We’re continuing a short detour from the study of acts through a discussion of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in I Corinthians 12-14. God through the Apostle Paul has taught us in chapter 12 that there is one body but there is a diversity of gifts in that body. Just as the body would be a monstrosity if it were only an eye, so the body of Christ would be a monstrosity if it had only one functioning gift and therefore God has provided many members with differing gifts so that the body would be a functioning whole. This provides a unified body with no schism.
Paul ends chapter 12 with a lead in to a more excellent way. That way is love. If we use our various gifts without love, we are nothing more than a clanging, noisy cymbal. After a description of love he says in verse 8, “Love never fails.” He goes on to say in that verse, “whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.”
Let’s look at this passage a little bit. As faithful men, God wants us to dig into His word and learn what He has for us. We shouldn’t shy away from finding out what God is saying. On the first reading it sounds like Paul is talking about three things –prophecy, tongues and knowledge – all of which will pass away. It sounds like he is lumping them altogether into one category. However it is important to look a little deeper. I am not a Greek scholar and so I am indebted to others who have helped me learn a little bit about how language works. The verb used for failing for prophecies and knowledge is different from the verb used for tongues ceasing. In addition to that, the verb for what happens to prophecies and knowledge is in the passive voice and the verb for what happens to tongues is in the middle voice.
At this point some of you may be saying, “So, what.” Or “What does this have to do with me?” Well, if you want to understand what the Bible is saying, it’s important to know what it is saying. A passive verb means that something else is doing the action. You might say, “I was hit by the ball.” That is an example of passive. Something else, namely the ball, did the hitting. In the case of verse 8, knowledge and prophecy will cease or fail because something else acts upon them and causes them to cease. Tongues is different. The verb that describes tongues is in the middle voice. That means tongues ceases in and of itself. It is not caused to cease by something else. It just stops in and of itself.
My point in emphasizing this is that rather than tying the three things together, Paul is actually separating them into two categories: those that cease of themselves and those that are caused to cease by something else.
This is emphasized then in verses 9 and 10. He says, “For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.” He focuses on knowledge and prophecy. Tongues is left out of this discussion. That’s because tongues will cease in and of itself whereas something else will cause the other two things to cease.
Now comes the difficult part. What does all of this mean? When will or did tongues cease in and of themselves, and what is the thing that is going to cause the other two to cease?
I’ve already written a lot today, so let’s pick up there next time.
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