1 Corinthians 13:8-13

The eternal duration of love:

v. 8. Charity never faileth; but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

v. 9. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

v. 10. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away

v. 11. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

v. 12. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known.

v. 13. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

The first sentence is the topic of the last section of this chapter: Love never fails, it outwears all gifts, it never drops out of existence; like the eternal God, to whom it owes its being, it lasts forever. The gift of prophesying, of inspiration from the Lord, of foretelling future events and explaining the Word of God in connection therewith, will come to naught, be made useless and void, be abolished. As the content of all prophecy will be revealed in fulfillment, as all that was hidden will be clearly revealed, there will then no longer be need of prophecy. The gift of tongues, of ecstatic utterances in strange and unknown tongues, will cease, will stop, since they had only a temporary significance; they lapsed and terminated when their object was attained. The gift of knowledge, of comprehension of the things revealed, shall be done away with. A time will come when this, like the rest, will have served its purpose and therefore will be abolished for good and all.

Since the assertion that the gifts of knowledge and prophecy will cease might seem strange, Paul explains his statement: For in part we know, and in part we prophesy; but when there comes the perfect, the imperfect will be abolished. Our knowing in this world is imperfect, inadequate for a complete understanding of God, of His essence, of His will. There are only small parts of the eternal, heavenly truth which we understand, even with our enlightened Christian reason. We have no comprehensive view of the total, of the connection of the divine thoughts and counsels; the fullness of God's greatness and majesty is still hidden from us. We know only so much of God's essence and will as is necessary for our salvation. And the most enlightened and inspired commentators of the Bible are able to get only glimpses of the mysteries of the spiritual world, of the heavenly glories, through the revelation given to us in the Gospel. But this imperfect condition will cease, the knowing and prophesying in part will come to an end, as soon as the perfect appears, just as the blush of dawn disappears when the sun rises above the horizon in full splendor. When Christ will return in glory, when we shall be glorified with Him in heaven, then all the imperfections of this present knowledge will be left behind.

The great difference between the present and the future state is illustrated in the text by the difference between the child's estate and the man's estate: When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought as a child, I reasoned as a child; my speech, my aims, and my mental activity were those of a young child, immature, imperfect. At the present time our ideas of heavenly, divine things do not measure up to the glory and dignity of the subject. Now that I have become a man, I have abolished the things of the child; the adult no longer holds the imperfect, immature opinions and ideas of the child. Even so the full, mature, complete knowledge of God is reserved for yonder world. But mark that we shall have the very same divine, beautiful, spiritual matters to delight us in heaven which we now have in the world: that which we now understand and know only in part will then be revealed to us in its entirety, in the full glory of its substance. As the blossom loses its petals, but retains its center, which will eventually ripen into the perfect fruit, so we shall strip off the imperfect opinions of our understanding, while we retain the core in its fully developed state and see its fruition in heaven.

The contrast between the present imperfect and the future perfect knowledge is illustrated by another picture: For now we behold through a mirror, in an enigma; then, however, face to face. The ancient mirrors were made of polished metal, which reflected an image but faintly, without sharp and distinct outlines; thus is our beholding of the glories of God, as offered to us in His Word, not because the Word is dark, but because our understanding is not sufficient to grasp the wonders of His substance and qualities. And we behold in an enigma, what we often consider a riddle; on account of our darkened understanding, even in our regenerated state, the phraseology of the Lord in His Word often presents difficulties, we are often able to get but an obscure and uncertain idea of His meaning. That is what St. Paul frankly states, making his own person an example of the Christians in general: Now I know in part, but then I shall know even as I, too, am known. Because the Lord had to fit the heavenly mysteries to the imperfect speech of human beings, because He had to clothe His eternal, divine thoughts in words, expressions, pictures, parables taken from this perishing world, therefore the perfection of the divine glory must needs be hidden from our eyes. But in heaven every believer will see, know, understand the fullness of the divine essence, attributes, plans, counsels in a perfect and blessed understanding, so thoroughly as he himself was known of God when the Lord changed his heart in conversion. It is a perfect and blessed knowledge of God. No longer will God then see anything strange, foreign, hostile between Him and us. All our sins will be removed fully from His sight. As Luther writes: "I shall know Him then in the clearest possible manner, without covering; for the covering was not taken from Him, but from me, for He has none before Him. " In heaven we shall at last in love know God by direct contact, and all the mediated, imperfect knowing that is possible to us now will be left far behind and forgotten altogether in the bliss of the perfect salvation. See Psalms 17:15.

The prospect of this wonderful blessedness causes the apostle to close his psalm of love in a wonderful outburst of triumphant joy: But as it is, there remain faith, hope, love, these three. All other gifts, all other virtues pass away, these three remain permanently. Faith, hope, love remain in eternity, because that which a Christian believes, hopes, loves remains forever, since God is eternal, with whom we are united in faith, hope, and love. This conclusion is practically demanded by the statement that all imperfect things will be abolished. For of these three the apostle does not say that they are imperfect, that we believe in part, that we hope in part, that we love in part. Faith, even the weak faith, although it knows God only in part, yet, as saving faith, accepts the whole God, the whole Christ, the entire redemption in Christ, the full forgiveness of sins. Hope also, seeing and knowing only a few rays of the glory to come, yet has the entire future world as its object. And love concentrates upon the entire Triune God of our salvation, not upon some pitiful remnant. But love is not more lasting, but greater among these, the greatest of the three. Faith and hope also remain forever, since that in which we believe, that for which we hope, lasts forever. But the nature of faith and hope will cease; for what we have here believed and hoped for we shall there possess and enjoy. Our faith will reach the perfection of its state in beholding; our hope will be perfected in enjoyment. But our love of God and Christ, and therefore also of all our brethren, will be absolutely unchanged, only purified, since all the obstacles which here hinder the activity of love will there be removed. In heaven love will be altogether free and untrammeled in its ability to prove itself, and everywhere it will find love in return and thus be blessed in the fellowship of God, of the holy angels, and of all the saints.

Note: The fact that love is here called the greatest virtue does not in any way disagree with the fact that faith is the only means of obtaining salvation. "But they [our opponents] object that love is preferred to faith and hope. For Paul says, 1 Corinthians 13:13: 'The greatest of these is charity. ' Now, it is reasonable that the greatest and chief virtue should justify. Nevertheless, let us, indeed, grant to the adversaries that love towards God and our neighbor is the greatest virtue, because the chief commandment is this: 'Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God,' Matthew 22:37. But how will they infer thence that love justifies? The greatest virtue, they say, justifies. By no means. [It would be true if we had a gracious God because of our virtue. Now it was proven above that we are accepted and justified for Christ's sake, not because of our virtue; for our virtue is impure. ] For just as even the greatest or first Law does not justify, so also the greatest virtue of the Law does not justify. [For, as the Law and virtue is higher, and our ability to do the same proportionately lower, we are not righteous because of love. ] But that virtue justifies which apprehends Christ, which communicates to us Christ's merits, by which we receive grace and peace from God. But this virtue is faith. For as it has been often said, faith is not only knowledge, but much rather willing to receive or apprehend those things which are offered in the promise concerning Christ.

Summary. The apostle praises the high worth of love, gives a description of its essential features, and describes its eternal duration.