For years now there has been a battle in religious circles over spiritual gifts. The question as to whether or not miracles existed in the first century is easily answered. Anyone who believes in and accepts the New Testament as God’s Word agrees that the church in the first century had miraculous power. The question is do they still exist today? Were they intended to be around throughout the dispensation of Christ, or were they intended to exist for just a certain time? The answer is found in 1 Corinthians 13:8-13.
Having given us a good lesson on love and how it acts (vers. 1-7), Paul is now ready to show that while love is permanent, the gifts are temporary (ver. 8). The three gifts mentioned in ver. 8 (prophecies, tongues, and knowledge) represent the gifts as a whole. Paul is not saying that these gifts will be done away with and the others would endure; he is emphasizing the cessation of all the gifts. The question is when will the gifts cease? Paul gives us the answer.
“When That Which Is Perfect Is Come”
In ver. 9 Paul talks about something that is in part. We must see what it is that is in part in vers. 9 if we hope to get an understanding of Paul’s teaching here. So, what is that was in part at the time Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 13? It was the partial revelation of God’s will that was coming forth in piecemeal fashion through the miraculous gifts of knowledge and prophecy (ver. 9).
To know in part is to have partial knowledge. To prophesy in part is to reveal only a part of God’s will. Why did the Christians only know in part and prophesy in part? It was because that is how God was revealing His will to the apostles and prophets of that day. Did the apostles have all knowledge on the day of Pentecost? No! They did not even realize at that time that the Gentiles were granted repentance unto life by God. They were still receiving and learning the will of God and being guided into all truth (John 16:13).
That which was in part, then, was the partial revelation of God’s will. In ver. 10 Paul refers to something, in contrast to verse nine, that is perfect. Well, what is that which is perfect? The entire passage swings on one’s interpretation of the statement “that which is perfect.” Most people think that Paul is referring to Christ as the perfect one who will come, or to the perfect state of heaven which will commence after the second coming of Christ.
First, neither one of those things has been mentioned by Paul in this context. Why would he, without warning, throw them into the text now?
Second, we must keep the context in view here, and if we do that, we realize that whatever was in part in this text is now the thing that is perfect or complete. What was it that was incomplete in ver. 9? It was God’s revelation to man. So then, what is it that is complete or perfect in ver. 10? The same thing! God’s revelation to man (James 1:22 – 25; 2 Timothy 3:16, 17).
Paul’s point is that when God’s revelation has been completed, then obviously there would be no more partial knowledge, nor would there be any more need for the instruments used to bring forth that knowledge, i.e., the spiritual gifts. So, are there spiritual gifts today? No. They ceased with the completion of the New Testament.
This conclusion concerning 1 Corinthians 13 harmonizes with the purpose of miraculous gifts. The Bible affirms that miracles were performed to confirm God’s Word (Mark 16:20; Hebrews 2:3, 4). This was necessary because, without the written word, there was no other way to confirm that which was preached. We have the written word; thus, we no longer need signs and wonders to confirm what is preached. We must now turn to book, chapter, and verse to confirm what we are saying.
So then, when the written revelation from God was complete, there was no longer a need for miracles. Hence, they ceased, even as Paul said they would.