and to bring them to the fullness of men and women in Christ. That knowledge is given in the New Testament.
There are two reasons why the gifts of the Spirit are not now imparted. These gifts were miraculous powers. First, there are no apostles now to impart gifts. The apostles were inspired men; so they knew all truth through inspiration, and they had seen and heard Jesus. Secondly, having revealed all truth needed to make men perfect, and thoroughly furnish them to all good works, having put in operation all the provisions of God for instructing and blessing men, there is no further need for miraculous revelations. Men can now learn all truth needed for present and eternal well-being from his will revealed and recorded in the Bible, and it will lead him into all the blessings of God in this world and in that to come, if he will study it to know and do the will of God. What man can learn himself, God will not work miracles to make known to him.
Again, to all creations and orders of God there have been creative and procreative ages. The creative age is that in which new creatures and a new order of things are brought into being; the procreative age is that in which these beings are multiplied and developed and the order is continued. In the creative age, the age of miracles, things are miraculously formed and created, afterwards they multiply and grow through the workings of law. Life was imparted to Adam and Eve by miracle; life, the same life that was given to them, has been passed on to their children through all the generations from them to us by law. No miracle has been needed to impart physical life since they were made alive. A miracle giving physical life would be a violation of the order of God. The same is true in the spiritual world. In the beginning spiritual life was imparted miraculously. Jesus Christ came into the world; through his teaching in precept and example; his suffering, death, burial; his struggle in the grave with the power of death and hell (in the grave the battle for man was fought and the victory won); his resurrection and ascension to his Father's throne, he created the material for the new spiritual kingdom. The apostles and their fellow disciples constituted the nucleus. Christ completed his work and left ther, with the words ringing in their ears: "Behold, I send forth the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city, until ye be clothed with power from on high." (
Luke 24: 49.) The Holy Spirit came, imparted unto them spiritual life miraculously, organized them, gave laws to guide in the operation and development in the spiritual realm. The same spiritual life bestowed on them through miracle has been perpetuated and multiplied through "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:2), so that all Christians now enjoy that life without miracle. It was given by miracle; it is perpetuated by law.
11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child:-He compares this time of partial gifts in the church to childhood; that, when the perfect law is completed, to manhood. While the gifts last, he would use and speak by them as he spoke when a child.
now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things.--When the perfect law is come, he will put away these partial gifts bestowed as helps for the childhood of the church and use the perfect law given to guide its manhood.
12 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-While in the state of childhood, with only the partial knowledge made known through the spiritually gifted, they saw as in a mirror darkly; but when the perfect revelation should be made known, they would know the things revealed through all. So that the knowledge we possess through the completed will of God is greatly more than any one of the gifted or inspired ones possessed, since the revelations made to and through all are given in the Scriptures.
13 But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three;-While these miraculous gifts must pass away, faith, hope, and love remain as the permanent and abiding fruits of the word of God. Without these no one can be a child of God; with them and the perfect law of liberty, gifts are no longer needed. The word of God as the seed of the kingdom received into the heart produces faith. Faith, in the promises contained in the word of God, produces hope. The end of faith and hope is to bring man into perfect harmony with the will of God. Complete harmony with the will of God is perfect love to every being in the universe.
and the greatest of these is love.-Love is the filling of all requirements, duties, and obligations contained in the law of God toward God and to all the creatures of heaven and earth. Love is the great underlying and all-pervading principle of the universe. God is love, and the laws of the universe are the manifestations and outgrowth of his love; and to love is to conform to the laws of God, to bring ourselves into harmony with them, and through these to work good to every being in the universe. This love will only be perfected in the state of glory, when we shall see him as he is and be like him, and it will be eternal.
Faith is not an end; it is faith in a Divine Deliverer and in his promise of salvation; it is the means toward eternal life. Hope is not an end; it is hope of final and eternal fellowship with God; it is the means to steadfastness and to heaven. But love is an end in itself. It is the bond of perfectness; beyond this even Christianity cannot carry us. As faith and hope realize their purpose when they produce love, it is obvious that the virtue which is their final purpose is greater than they. And this conviction is confirmed when we consider that, of all virtues, love is usually the most difficult and the last to be acquired. Love is the test and the crown of spiritual maturity. Society needs above all things to be penetrated with the spirit of love to God, sympathy and brotherly kindness to man. This is the radical cure for all its ills-this, and only this. Without it, all is disorder and chaos; with it, all is regularity and beauty. It represses hatred, malice, envy; and it cultivates considerateness, pity, gentleness, self-denial, and generous help.
