1 Corinthians 13

1 Corinthians 13:1

13:1 Even if a person could speak in all languages, human and angelic, but didn’t use this ability for the good of others, it would be no more profitable or pleasant than the clanging, jangling sound of metals crashing against each other. Where the spoken word is not understood, there is no profit. It is just a nerve-racking din contributing nothing to the common good. For tongues to be beneficial, they must be interpreted. Even then, what is said must be edifying. The tongues of angels may be figurative for exalted speech, but it does not mean an unknown language, because whenever angels spoke to men in the Bible, it was in the common speech, easily understood. 13:2 Likewise one might receive marvelous revelations from God. He might understand the great mysteries of God, tremendous truths hitherto unrevealed but now made known to him. He might receive a great inflow of divine knowledge, supernaturally imparted. He might be given that heroic faith which is able to remove mountains. Yet if these wonderful gifts are used only for his own benefit and not for the edifying of other members of the Body of Christ, they are of no value, and the holder is nothing, that is, he is of no help to others. 13:3 If the apostle gave all his goods to feed the poor, or even gave his body to be burned, these valiant acts would not profit him unless they were done in a spirit of love. If he were merely trying to attract attention to himself and seek a name for himself, then his display of virtue would be valueless. 13:4 Someone has said: This did not start out to be a treatise on love, but like most literary gems of the NT, it was introduced in connection with some local situation. Hodge has pointed out that the Corinthians were impatient, discontented, envious, inflated, selfish, indecorous, unmindful of the feelings and interests of others, suspicious, resentful, and censorious. And so the apostle now contrasts the characteristics of true love. First of all, love suffers long and is kind. Long suffering is patient endurance under provocation. Kindness is active goodness, going forth in the interests of others. Love does not envy others; rather it is pleased that others should be honored and exalted. Love does not parade itself, is not puffed up. It realizes that whatever it has is the gift of God, and that there is nothing in man of which to be proud. Even gifts of the Holy Spirit are sovereignly bestowed by God and should not make a person proud or haughty, no matter how spectacular the gift might be. 13:5 Love does not behave rudely. If a person is truly acting in love, he will be courteous and considerate. Love does not selfishly seek its own, but is interested in what will assist others. Love is not provoked, but is willing to endure slights and insults. Love thinks no evil, that is, it does not attribute bad motives to others. It does not suspect their actions. It is guileless. 13:6 Love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. There is a certain mean streak in human nature which takes pleasure in what is unrighteous, especially if an unrighteous act seems to benefit one’s self. This is not the spirit of love. Love rejoices with every triumph of the truth. 13:7 The expression bears all things may mean that love patiently endures all things, or that it hides or conceals the faults of others. The word bears may also be translated covers. Love does not needlessly publicize the failures of others, though it must be firm in giving godly discipline when necessary. Love believes all things, that is, it tries to put the best possible construction on actions and events. Love hopes all things in the sense that it earnestly desires that all things work out for the best. Love endures all things in the way of persecution or ill treatment. 13:8 Having described the qualities that characterize those who exercise their gift in love, the apostle now takes up the permanence of love, as contrasted with the temporary character of gifts. Love never fails. Throughout eternity, love will go on in the sense that we will still love the Lord and love one another. These gifts, on the other hand, are of temporary duration.

ETERNAL STATECOMPLETE CANON Love will never cease. In contrast, the prophecies which exist at the present time will be ended when God’s people are home in heaven. While there is the gift of knowledge just now, this will be stopped when we reach the final consummation in glory. (When Paul says, knowledge 85 will vanish away, he cannot mean that there will be no knowledge in heaven. He must be referring to the gift of knowledge where by divine truth was supernaturally imparted. Love will never cease. While there are prophecies (at the time of Paul), the need for such direct revelations would end when the last book of the NT was completed.

Tongues were still in used in Paul’s day, but they would cease in and of themselves when the sixty-six books of the Bible were finished, because they would no longer be necessary to confirm the preaching of the apostles and prophets (Heb_2:3-4). Knowledge of divine truth was being given by God to the apostles and prophets, but this would also stop when the complete body of Christian doctrine was once for all delivered. 13:9 In this life our knowledge is partial at best, and so are our prophecies. There are many things we do not understand in the Bible, and many mysteries in the providence of God We, i. e. , the apostles, know in part (in the sense that we are still receiving inspired knowledge by direct revelation from God), and we prophesy in part (because we can only express the partial revelations we are receiving). 13:10 But when that which is prefect has come, i. e. , when we reach the perfect state in the eternal world, then the gifts of partial knowledge and partial prophecy will be done away. But when that which is perfect has come, i. e. , when the Canon is complete by the last book’s being added to the NT, then periodic or piecemeal revelations of truth will be stopped, and the telling forth of this truth will be done away. There will be no more need for partial revelations since the complete word of God will be here. 13:11 This life may be compared to childhood, when our speech, understanding, and thoughts are very limited and immature. The heavenly state is comparable to full adulthood.

Then our childish condition will be a thing of the past. The sign gifts were connected with the childhood of the church. The gifts were not childish; they were necessary gifts of the Holy Spirit. But once the full revelation of God was available in the Bible, the miracle gifts were longer needed an were put aside. The word child here means a baby without the full power of speech. 13:12 As long as we are on earth, we see things dimly and indistinctly, as if we were looking in a blurry mirror. Heaven, by contrast will be like seeing things face to face, i. e. , without anything between to obscure the vision.

Now our knowledge is partial, but then we shall know just as we also are knowwhich means more fully. We will never have perfect knowledge, even in heaven. Only God is omniscient. But our knowledge will be vastly greater than it is now. Now (during the apostolic age) we see in a mirror, dimly. No single one of us (apostles) has received God’s full revelation.

It is being given to us in portions, like parts of a puzzle. When the Canon of Scripture is complete, the obscurity will be removed and we will see the picture in its entirety. Our knowledge (as apostles and prophets) is partial at present. But when the last book has been added to the NT, we will know more fully and intimately than ever before. And love is the greatest of the graces because it is most useful to others. It is not self-centered but others-centered. Now before leaving this chapter, there are a few observations to be made. As mentioned above, a widely accepted interpretation of verses 8-12 is that they contrast conditions in this life with those in the eternal state. But many devout Christians hold to the COMPLETED CANON view, believing that the purpose of the sign gifts was to confirm the preaching of the apostles before the word of God was given in final written form, and that the need for these miracle gifts passed when the NT was completed. While this second view merits serious consideration, it can hardly be proved decisively. Even if we believe that the sign gifts largely passed away at the end of the apostolic era, we cannot say with finality that God could not, if He wished, use these gifts today. Whichever view we hold, the abiding lesson is that while the gifts of the Spirit are partial and temporary, the fruit of the Spirit is eternal and is more excellent. If we practice love, it will save us from the misuse of gifts and from the strife and divisions that have arisen as a result of their abuse.