Commentary - 1 Corinthians 13:8-13

Bird's-eye view

In this concluding section of his great chapter on love, the apostle Paul turns his attention to the permanence of love in contrast to the temporary nature of the more spectacular spiritual gifts. He is still addressing the problem of the Corinthians' immaturity and their prideful elevation of certain gifts, particularly tongues and prophecy. Paul's argument is straightforward: the gifts that were causing such division were, by their very nature, part of the church's infancy. They were necessary tools for the apostolic age, the foundational period of the church, but they were destined to be set aside, much like a man sets aside his childhood toys and ways of thinking. Love, on the other hand, is not a temporary tool but the very atmosphere of eternity. The central point revolves around the phrase "when the perfect comes." Paul argues that this "perfect" thing, upon its arrival, would render the "partial" gifts obsolete. This passage, therefore, is a crucial text for understanding the cessation of certain charismatic gifts and for elevating the ordinary, yet eternal, Christian graces of faith, hope, and love.

The argument moves from a direct statement about the cessation of gifts to two analogies that illustrate the transition from immaturity to maturity. The first is the analogy of a child growing into a man. The second is the analogy of seeing a poor reflection in a polished metal mirror versus seeing someone face to face. Both analogies point to a transition from an inferior, partial state to a superior, complete state. The passage culminates in the triumphant declaration that while many things pass away, three things remain: faith, hope, and love. And of these three eternal realities, the greatest, the very pinnacle of what it means to be like God, is love.

Outline

Context In 1 Corinthians

This passage is the capstone of Paul's extended argument about spiritual gifts, which runs from chapter 12 through chapter 14. The Corinthian church was gifted but chaotic. They were enamored with the more spectacular manifestations of the Spirit and were using them as a basis for spiritual pride and division. In chapter 12, Paul established that the gifts are from one Spirit and are for the common good, using the analogy of the body to emphasize unity and mutual dependence. He ends that chapter by telling them to desire the greater gifts, and then he says, "And I will show you a still more excellent way" (1 Cor 12:31). Chapter 13 is that "more excellent way." It is not a detached, sentimental poem about love but a sharp, corrective polemic. It teaches that the exercise of any gift, no matter how impressive, is worthless without love. The verses that follow our text, in chapter 14, return to the practical regulation of the gifts, especially tongues and prophecy, in the corporate worship of the church. Therefore, 13:8-13 serves as the theological hinge for the entire section, explaining why love is the more excellent way: because the gifts are temporary scaffolding, while love is the permanent structure.

Key Issues

The Temporary Scaffolding

One of the central debates this passage fuels is over the timing of the cessation of certain spiritual gifts. When does "the perfect" come? Many today assume this refers to the second coming of Christ. But this interpretation creates more problems than it solves. If the gifts of prophecy and revelatory knowledge last until the second coming, then they are not really "in part," are they? They would characterize the entire church age. Furthermore, this view struggles to explain why such gifts seem to have disappeared from the historical record after the apostolic age.

A much more robust interpretation, one that fits the context of the New Testament's completion, is that "the perfect" refers to the finished canon of Scripture. The apostolic age was the time of the laying of the foundation of the church (Eph 2:20). During that time, God granted revelatory gifts like prophecy, tongues, and words of knowledge because the New Testament was not yet complete. These gifts were necessary for the guidance and edification of the infant church. They were, however, "in part", fragmentary and incomplete revelations. Once the full and final revelation of God in Christ was committed to writing in the New Testament Scriptures, the need for this temporary, foundational scaffolding was removed. The "perfect" or "complete" thing had come, and the partial was done away. This is not to say God stopped working in the world, but rather that He stopped giving new, authoritative public revelation.

Verse by Verse Commentary

8 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.

Paul begins with a stark contrast. Love is eternal. It never falls, never becomes obsolete, never fails in its purpose. It is the very character of God. Then he lists three of the gifts the Corinthians were so proud of: prophecy, tongues, and knowledge. And for each, he pronounces its obsolescence. Prophecy and knowledge "will be done away." The verb is passive, indicating God is the one who will render them inoperative. Tongues "will cease." The verb here is in the middle voice, meaning they will stop of their own accord, having fulfilled their purpose. The purpose of tongues was primarily as a sign of judgment on old covenant Israel (1 Cor 14:21-22), and with the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70, that sign was no longer needed. The revelatory gifts were for a time; love is for all time.

9-10 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.

Here is the reason for the temporary nature of these gifts. They are "in part." The knowledge gained through a spiritual gift of knowledge was not exhaustive. The revelation from a prophecy was not the whole counsel of God. They were fragments, necessary pieces for a church that did not yet have the completed New Testament. But Paul anticipates the arrival of "the perfect" (to teleion). The word means "the complete," or "the mature." When the complete thing arrives, the partial things are naturally set aside. You don't need a candle once the sun has risen. You don't need a blueprint once the building is finished. Once the full, final, sufficient revelation of God's Word was completed and delivered to the saints, the partial, fragmentary revelations of the apostolic age were rendered obsolete.

11 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.

Paul now gives his first illustration. He compares the era of the church's life characterized by sign gifts to childhood. A child's way of speaking, thinking, and reasoning is appropriate for a child. But it is entirely inappropriate for a man. Growth into maturity means putting away childish things. The Corinthians were acting like children, clamoring over their noisy toys (the gifts). Paul is telling them to grow up. The church, as it matured and received the full deposit of the apostolic teaching in the Scriptures, was to set aside the ways of its infancy. The sign gifts were those "childish things." This is not to denigrate the gifts in their proper time, any more than one would denigrate childhood. It is simply to put them in their proper place as a temporary stage on the way to maturity.

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.

The second illustration contrasts two ways of seeing. The "now" refers to the apostolic age, the time of partial gifts. Seeing "in a mirror dimly" is a good description of that time. The mirrors of that day were polished metal, not glass, and they gave a poor, distorted reflection. This is what prophecy and tongues were like, a true, but indirect and imperfect, reflection of the truth. But "then," when the perfect comes, we will see "face to face." Many leap to the conclusion that this must mean seeing Jesus at the Second Coming. But the contrast is between two ways of knowing in this life. The contrast is between the partial knowledge available through the gifts and the full, clear, sufficient knowledge available in the completed Scriptures. Through the Word, we see the face of God in Jesus Christ with a clarity the Corinthians, with their sporadic prophecies, could only dream of. The second part of the verse reinforces this. "Now I know in part" refers to the fragmentary nature of revelatory gifts. "Then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known" speaks of the intimacy and sufficiency of knowledge that comes through the completed Word. We are fully known by God, and in His completed Word, we are given everything we need to know Him fully and truly.

13 But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

After declaring the end of the temporary gifts, Paul concludes with what remains. "But now," in this present age of the mature church, three things "abide." They endure. They are faith, hope, and love. These are not temporary tools but the permanent dispositions of the Christian heart. Faith is our trust in the unseen realities revealed in the gospel. Hope is our confident expectation of the future God has promised. And love is the fruit of the Spirit that reflects the very nature of God. These three are the essential graces of the entire Christian era, from the closing of the canon to the return of the King. And among this glorious, abiding triumvirate, one is supreme. The greatest is love. Faith will one day give way to sight. Hope will be fulfilled in possession. But love will continue forever. God is love, and to dwell with Him is to dwell in love for all eternity. This is why love is the "more excellent way."

Application

The primary application of this text is a radical reordering of our spiritual priorities. The modern church, in many quarters, is just as childish as the Corinthian church. We chase after experiences, signs, wonders, and prophecies. We are impressed by the spectacular, the noisy, and the novel. Paul's message to us is the same as it was to them: grow up. Put away childish things.

Maturity means ceasing our clamor for new and direct revelation and settling down to the patient, diligent, lifelong task of studying the perfect revelation God has already given us in the Bible. The mature Christian is not the one who speaks in tongues, but the one who bridles his tongue. The mature Christian is not the one who has a "word from the Lord" for everyone, but the one who has submitted his entire life to the Word of the Lord in Scripture. Maturity is found not in spiritual pyrotechnics, but in the quiet, abiding realities of faith, hope, and love.

And above all, we must pursue love. We must measure our spiritual health not by the impressiveness of our gifts, but by the depth of our love for God and for our neighbor. Is our theology, however correct, making us more patient and kind? Is our worship, however exuberant, leading us to rejoice in the truth and bear the burdens of others? Is our service, however sacrificial, rooted in a genuine, self-giving affection for the saints? The gifts were temporary scaffolding, but love is the final building. Let us, therefore, labor to build with that which will last forever.