@blake_levrets: Gifts of the Spirit Part 2

So as we continue on with a look at 1 Corinthians 12-14, three of the most mis-read chapters of the Bible, I just want to give you a quick recap of what chapter 12 is about. For the full 900 some odd words you can check out Gifts of the Spirit.

1. Context! The church at Corinth was messed up and Paul was trying to get them on the right track.
2. A spiritual gift is not a spiritual gift unless it benefits others and brings the body together.
3. In v. 31 Paul tells them to desire the gifts that are benevolent to others, but if you really want to take care of business read Chapter 13.

Chapter 13! The Love Chapter. This is the chapter that gets read at all these weddings without the revelation that Paul was basically tearing the church of Corinth a new one. Remember #1! They were messed up and all the stuff that he lists in verses 4-7 were no where near that place! The word that Paul uses for love is Agape (strong’s #26). The best way to describe Agape is benevolent love (hmmm…benevolent, I’ve typed that word a couple times in the last few days). In fact if you look at this set of scriptures in the King James they translated it charity. Agape means showing someone love by giving them something even if they don’t know they need it.

“Blake! Time out! I thought you were talking about Spiritual gifts?”

Oh yeah. My bad. Go back a few verses to the beginning of the chapter and you see some classic Paul. He lists 7 things that, if you look at the outward appearance would seem to be some top notch stuff! Speaking in tongues, prophecy, understanding all mysteries, knowledge, massive amounts of faith, giving all your stuff away, even sacrificing your body. These are the things that Paul list as stuff that people can do but if they don’t have that Agape in them it doesn’t matter, there’s no lasting effect in them.

That’s when Paul takes the time to explain Agape, love to them. Want to hear it? Love is patient, kind, it’s not jealous, it doesn’t brag, it’s not arrogant, etc…Then in verse 8 he finish it off beautifully “Love never fails.”

BUT! I hate ‘but’s. You know, nothing good follows a but. Paul reminds them of all the things that they were focusing on instead of Love. He lists 3 things here that will, someday no longer be needed. Prophecies, Tongues and Knowledge. (we’ll talk about the meaning of these three in Ch 14.) The questions that scholars have fought over for years is when will they no longer be needed? I do want to try to unpack this a little, if nothing else for my sake. I’d love to hear your feedback too. There are two verses in the next section that have an impact on this.

One. In verse 10 it says, “but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.” The word ‘comes’ is in the Aorist tense. This is tricky because in the aorist tense there is no reference to time. So what could be perfect that is outside of time? And how could something outside of time come at the perfect time? See where I’m going? Jesus. (I’ll refrain from quoting other scripture here to follow my ‘context’ rule.) But Jesus already came? Does that mean that even as Paul wrote this he knew that the gifts of prophesy, tongues & knowledge were obsolete? Well, that’s why there is two verses in this section that give us a time when they will be.

Two. “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.” That’s verse 12. Ready? The word know is in there 3 times. The first time is the greek word Ginosko (strong’s # 1097). Ginosko refers to an experiential knowledge. Something that you can only know by spending time with it. Almost like a spouse. You might intuitively know they’re the one you’re supposed to marry when you meet them but you don’t know, ginosko them until you spend time with them. But even if you spend your whole life with someone you only know them as much as one person knows another. Dimly.

The 2nd and 3rd time it’s used is a different word. Kind of. Epiginosko (strong’s #1909). Adding ‘epi’ to a word is like putting a nuclear bomb on an already powerful rocket and sending it to destroy something. The rocket would have gotten the job done but the nuke adds that much more to it. It means to fully, with out a doubt because there is nothing between me and the thing (or person) that I want to know, know. (read it again, you know you want to.) The last known gives us the ‘who’ the first know gives us the ‘when’.

So the three gifts that Paul mentions way up there in verse 8 that will pass away, I believe when we are with Jesus, in his presence, forever! Think about it? What good is prophecy when the one who fulfills it all is there? What good is speaking in tongues when there is no language, I don’t even know if we can speak?! What good is knowledge when the source of life and sustainer of the universe is with you 100% of the time. I will know Christ as intimately and personally as he has known me. Just not yet. I’ve got to look through a dim mirror and seek after him daily to even get a small glimmer of who he is.

But you know what (and this is a good but). There are three things that will last through everything. Paul reminds us again that he’s not talking about spiritual gifts. He’s talking about faith, hope and love. They will remain. And the greatest, the greatest of these is the one that came and sacrificed his perfect, spotless life for you. The greatest of these is Love.

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