Friday, November 4, 2016

1 Corinthians 13 - the Love Chapter

1 Corinthians 13 - The Love Chapter

Corinthians
Above image from:
https://www.insight.org/resources/bible/the-pauline-epistles/first-corinthians

Key verses are verses 8 & 13 (J.B. Phillips New Testament):
Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is, in fact, the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen. ... For if there are prophecies they will be fulfilled and done with, if there are “tongues” the need for them will disappear, if there is knowledge it will be swallowed up in truth. For our knowledge is always incomplete and our prophecy is always incomplete, and when the complete comes, that is the end of the incomplete. In this life we have three great lasting qualities—faith, hope and love. But the greatest of them is love.

Jeffrey E. Miller: "First Corinthians 13 is one of the most beautiful chapters in the entire Bible. This "love chapter" has rightly been adored and recited throughout the ages. It also represents a textbook example of our tendency to take a passage out of its context. It does stand on its own as beautiful rhetoric, but this focused digression was part of Paul's correction to the Corinthians. They were in the practice of loving themselves by showing off their spiritual gifts. Paul instructs them to use their spiritual gifts to love and serve others. Is love the engine that drives you to serve others, or do you have ulterior motives?"

The fruit of the Spirit is a more obvious demonstration of the Holy Spirit's presence in someone's life, than the other gifts of the Spirit:
Galatians 5:22-23: But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

1 Corinthians 12:31: So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is BEST OF ALL.

(1) If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t LOVE others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 

  • Languages:
    • Paul takes some of the spiritual gifts, starting with "tongues" (the “gift” the Corinthians held as the greatest), and proceeds to show that these spiritual gifts would be of limited value unless exercised out of a heart of love.
  • Languages of ... angels:
    • Possibly related to what Paul heard in heaven:
      • 2 Corinthians 12:4: that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.
  • LOVE - Greek agape:
    • Family Foundations: Sacrificial Love by Wil Pounds: "Love is not a four-letter word. It is spelled COMMITMENT. Agape love is something you do. God loved us by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to come to this earth and die for our sins on the cross. Love is something God did. It demonstrates His commitment to a lost world. Agape demands exercise of the whole person in which we seek the highest good in other people, including those whom we find it difficult to naturally love. This kind of love will transform your marriage and your family. It says I will seek nothing but the highest good for my mate, my children, my in-laws, etc. It is not simply a wave of emotion; it is an attitude and includes the mind and the will."
    • Simple Thoughts on the Love of God by I. Gordon: "God’s Love is to be known and experienced!
       Ephesians 3:17-19 ‘And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.’
      Now Paul had experienced a lot to do with God’s love. That’s for sure! It’s no wonder then that he so eagerly wanted others to experience it for themselves. Here he writes to the Ephesians, and look at the words he uses. He wants them to know this love, grasp the extent of it, be rooted and established in God’s love. And look also at the result of doing this – it results in being ‘filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.’ All Christians should desire to be filled with God and filled with the Spirit. In fact, all types of wacky methods for doing this abound in our day and age. Why not pray and concentrate on what Paul prays here? That you may have your eyes open to the extent of God’s love for you. Speaking of this agape love, Paul wants us to know the following four things:
      The width of the love of Christ – this is expressed in Ephesians 2:11-18. The love of Christ is wide enough to include everyone and exclude none! It reaches out to us gentiles, those ‘having no hope and without God in the world’. His love doesn’t look at race, color, sex, wealth, or status (the very things some do judge by!) but includes all.
      The length of the love of Christ – this is expressed in Ephesians 1:4 and 2:7. It stretches from eternity to eternity. That’s how long it is! In love we were chosen before the foundation of the world. And even in the age to come we will be a demonstration of God’s love, kindness and grace. (Ephesians 2:7)
      The depth of the love of Christ – this is expressed in Ephesians 2:1-5. The depth of His love is shown by the depth of our sin that Jesus took upon himself to free us. How far He descended so that we could ascend. ‘Dead in our sins’, ‘by nature, children of wrath’, ‘sons of disobedience’. Yet His love for us was such that He humbled Himself – even to the death of the cross.
      The height of the love of Christ – this is expressed in Ephesians 2:6. Not only did Jesus plunge down to our depth, but he also raised us up to His heights, seating us with Him in the heavenly places. Is this great position only given to the cream of His disciples? No, His love has performed this to for the lowliest sinner who simply, truly believes."
    • Matthew 22:36-40: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
    • John 3:16: “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
    • John 13:34-35: So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
    • Romans 5:5,8: And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. ... But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
    • Romans 8:39: No power in the sky above or in the earth below - indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
    • Romans 12:9: Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.
    • Galatians 2:20: My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
    • Galatians 5:22-23: But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
    • Ephesians 3:19: May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
    • Ephesians 5:25: For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her
    • 2 Thessalonians 3:5: May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.
    • 1 Timothy 1:5: The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.
    • 1 Peter 4:8: Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.
    • 1 John 3:14; 4:7-8, 10, 16-19: If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. ... Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ... This is real love - not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. ... We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. ... We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first.
  • Noisy gong or a clanging cymbal:
    • A characteristic of heathen worship, especially the worship of Dionysus and Cybele, was the clanging of cymbals and the blowing of trumpets. Cymbals make a clanging noise, with no melody and no harmony.
    • Paul is saying you can speak in tongues all you want, but if you don’t have love you are merely making a lot of noise.

(2) If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t LOVE others, I would be nothing.

  • Prophecy:
    • The miraculous gift of prophecy belonged to Balaam, but his love of money exceed his regard of God and Israel, resulting in his being over-ruled by God and killed in battle:
      • Numbers 24:1-4,31:8: By now Balaam realized that the Lord was determined to bless Israel, so he did not resort to divination as before. Instead, he turned and looked out toward the wilderness where he saw the people of Israel camped, tribe by tribe. Then the Spirit of God came upon him, and this is the message he delivered: “This is the message of Balaam son of Beor, the message of the man whose eyes see clearly, the message of one who hears the words of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who bows down with eyes wide open ... They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.
    • Caiaphas as high priest uttered prophecy; but his loveless heart made him an enemy of God:
      • John 11:51: He did not say this on his own; as high priest at that time he was led to prophesy that Jesus would die for the entire nation.
  • God's secret plans (musterion):
    • 1 Corinthians 2:7: No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God - his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began.
  • All knowledge:
    • Corinth is a Greek city, and the Greeks prize philosophy, wisdom, knowledge and mysteries.
    • 1 Corinthians 1:22-23: It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.
    • 1 Corinthians 12:8: To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge
  • Faith ... move mountains:
    • David Lipscomb, Commentary on 1 Corinthians: "Judas had faith to work miracles (Matthew 10:1); but he did not possess love, betrayed the Lord and went to his own place."
    • Matthew 17:20: “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”
  • I would be nothing:
    • In contrast to verse 3 where Paul says - "gained nothing".

(3) If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t LOVE others, I would have gained nothing.

  • Gave everything:
    • Matthew 19:21-22: Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
      • Many speculate that the "rich, young ruler" was Saul of Tarsus (Paul).
  • Gained nothing:
    • In contrast to verse 2 - "be nothing".

(4) LOVE is patient and kind. LOVE is not jealous or boastful or proud 

  • Love is:
    • Steve Zeisler: "It has been observed that we can put Jesus’ name in place of the word “love” at every point, and it makes perfect sense. “Jesus is patient, Jesus is kind and is not jealous; Jesus does not brag and is not arrogant....” Jesus teaches us to choose love in a world like ours, full of stress and difficulty. Love is how He acted and thought, how He treated people, what motivated Him, and how He dealt with unexpected things when they came His way."
    • What Is This Thing Called Love? by Bob Deffinbaugh: "Paul declines giving a technical definition of love; instead, he provides us with a description of love, one especially pertinent to the Corinthians. The first two statements describing love in verse 4 are general. Paul then advances to things not characteristic of love. These just happen to be some of the characteristics of the Corinthian saints. Finally, Paul concludes in verse 7 with four characteristics of love, none of which are selective or partial. The Corinthians’ conduct in these areas was partial and incomplete. And so in these four verses, we learn what love is like, and we also learn that the Corinthians are seriously lacking in love."
  • Patient:
    • The Greek word (makrothymia) comes from two words meaning, “long-tempered." The KJV renders this word suffereth long. If you’re patient, you’re slow to anger, you endure personal wrongs without retaliating. You bear with others’ imperfections, faults and differences - very important in marriage. It is the opposite of anger, and is associated with mercy.
    • David exemplifies this kind of patience or long-suffering. King Saul persistently seeks to kill David. David endures this persecution graciously, refusing to take the king’s life when given the chance.
    • The wealthier Corinthians would not wait for the poorer, but started to eat the meal at the church’s weekly gathering so they didn't have to share. Paul had to command them to wait for one another. Had love been present in Corinth, it would have prompted them to wait (see 1 Corinthians 11:17-34).
    • 1 Thessalonians 5:14: Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.
    • Colossians 1:11: We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy,
  • Kind:
    • Kindness is patience in action. The Greek word was used of mellow wine, and suggests a person who is gentle, who has an ability to soothe hurt feelings, to calm an upset person, to help quietly in practical ways. The kind person shows kindness in response to harsh treatment.
    • God's kindness with us - Romans 2:4: Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?
  • Not jealous:
    • “Jealousy is wanting what someone else has. Bragging is trying to make others jealous of what we have. Jealousy puts others down; bragging builds us up” (John MacArthur, Jr., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary).
    • The account of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 37 gives a very revealing picture of the nature of jealousy and its result:
      • Genesis 37:3-5,11,20,28: Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph - a beautiful robe. But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him. One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. ... But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant. ... Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’ Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!” ... So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt.
    • Proverbs 14:30: A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones.
    • 1 Corinthians 3:3: for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?
    • 2 Corinthians 12:20: For I am afraid that when I come I won’t like what I find, and you won’t like my response. I am afraid that I will find quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorderly behavior.
    • Galatians 5:26: Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.
  • Not boastful:
    • Our Lord humbled Himself, and became obedient even to the point of death on the cross. Mark 10:45 reads, "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many." He is the supreme example of humility.
  • Not proud
    • 1 Corinthians 8:1: ...while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church.
    • Philippians 2:6-8: Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
    • James 4:6: And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

(5) or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.

  • Not rude:
    • You would have never heard a dirty joke or off-color story from the lips of Jesus. The missionary David Livingston said, "The Lord Jesus was a perfect Gentleman." Love has good manners. It is courteous, polite, sensitive to the feelings of others. What a contrast to most of our politicians, actors and actresses, singers, sports "heroes", business leaders! With such examples, we should not be surprised that our younger generation exhibits the same characteristics.
  • Does not demand its own way:
    • The Corinthians’ problem was self-love. They emphasized the gifts which brought attention to themselves. But Paul points out that love does not demand its own way.
    • The very essence of love is unselfishness, the absence of all self-seeking - a key element in a successful marriage!
  • Not irritable:
    • The Greek word means to sharpen, stimulate, rouse to anger. Phillips paraphrases, “It is not touchy.”
  • Keeps no record ... wronged:
    • The Greek word here (logizesthai, Greek #3049) is an accounting term used for entering an item in a ledger so that it will not be forgotten. Christian love has learned the great lesson of forgiving and forgetting.
    • While dying on the cross Jesus prayed for those who were responsible for crucifying Him. He prayed over and over again, "Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34). Forgiveness means that we wipe the record clean and never hold things against people (Ephesians 4:26, 32).
    • Acts 7:59-60: As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.
    • Ephesians 4:26,32: And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.”Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, ... Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

(6) It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 

  • Does not rejoice about injustice:
    • Moffatt puts it, “Love is never glad when others go wrong.” To rejoice in the truth means to be glad about behavior in accordance with the truth of God’s Word. If someone you don’t like falls into sin, you don’t gloat; you grieve, because God is grieved over sin. If they repent, you rejoice.

(7) LOVE never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

  • LOVE endures through every circumstance::
    • Love Knows No Limits by Keith Krell: "The word “endures” is a military term that means to hold a position at all costs, even unto death, whatever it takes. The battle may be lost but the soldier keeps on fighting to the very end. The word pictures an army surrounded by superior forces, being attacked and slowly overwhelmed on every side. One by one your comrades fall at your side. Through the noise of battle comes one final command: “Stand your ground, men. And if necessary, die well.” So love holds fast to people it loves. It perseveres. It never gives up on anyone. Love won’t stop loving, even in the face of rejection. Love takes action to shake up an intolerable situation. Love looks beyond the present to the hope of what might be in the future."
    • Spurgeon: "You must have fervent charity towards the saints, but you will find very much about the best of them which will try your patience; for, like yourself, they are imperfect, and they will not always turn their best side towards you, but sometimes sadly exhibit their infirmities. Be prepared, therefore, to contend with "all things" in them."
    • Great advice from Spurgeon: "If your brethren are angry without a cause, be sorry for them, but do not let them conquer you by driving you into a bad temper. Stand fast in love; endure not some things, but all things, for Christ's sake; so you shall prove yourself to be a Christian indeed."
    • George Matheson, a Scottish minister and hymn writer who lost his sight and who was disappointed in love, wrote in one of his prayers that he might accept God's will, "Not with dumb resignation but with holy joy; not only with the absence of murmur but with a song of praise." Love can bear things, not merely with passive resignation, but with triumphant fortitude, because it knows that "a father's hand will never cause his child a needless tear." His hymn, O Love That Wilt No Let Me Go, speaks to those Christians whose lives are touched by tragedy and loss but who know that underneath them are the everlasting arms of a loving God and Savior.

Tongues in Paganism by Buddy Dano (www.divineviewpoint.com/sane/dbm/setup/1Corinth/1Cor087.htm: "In 1 Corinthians 13:8-13, we have the central passage that deals with the cessation of certain spiritual gifts. What is interesting, theologically speaking, is that in the past thirty years there has been a tremendous amount of debate over this passage. At the beginning of the 20th century there were no Pentecostals or Charismatics but by the end of the century fully fifty per cent of professing Christians throughout the world identified themselves with in some way with the Pentecostal position. That is an astounding movement. An example of popularity by the end of the 20th century it is supposed that almost all Christian religious television stations were controlled by Pentecostals or Charismatics, and the same thing is true about most Christian radio stations. In fact, Christian music is dominated by people who have a Pentecostal-Charismatic theology, and that theology, which is more than simply speaking in tongues (its most obvious external manifestation), has impacted the modern church in incredible ways. They have set the agenda for worship, for music; they dominate in the hymnals."

www.middletownbiblechurch.org/doctrine/onecor13.htm:
Paul's basic argument in 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 is as follows:

  • THREE THINGS THAT WILL FAIL (verse 8).
    • These are the less important things.
  • THREE THINGS THAT WILL REMAIN (verse 13).
    • These are the more important things.
  • ONE THING THAT WILL NEVER FAIL (verse 8).
    IT WILL REMAIN FOREVER (verse 13).
    • This is the most important thing (verse 13) and therefore
      this is what we are to follow after (1 Corinthians 14:1).

(8) Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge WILL BECOME USELESS. But LOVE will LAST FOREVER! 

  • Unknown languages:
    • 1 Corinthians 14:19, 21: But in a church meeting I would rather speak five understandable words to help others than ten thousand words in an unknown language. ... It is written in the Scriptures: “I will speak to my own people through strange languages and through the lips of foreigners. But even then, they will not listen to me,” says the Lord.
  • Special knowledge:
    • The gifts of knowledge and wisdom (1 Corinthians 12:8) were needed in the days prior to the completed New Testament. Imagine a local church today trying to survive without the New Testament Scriptures as a pattern and guide! Divine knowledge and wisdom were essential during the infancy period of the early church. Today, “all truth” which is necessary for the godly walk of believers has been recorded on the pages of the completed Bible (compare John 16:13).
      • John 16:13: When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.
    • 1 Corinthians 12:8, 13:2: To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. ...  If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.
  • Will become useless:
    • When Did the Gift of Tongues Cease? by Pastor Dennis Kiszonas: "Here Paul writes of the gift of tongues, the gift of prophecy and the gift of knowledge and states that the Lord Jesus had revealed to him that a time was coming when these sign gifts were going to cease to operate. The question has always been: When would these gifts cease? Now we turn to the prison epistles, the four letters written shortly after the end of the Book of Acts, while Paul was a prisoner in Rome - Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon and Philippians…and we find that there is not one word about tongues, or the gift of healing. Even where we might have expected Paul to write of tongues in the passage about being “filled with the Spirit” in Ephesians 5:17, he has nothing to say about tongues. And as for the gift of healing, we read of a co-worker of Paul’s, Epaphroditus, who fell seriously ill during this time (Philippians 2:25-30) and Paul no longer had the gift of healing, and was no longer able to heal as he did only a few years earlier in Acts 28:9. The sign gifts were no longer operating at the time that Paul wrote the Prison Epistles. When Paul gives Timothy and Titus instructions regarding the choice of men to be elders in the churches, Paul says nothing about the desirability of these men having a gift such as prophecy, or healing, or other sign gifts (see Titus 1:6-9 and 1 Timothy 3:1-10). The gifts of tongues, prophecy, etc. were no longer in operation by the time Paul wrote the pastoral epistles. The sign gifts, tongues, prophecy, the gift of healing, etc. were operating all through the Book of Acts, and these gifts are mentioned in the letters that Paul wrote during the Acts period. But when we turn to the letters written after the Book of Acts - the 4 Prison Epistles, and the 3 Pastoral Epistles, we find that the sign gifts either aren’t mentioned at all or we see - as with the gift of healing - that they were no longer operating in Paul’s life. What he could do in Acts 28, he could no longer do in Philippians, or in 1 and 2 Timothy. He could heal all the sick on the island in Acts 28:9, but he couldn’t heal any of his closest co-workers - Timothy, Epaphroditus, Trophimus - after the close of the Book of Acts. The answer: The sign gifts ceased at the end of the Book of Acts. There is no record in Scripture of any of the sign gifts operating in any of the letters that Paul wrote after the end of the Acts period, and it is clear that the gift of healing had ceased since Paul could no longer heal even his closest co-workers after the close of the Book of Acts."
    • There was no more need of prophecy when the New Testament and the whole of the Scriptures were completed, neither was there for tongues when the earthly kingdom testimony ceased. This was when Israel finally failed and was temporarily set aside by God at Acts 28:28.
    • Colossians 1:25-29 (NET Bible): I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship  from God – given to me for you – in order to complete  the word of God, that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints. God wanted to make known to them the glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him by instructing and teaching all people with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature in Christ. Toward this goal I also labor, struggling according to his power that powerfully works in me.
  • Last forever:
    • Paul shows they should emphasize love more than the gifts, because the gifts were temporary and would soon cease. Therefore, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are imperfect gifts for an imperfect time.

(9-10) Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.

  • Perfection = teleios (Strong's Greek # 5046 - having reached its end, i.e. complete, by extension perfect. Complete, perfect, mature).
  • Time of perfection:
    • At long last, we will be at our real home, face to face with Jesus. There is no need prophecy, tongues and special knowledge in heaven, where faith and hope are replaced by sight.

(11) When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.

  • Child:
    • Coffman's Commentary: "Can this be anything if not a suggestion that the Corinthians should stop being children and grow up? In case any of them might have missed the point, he added a bit later, "don’t be childish in your understanding of these things. " (1 Corinthians 14:20). Furthermore, the admonition was given in the same breath with Paul's statement that five intelligible words were worth more than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue!"
    • The Corinthian believers who were putting a false value on tongues and possibly the gifts as a whole, were reminded again that this was a mark of spiritual babyhood.
    • Ephesians 4:11-14: Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be MATURE in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be IMMATURE like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.
    • Hebrews 5:13-14: For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.
  • Grew up:
    • Paul was urging the Christians in Corinth to act like adults - not constantly arguing in a selfish manner, as little children often do. Instead, they should act in love towards each other.
  • Put away childish things:
    • 1 Corinthians 14:20: Dear brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things. Be innocent as babies when it comes to evil, but BE MATURE in understanding matters of this kind.

(12) NOW we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, BUT THEN we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, BUT THEN I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

  • Mirror:
    • Corinth was well known for producing some of the finest highly polished bronze mirrors available, but they still reflected back a rather indistinct, blurred image. Paul’s point in this analogy is that our current understanding and relationship with God is incomplete, but the day is coming when we will see him “face to face”.
  • Perfect clarity:
    • Literally, "face to face", a metaphor for intimate fellowship.
    • 1 John 3:2: Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.
  • BUT THEN:
    • Here he is anticipating the end of life, when all the imperfection of life will come to an end, and love will stand face to face with love.
  • Know everything completely:
    • Now, we only get blurred and incomplete images of what God is doing. But, one of these days, ALL our questions will be answered; all our problems will be resolved. I am REALLY looking forward to that day - I have A LOT of questions and want to understand some of the things that have happened in my life!
    • 1 John 3:2: Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.

(13) Three things will last forever - faith, hope, and LOVE - and the greatest of these is LOVE.

  • Last forever:
    • Love REMAINS throughout eternity and is therefore the "GREATEST' of the virtues.
  • Faith ... hope ... love:
    • 1 Thessalonians 1:3: As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  • Faith:
    • Faith is not just believing. Faith involves believing and acting upon that belief. In Hebrews 11, we have one account after another of those who expressed their faith in God by obedience to His Word. Faith is taking God at His Word …believing what He said is true.
    • Romans 5:4-5: And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
    • 1 Thessalonians 5:8: But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.
    • Hebrews 11:1,6: Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. ... And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
  • Hope:
    • Hope lasts forever because hope is the expectation of yet more to come.
    • Romans 15:13: I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him...
  • Love:
    • The reason love is the greatest is because God is love. God is not faith; God is not hope; but God is love.

1 Corinthians 14:1: Let love be your highest goal! But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives - especially the ability to prophesy.

NOTES:

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