We are studying the subject of love in 1 Corinthians 13. This will be our seventh and final message on love. In verses 1-3 Paul spoke of the preeminence of love. It is of more value than everything else. Life minus love is nothing. The love we are talking about is agape, or God's kind of love, a deliberate choice to act for the best interests of another person. That is indeed true love. It is to put another's need and fulfillment ahead of your own and to act deliberately to help fulfill that need. Then in verses 4-7 we saw the practice of love. , both the positive and the negative aspects of the practical side of love. Now, in verses 8-13 Paul talks about the permanence of love: love never fails.
This is a controversial passage but hopefully we will find it practical. Do you struggle with priorities? I'm sure that most of us do. Sorting our priorities is one of the great struggles in life. If you have a proper view of God, a proper view of yourself, and a proper view of life your priorities will naturally fall into place. If you have a proper view of life your priorities will be right. The proper view of life is the basis for Paul's argument in verses 8-13 of 1 Corinthians 13. Many of the Corinthians continually had their eyes on the wrong things. They were overly concerned about the temporary and little concerned about the permanent. Of all their many failings the Corinthian believers' greatest failure was in love. Just as the presence of "love covers a multitude of sins" (1Pet. 4:8), the lack of love causes a multitude of sins.
Let's look at Paul's argument in these verses and see if we can find the principle that he is giving us. He says,
1 Corinthians 13:8 (NKJV) Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
The permanence of love is stated in the very first phrase, "love never fails." The various versions translate that in many ways. The reason is that the Apostle has employed a very unusual Greek verb here that is translated "fails" in the version I am using (NKJV). The Greek word is ekpipto, it really means, "to fall apart." It was used of a flower or leaf that falls to the ground, withers, and decays. It says love never "falls apart." It is meant in the sense that love never falls away and disappears; it never quits; it is never used up. Love will never collapse, love will never fall, or to put it positively love is eternal. The writer of the Song of Solomon expresses it this way:
Song of Solomon 8:7 (NKJV) Many waters cannot quench love, Nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love All the wealth of his house, It would be utterly despised.
So Paul gives us here the permanence of love; it will never fail. It is eternal, it will last forever. Now, in verses 8b-12, Paul contrasts the permanence of love with the transitoriness of spiritual gifts. In 8b Paul states the transitory character of spiritual gifts. He talks about three gifts. The "gift of prophecy," the "gift of tongues," and the "gift of knowledge." These were the three favorite gifts at Corinth. They were making much of them in the church there, as today many in the church make much of them. The Corinthians held these gifts in high esteem. Paul says that prophecy will be done away. The Greek word he uses for done away is katargeo which means to abolish, cease, destroy, do away, become of no effect. What he is saying is that prophecy is transitory. He goes on to talk abut tongues. That gift was esteemed above all others by the Corinthians. Paul says that tongues will cease. It also is transitory. The gift of tongues is the gift of supernatural utterance of a language never learned. It is the ability to speak a language, a true language, that was never learned.
Then he speaks of knowledge. It shall vanish away. This is not knowledge in general but the "gift" of knowledge by direct revelation. He uses the same verb, katargeo, that he uses for prophecy. The gift of knowledge is also temporary, or transitory.
This should make verse eight clear to us. He has told us two things, 1. love is eternal, it is permanent, it will never fail. 2. But spiritual gifts, even those you value so highly will be done away with, they are transitory.
Verse 8 does not say when these gifts will cease. It simply tells us that they are transitory. Spiritual gifts are for this life, they are for the church. Though we are told that all three gifts would someday cease to exist, two different verbs are used to indicate their cessation. This is a bit technical. Paul tells us that prophecy and knowledge will be done away, katargeo. Those two verbs are passive. Prophesy shall be done away. Knowledge shall be done away. It is by the operation of an outside party. In the center it says that tongues will cease, pauo, this is not passive it is in the middle voice which implies that tongues will cease in and of themselves. He is saying that prophesy and knowledge will be stopped but tongues will stop themselves. If you cross reference this verse with Eph. 2:20 you will find a significant inference.
Ephesians 2:20 (NKJV) having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone,
Prophesy is a foundational gift of the church. After the foundation was laid God stopped the gift of prophecy, it was an external action by him. The same is true of the gift of knowledge. It is possible to infer that before God stopped the gift of prophecy and knowledge tongues died in and of themselves. The book of Acts seems to support this theory in that there is no reference to tongues after 19:6. As you go through the book you see the gift of tongues fading out. It is also noteworthy that tongues are mentioned only in the earlier NT books. Tongues are never mentioned again in the NT after this warning. Justin Martyr, the great church Father of the second century, visited many of the churches of his day, yet in his voluminous writings he mentions nothing of tongues. It is not mentioned even among his several lists of spiritual gifts. We'll see more of this in chapter 14. The point of verse 8 is that love is eternal and spiritual gifts are transitory. They are for this age only. Why is this? Paul explains in verses 9-12.
1 Corinthians 13:9 (NKJV) For we know in part and we prophesy in part.
"We know in part" means that all human knowledge, even if it is given by way of a spiritual gift is incomplete. Spiritual gifts give us a partial knowledge. They give us a partial understanding. I believe that those gifts are representative of all the gifts, which will be done away when the perfect comes. Notice that Paul includes himself in the "we". Even the apostles knew only in part. Paul's desire and goal in life was to know Christ better. However, near the end of his life Paul said that he still had not arrived but continues to press on.
Philippians 3:8 (NKJV) Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
Philippians 3:12 (NKJV) Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
To the Romans Paul wrote:
Romans 11:33-34 (NKJV) Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! 34 "For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?"
Our knowledge of God is limited and partial. But v10 says:
1 Corinthians 13:10 (NKJV) But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
Why are spiritual gifts temporary? Because they give us only a partial knowledge, they give us only a partial understanding. There is coming a time of perfect knowledge, a time of perfect understanding. When that time comes we shall no longer need spiritual gifts which give us partial knowledge and partial understanding.
What is" that which is perfect?" This is the crucial phrase in the whole passage. How you interpret verse 8 and verses 11 &12 is all dependent on how you interpret "that which is perfect." There are two major interpretations.
1. That which is perfect refers to the completion of the Bible. It is the completed cannon of Scripture which is perfect. That is a very common interpretation. They tell us that in the first century they did not have the New Testament as we have it. They relied upon the teaching of prophets, evangelists, apostles and others who spoke bits and pieces of the mind of God, but as the complete, written account of the mind of God took shape and form in the New Testament, all the need for these gifts would pass away. It is the claim of those who teach this that as the Word of God, as we think of it, came into being in the written New Testament, these gifts began to fade, so that all the gifts of prophesying and of tongues and of knowledge have all long since ceased and we are now shut up to the Word of God. Now I agree with that, but that is not what this verse refers to at all. Interpreting it this way is to totally ignore the context in which this word "perfect" appears. The reason this does not fit is because verse 8 says that after the perfect is come there will be perfect knowledge. That time has not yet come, has it? The perfect has not yet come. We are still in a time of incomplete knowledge of the Word of God. So the perfect must not have come yet. Another reason the perfect cannot refer to the completion of Scripture is found in Paul's statement that we will see "face to face" in verse 12.
2. That which is perfect refers to the maturity of the body at the second coming of Christ. The word "perfect" is the Greek word teleion. The literature of the NT usually equates the Greek word teleion with maturity. In its eight occurrences in Paul's epistles, six are translated "mature." The phrase "that which is perfect" is often used in the Greek language to speak of purpose or a goal. In this context it is the goal of God for the church. What is God's goal for the church?
Romans 8:29 (NKJV) For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
It is that we should be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. That will only take place when we see him. So the coming again of our Lord for his people will be the consummation of the church. If that is true then what Paul has told us in verses 9 & 10 is this: the reason that spiritual gifts are transitory is that when we shall see Christ we shall enter into a perfect maturity and there will be no need of spiritual gifts. Gifts are for the purpose of maturing the body and when the body is completely matured we will no longer need spiritual gifts.
Ephesians 4:11-16 (NKJV) And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head; Christ; 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
According to this passage the gifts were to be used to bring the church from a state of infancy to adulthood. The word translated "mature" in verse 13 is the same word used in 1 Corinthians 13:10 teleion. The purpose of spiritual gifts is to build up the body; once the body is mature we no longer need spiritual gifts. In this passage in Ephesians maturity is defined as "attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." Such a state will obviously not exist until Christ's second coming. The eschatological emphasis of 1 Corinthians 8-12 must not be overlooked if Paul's argument and point of view are to be properly appreciated.
Having explained why gifts are transitory Paul goes on in verses 11 & 12 to illustrate the transitory character of these spiritual gifts.
1 Corinthians 13:11-12 (NKJV) When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
The first illustration is in verse 11. It comes from a distinction between Paul's childhood and his maturity. Paul compares the church age with his childhood and then he compares the future age with his maturity. A Jewish male was considered a boy until his bar mitzvah, after which he was considered a man. One moment he was a boy; the next he was a man. Our perfection in Christ will be a type of spiritual bar mitzvah, a coming into immediate, complete, and eternal spiritual adulthood and maturity. Remember the context: Paul is contrasting what is temporal to what is eternal. Paul emphasizes this with the verb he uses at the end of verse 11 "put away." That is the fourth time this phrase is used in these verses. The KJV, NKJV and NIV all translate those words four different ways which is very confusing. The NASV translates these verbs the same way all four times. I "put away" is the same verb, katargeo, used at the end of verse 10 shall be "done away." So what Paul is saying is that when I became a man I did away with childish things. The two uses of "doing away" in verse 10 & 11 must happen at the same time. So Paul is saying that as his childhood applies to the time when spiritual gifts were operating in the church so my adulthood applies to the time when the church is perfected. When the church enters its maturity it will discard the things of its immaturity. This is why the first view will not fit. Now I believe that the sign gifts stopped in the first century with the destruction of the temple in 70AD. But I don't think that my view is taught in these verses. These verses teach the transitory nature of the gifts.
Then Paul gives us a second illustration in verse 12.
1 Corinthians 13:12 (NKJV) For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
With the two adverbs now and then, he accentuates a stark contrast; the present age is placed over against the coming age. Clearly here he is anticipating the end of life, the dawning of a new day when the morning will break and every shadow will flee away; all the imperfection of life will come to an end. Now, he says, it is like looking in a mirror dimly. Corinth was famous for its manufacture of mirrors. These ancient mirrors were not like the silvered glass ones we have today that give a clear and beautiful image, since the Corinthians did not understand the process then. The modern mirror with its perfect reflection did not emerge until the thirteenth century. Their mirrors were simply highly polished metal, so that when they looked in them all they got was a rather indistinct, blurred image.
The word Paul uses for darkly is the word from which we get the word "enigma", i'ts a puzzle, it's confusing. The saying "to see in a mirror darkly" may have been a common metaphor used by philosophers to refer to something that is puzzling. There are many things that are puzzling to us now, in this age. There are many things that puzzle me about theology. I cant understand how the absolute sovereignty of God can be compatible with the responsibility of man. How can both be true? There are many things that puzzle us now. We are seeing things dimly as looking in a metal mirror. But then we shall see face to face. This will happen at the return of Christ.
1 John 3:1-2 (NKJV) Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
We will be in "face to face" fellowship with Jesus Christ. I will then know as I am known. How are you known? Perfectly. And some day you will understand the mysteries of God. When that time comes we won't need spiritual gifts. So Paul has given us two illustrations as to why spiritual gifts are transitory. One, they are related to the immaturity of the church. The other is because they give us only a partial knowledge. When the perfect comes we won't need spiritual gifts. Paul has spent much time on the transitory character of gifts. He stated it, then he explained it, then he illustrated it. He has gone to great lengths to impress the Corinthians that what they esteem very highly was transitory, just for this age. Now he concludes this paragraph by restating the permanence of love.
1 Corinthians 13:13 (NKJV) And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
"Now" is not to be taken temporally in this context, but as introducing a conclusion. He began verse 8 by saying that love never fails, now he says love abides. Love is eternal, it will endure forever. His use of faith and hope may surprise you because you may think of them only for this age. When we get to heaven will we still have faith? Will we trust in God in heaven? Of course! Will we have confidence in God when we get to heaven? Of course! Faith abides, it is eternal.
So also is hope. Hope abides because hope is the expectation of more yet to come. There is a phrase earlier in this letter where Paul speaks of "the things God has prepared for those who love him." We are beginning to dabble in the shallows of that now; we have found a few of those things already, but there is an infinite number, and finiteness can never encompass infinity. God, therefore, is going to keep on opening our eyes to new vistas, opening our spirits to new opportunities, to new adventures of faith. It will never grow old; it will never get less; it will go on forever and ever because it is infinite. Hope, therefore, abides.
Then Paul says again that love is also eternal. And love is the greatest of these virtues. Why is it the greatest? The word he uses here greatest is the Greek word meizon, (mide'-zone); it is the same word he is going to use in chapter 14:5.
1 Corinthians 14:5 (NKJV) I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.
In both occasions Paul is telling us that what is greater is so because it is more useful. That is why love is better than faith or hope because it is more useful. Faith is used for your benefit. Hope is used for your benefit. But love embraces you, your wife, your children, the church, and the community in which you live. Love does not seek its own but is directed toward somebody else. For that reason it is superior to faith and hope.
What the Corinthians had been doing was placing a high priority on spiritual gifts, they were very proud about them, they were disputing over them. And among those spiritual gifts were the miraculous gifts such as prophecy, tongues and knowledge. They had placed a very low priority on Christian love. So to them Paul says that the virtue of love is a higher priority than those spiritual gifts because love is eternal and gifts are transitory. That is why love is a higher priority, it is eternal.
Now the struggle in our lives is not often between love and spiritual gifts. It may be for preachers, or Sunday school teachers. But for many of us that is not where the tension is and yet the application continues. For some of you who are athletes the tension may be between winning a game and Christian love. The principle is that Christian love is a higher virtue, a higher priority than winning a ball game. Because love is eternal, winning a game is transitory. With many of you business men the tension comes between love and getting that business deal. The principle is that love is a higher priority than getting that business deal by cheating or hurting someone. The reason again is that the business deal is transitory but love is eternal. For some of us this conflict is between this type of love and winning an argument. The virtue of love in your relationship to your wife or your brother or sister is a higher priority than winning an argument. Because love is eternal winning while that argument is transitory. The principle has tremendous dynamic to it. We could state the principle like this what is of eternal value is a higher priority than what is of transitory value. I don't imagine that any of you would want to debate that with me. I'm sure that you all would agree with me that what is of eternal value is a higher priority than that which is of transitory value. It is when you take that principle and apply it specifically to your life that I get the static and resistance and all of the arguments. If I were to say to you "if you are a Christian than the cultivation of your spiritual life is a higher priority than the cultivation of your social life, your physical life, or your intellectual life. The reason is that your spiritual life is eternal. Your social life, your physical life, your intellectual pursuits are all transitory." There is the priority. The cultivation of your spiritual life is a higher priority than any other area of your life because that and that alone is eternal while everything else is transitory. If you are a parent the teaching and training of your children in the truth of God and the ways of God is a higher priority than buying clothes for their back, providing a house for them to live in, food for their table, or bicycles or automobiles for them to ride in. And that is because their spiritual teaching and training is eternal and everything else is transitory. If you are a doctor the welfare of the patient's soul is a higher priority to you than the welfare of his body. Because his soul is eternal and his body is transitory. If you are a school teacher the welfare of that young person's spiritual life is a higher priority to you than teaching him his algebra or geometry because the spiritual life of those students is eternal and everything else is transitory. If you are a builder, building on the foundation of Jesus Christ is a higher priority than building a sixty story building that will gain fame and reputation for you as an architect or a builder.
That is the application. If you are a Christian your Christian service is a higher priority than your employment Monday thru Friday. Because your Christian service is eternal and your secular employment is transitory. We are to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
What Paul has done in the majority of this passage is to emphasize to the Corinthians that what they had their highest priorities in was transitory. Don't invest your life in those areas that are passing. Invest you life in love for it is eternal. If you knew that your house would be burned to the ground next Saturday would you have it repainted tomorrow? Would you have it re-carpeted and re-furnished? This whole world with all we are building and investing in will someday be burned up.
2 Peter 3:10-14 (NKJV) But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;
Invest you life and time in what is eternal. That is what Paul is saying. What is of eternal value is of higher priority than what is temporal. That applies to you this morning! Are you saved? Your soul is eternal and of much higher priority than anything else you have. Will you trust in Christ today. Will you accept the penalty that he paid for you?
If you are saved, to become a loving, compassionate, patient, kind, truthful person is the reason you exist. Everything else must either minister to that end or be regarded as useless and wasted time.
Love is preeminent because love is permanent. Are you practicing love? Is it your highest priority? If it is not, your priorities are wrong. May God help us to hold clearly in our minds and understand the reality of these words, "the greatest of these is love."
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