Day 39: Love will never end. But all those gifts will come to an end even the gift of prophecy, the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages, and the gift of knowledge. (1 Corinthians 13:8)
Love never diminishes but all the gifts planted throughout it will come to an end even the gift of prophecy yes the gift of speaking different languages and the gift of knowledge they will all one day cease and pass away
1 Corinthians 13:8
New International Version
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies,(A) they will cease; where there are tongues,(B) they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
What Does 1 Corinthians 13:8 Mean? ►
Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.
1 Corinthians 13:8(NASB)
Verse Thoughts
How the Corinthian church prided themselves on the multiplicity of gifts with which they were endowed, indeed of all of the groups of believers recorded in Scripture it was the Corinthian Christians who were gifted with a greater abundance of spiritual gifts than any other named church. And yet as we discover this group of saved believers were more carnal and worldly-minded than any group of New Testament Christians. They were babes in Christ who had never grown in the faith – they were not maturing spiritually – they were not growing in grace – they remained carnal, worldly-minded believers – eternally saved yet spiritually immature. They were a sad apology for the body of Christ.
The gifts of the holy Spirit are truly wonderful, and we should all desire the gifts of the Spirit – but the fruit of the Spirit is so much more to be earnestly pursued. The gifts of the Spirit are just for the present, but the fruit of the Spirit will remain throughout all eternity. The gifts of the Spirit will one day be done away with – but the fruit of the Spirit will continue forever – the temporal gifts of the Spirit are for the current age, but the fruit of the everlasting Spirit will abide through the eternal ages to come – the gifts of prophecy, tongues, knowledge and all the many ministerial gifts with which the Holy Spirit graciously endows each one of His children according to His choosing – will one day will vanish away, forever. My gifts will one day stop and so will yours.
As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is the difference between the fruit of the Sprit with His gifts, for the fruit of the Spirit is Love – pure, holy, unconditional, everlasting, godly Love. The fruit of the Spirit is personified in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, which fragments into joy and peace, patient-endurance and kindness; goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control – and these will last forever and ever and into the eternal ages to come… for LOVE NEVER FAILS
Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/1-corinthians-13-8-b
What does 1 Corinthians 13 verse 8 mean when it says prophecies will fail?
Posted on Nov 4, 2010
3 comments
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
How can prophecies “fail” since they are God’s word?
In 1 Corinthians 13:8 the apostle Paul wrote: “Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.”
Stepping back to look at the broader context helps us to get the perspective Paul had in mind. This section on the subject of bringing order to the Corinthian church begins with chapter 12 and continues through chapter 14. Chaos reigned as many misused their spiritual gifts. Paul wanted them to see their special abilities in the proper perspective, which is that they should always serve others, rather than simply show off their abilities (1 Corinthians 12:4-7, 25, 27).
Paul was encouraging everyone to work together for their mutual benefit, which leads us to the 13th chapter about the character of love. It opens with several analogies, all of which demonstrate that love is more important than any gift or ability. That is, Christians should have the internal motivation of outflowing concern for others. This reflects God’s nature, as opposed to the selfish nature of human beings.
Now, we come to verses 4-8 of chapter 13, which amplify love in a beautiful and poetic manner. Verse 8 concludes and summarizes the definition. “Prophecies” can mean either inspired preaching or foretelling the future. How will prophecies “fail”? The word “fail” can be misleading; as it might give the impression that some of God’s prophecies will not occur. The Greek for “fail,” katargeo, is defined as, “1. to render idle… 2. to cause to cease” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon). Notice the following renderings—”they will cease” (NIV), “they will be caused to cease” (Literal Translation Version), “they shall pass away” (English Standard Version).
The need to speak under God’s inspiration will never cease. We cannot understand God’s Word, written over thousands of years, without inspired speaking or teaching. On the other hand, in the sense of future events, prophecies are time-sensitive. Consequently, once the prophecy is accomplished, it ceases in that there’s no longer a need to wait for the event. For example, prophecies about events preceding the return of Christ will cease, or become idle, after His return. Said another way, prophecies are helpful for a limited time, in contrast to the eternal benefit of love.
The analogy continues with languages. They are only meaningful as long as there are people who speak them. When there is only one language, the need to speak other languages ceases. And knowledge about a specific matter is temporary. For example, knowing how to operate a typewriter is no longer a useful skill. Love, however, never becomes obsolete.
1 Corinthians 13:8, NLT: “Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!”
1 Corinthians 13:8, CSB: “Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.”
What does 1 Corinthians 13:8 mean?
Paul ends his description of God’s kind of love, using the Greek term agape. This is an unselfish, sacrificial, active love, different from romantic or brotherly love, which use the terms eros and phileo, respectively. Wrapping up this section, Paul introduces a statement that may make believers feel it is truly impossible to love as God does, after all: Love never fails.
However, the truth of this statement does not mean no human can ever love as Christ does. It is true that believers will sometimes fail to love. When we do choose to love in this selfless, sacrificing way, love will not fail to be effective. One person’s choice to love, selflessly, never fails to build up the church in a powerful way.
The other way in which love never fails is that love is eternal. Selfless love will continue in the Lord and in His people forever. It is absolutely the way we will live in relationship with each other in eternity. Examples of selfless love in the present are glimpses of the normal state of things in eternity.
This is not true of the spiritual gifts, Paul says. The gifts of prophecy, tongues, and knowledge will all pass away. By this, Paul means that eventually these gifts will not be needed.
Some Christians believe that the time for these specific three gifts has mostly come to an end already, that they were intended by God to help establish the church and show that the message of the gospel was from Him. All Christians understand that at the end of time, when we live with God in person (Revelation 21:1–5), there will be no need for these gifts. They exist only in human history for a limited time and purpose.
God’s love, though, and our reflection of it to each other, will go on endlessly.
Context Summary
First Corinthians 13:1–13 is one of the most loved and well-known passages in the Bible, but Paul places it after his teaching on the spiritual gifts for a specific reason. Some of the gifts may seem impressive, but if attempted without self-sacrificing love for others, they become meaningless, even destructive. Paul uses 14 verbs to describe what love does and does not do. Love is the foundation for Paul’s teaching in the following chapter on prophecy, tongues, and even orderly worship. While this section is often quoted in romantic settings, such as a wedding, the concept in mind is that of agape: a self-sacrificing, godly love.
Chapter Summary
Paul responds to the Corinthians’ over-emphasis on certain spiritual gifts by showing them that all gifts are worthless if not practiced through godly love. Paul provides 14 descriptors of love, all action verbs, all choices made out of a commitment to set self aside and serve others. Choosing to love each other in this way would solve many of the problems Paul has confronted in this letter. The spiritual gifts provide a glimpse of what is knowable, but when the perfect comes, we will know all. Love is the greatest of all the virtues
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