1 Corinthians 13:10-13

The Permanence of Love

There is a strong parallel between 1 Corinthians 13:8-10 and Ephesians 4:7-15. Thus, it seems the "perfect" is the "unity of the faith." The parts of verse 9 were used to confirm and reveal God's will for man, so the "perfect", or we might say the complete or whole, is God's revealed word, the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The use of spiritual gifts was compared by the apostle to childhood, or immaturity, and the time of God's completed message to manhood, or maturity. The perfect word will supplant the partial spiritual gifts. Similarly, there is a difference in seeing someone in the mirror and seeing them face to face. Before revelation was complete, there was only partial knowledge of God, now we know God completely (1 Corinthians 13:10-12).

Paul plainly said gifts would pass away. However, he also said faith, hope and love will stand until the earth's end. Love is that which caused God to send his Son (John 3:16) and causes us to obey (1 John 4:19). It will be experienced in the fullest possible sense in eternity when all God's faithful are at last able to worship him around the throne and experience the joys of the prepared place (1 Corinthians 13:13).