1 Corinthians 13:8

Love never fails in the sense of falling away when the physical and temporal things on which affection rests pass away; it outlasts temporal things. Gifts of the Spirit will pass away because they are temporary provisions, but the fruit of the Spirit will abide.

Prophecies are messages from God, but when we stand before Him and hear His voice there will be no more need for prophets to relay His words to us. Likewise when we stand before God there will be no need to speak in other languages since we will all understand God when He speaks. The knowledge that is so important to us now will be irrelevant then because when we are in God’s presence we will know perfectly (1 Corinthians 13:12; cf. 1 Corinthians 1:5; 1 Corinthians 8:1; 1 Corinthians 12:8). The knowledge in view seems to be knowledge of God’s ways in the present age. As will become clearer in chapter 14, Paul’s preference regarding the gifts was prophecy, but the Corinthians favored tongues and knowledge.

The verb Paul used to describe what will happen to prophecy and knowledge is in the passive voice in Greek and means "shall be terminated" (from katargeo; cf. 1 Corinthians 2:6). The verb he used to describe what will happen to tongues is in the middle voice and means "automatically cease of themselves" (from pauo). [Note: Robertson, 4:179.] The passive voice points to God terminating prophecy and knowledge when we see Him. The middle voice suggests that tongues will peter out before we see God. [Note: See Stanley D. Toussaint, "First Corinthians Thirteen and The Tongues Question," Bibliotheca Sacra 120:480 (October-December 1963):311-16.] Church history testifies that this is what happened to the gift of tongues shortly after the apostolic age. [Note: Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, 1:236-37. See also George W. Dollar, "Church History and the Tongues Movement," Bibliotheca Sacra 120:480 (October-December 1963):316-21; and the series of four articles by F. David Farnell, "Is the Gift of Prophecy for Today?" Bibliotheca Sacra 149:595 (July-September 1992):277-303; 596 (October-December 1992):387-410; 150:597 (January-March 1993):62-88; and 598 (April-June 1993):171-202.] Paul dropped tongues from his discussion at this point, which supports the fact that the gift of tongues would not last as long as knowledge and prophecy. He continued to speak of knowledge and prophecy in the next verses.