Learning

On Christmas Eve, I was reminded of 1 Corinthians 13 . Most people know this as the love chapter of the Bible. It's always a favorite at weddings, reminding the bride and groom of what true love looks like. It's a beautiful chapter. The last paragraph in the chapter is interesting though.

You have to remember that 1 Corinthians 13 is in the middle of 12 and 14, two chapters that focus on the gifts of the Spirit. So verses 8-13 discuss how the gifts will cease, specifically the gift of tongues and of prophecy. This was brought up in discussion and it made me want to search and understand why God would say that these gifts would cease if we're using them today. The timeframe of them ceasing was my main concern. I know there are people who don't believe in these gifts, and people who believe that these gifts have ceased. From personal experience, I would have to disagree. So I wanted to study.

1 Corinthians 13:8-13 ESV
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Verse 8 says specifically that these gifts will end. But it says that after stating that Love never ends. I believe that God is Love (1 John 4:16), so it is stating that God never ends and His Love never ends. This is a beautiful promise. This is also the premise of this paragraph - Love.

Verse 10 speaks of the perfect coming. The perfect is Christ and Christ alone. There is no other perfection. Right now we know in part and prophecy in part. We do not have full understanding. We will not have it until the day that Christ returns because He is perfect. Verse 12 talks about seeing in a mirror right now, but then, when the perfect comes, we will see face to face. The only one I want to see face to face, the only perfect one to see face to face with is Christ. So these gifts will pass away when Christ returns. We will no longer need the gift of prophecy and of tongues when Christ returns because we will know fully. These gifts help us right now, just as the Holy Spirit is called our Comforter and Helper, so are His gifts. They will never replace Christ but they help us live the life Christ has called us to while He is not with us.

The greatest part of learning this was when God confirmed it a few days ago through a daily devotional. Only God knew that we had studied it. In reading the following devotional from Andrew Wommack, I felt so loved, like God had written it just for me to remind me of how much He loves me and wants me to continue to seek Him and understand His Word.

Andrew Wommack Daily Devotional, December 31, 2011 -  GOD STILL PERFORMS MIRACLES
(http://www.awmi.net/home)

Mark 16:20 "And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen."

The Lord confirmed the preaching of His Word with miracles. If Jesus and the first century Christians needed the Word confirmed with the miraculous (Heb. 2:4), then we do too. There is no scripture that says these miraculous signs have passed away.

Some people have interpreted "that which is perfect" in 1 Corinthians 13:10, as being the complete Bible. This has led them to believe that the gifts of the Spirit have ceased. Although God's Word is perfect (Ps. 19:7), it is not the "perfect thing" that is referred to here. 1 Corinthians 13:8 does say that tongues shall cease, but it will not happen until "that which is perfect is come."

In 1 Corinthians 13:12, Paul says, "when that which is perfect is come, we shall see face to face." This speaks of seeing the Lord face to face, instead of vaguely, as through a dark glass, as it is now. Some might argue that this is speaking in a symbolic sense, instead of literally face to face. But the next comparison in this verse says that then, "when that which is perfect is come," we shall know all things even as we are also known. There is no other way to interpret this, except as a description of when we will stand before the Lord, after this life. Then we will be face to face, and know all things even as also we are known.

Verse eight says that at the time prophecies fail and tongues cease, knowledge will vanish away. This is talking about the next life, or the new heavens and earth, because one of the signs of the end times is that knowledge shall increase (Dan. 12:4).

So the "that which is perfect" that Paul speaks of, cannot be the Bible. It has to be either our glorified body, or Jesus at His second coming. Either way, these verses establish that until "that which is perfect is come," tongues and prophecy will remain. They are still valid gifts, and even today, it is God's will to accompany the preaching of His Word with miracles