1 Corinthians 13:8 - Meaning and Application

Here the apostle continues to praise love, showing how much better it is than the gifts the Corinthians were so proud of. They had come close to neglecting love altogether, even while boasting in these gifts. Paul argues for love’s value, first, because it lasts far longer than the gifts, and second, because it belongs to a more complete and lasting state.

“Love never fails.” It is a lasting grace, meant to continue forever. But the special gifts the Corinthians prized were only temporary. They were given to help build up the church on earth for a time, not for its whole stay in this world. In heaven, those gifts will no longer be needed, but love will still remain, since heaven is the home and fullest expression of love.

Prophecy must fail, meaning either the prediction of future things, which is its usual sense, or the Spirit-given explaining of Scripture. Tongues will cease, that is, the miraculous ability to speak languages one has not learned. There will be only one language in heaven, and no confusion of speech in that place of perfect peace. Knowledge will vanish away too. Paul does not mean that holy people in heaven will be ignorant, for that would be a very poor happiness. He is speaking of miraculous knowledge, knowledge given in a special way, such as the Spirit’s revelation of mysteries (1 Corinthians 14:6). That kind of knowledge was to pass away.

Some people think he means ordinary knowledge learned through teaching and study. In that sense, the way we gain knowledge will pass away, though the knowledge itself will not be lost. But Paul is clearly setting love against supernatural gifts, and love is greater because it lasts longer. It will remain when those gifts are gone. It enters heaven, where those gifts have no use. In one sense, even our common knowledge may be said to cease in heaven, because it will be so much improved. The light of a candle is hidden when the sun shines in its full strength.

Paul also shows that these gifts fit only an incomplete state. “We know in part, and we prophesy in part” (1 Corinthians 13:9). Our best knowledge and greatest ability are limited, just like our present condition. Even the knowledge given by inspiration was only partial. How little even apostles and inspired men knew of God and the unseen world! Others know far less. These gifts suited the church in its present, unfinished condition. They were valuable, but they could not be compared with love, because they would vanish when the church’s imperfections ended. Love would continue forever.

This leads Paul to point to the better state that is coming. “When that which is perfect comes, then that which is in part will be done away” (1 Corinthians 13:10). When the goal is reached, the tools used to get there are no longer needed. There will be no need for tongues, prophecy, or inspired knowledge in the life to come, because then the church will be complete in both knowledge and holiness. God will then be known clearly, by direct sight, as fully as glorified minds can receive him. That will be very different from the brief and limited glimpses we have now.

Paul describes the difference between the two states in two ways. First, the present life is like childhood, and the life to come is like adulthood. “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I understood like a child, I thought like a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” Some think “spoke like a child” points to speaking in tongues. He also says, in effect, “I was taught the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven in an extraordinary way,” which showed he was still in a childlike state. Children have narrow and confused ideas compared with grown people. When reason matures, people naturally set aside their early thoughts and treat them as unimportant. So it will be with us in heaven. We will look back on our pride in earthly gifts and see it as childish foolishness compared with mature life in Christ.

Second, what we know now is dark and unclear, compared with what will come later. “Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know as I am known.” At present, we can see only at a distance, as through a telescope and through clouds. Then the things to be known will be near and plain, open to our sight, and our knowledge will have no darkness or mistake. God will be seen face to face, and we will know him as we are known by him, not in the same full way, but in a real and fitting way. God knows us by direct inspection, while we shall then fix our eyes on him and see him as he is (1 John 3:2). We shall understand more of the mysteries of divine love and grace. What a glorious change that will be, to pass from darkness to light, from clouds to the clear sunshine of our Savior’s face, and in God’s own light to see light (Psalm 36:9). Only the light of heaven will remove every cloud and shadow from God’s face. Here it is only twilight. There it will be perfect and endless day.

To sum up love’s greatness, Paul sets it above not only gifts, but also other graces, especially faith and hope (1 Corinthians 13:13). “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Real grace is far greater than any spiritual gift. Faith, hope, and love are the three main graces, and love is chief because it is the goal the other two lead to. Love is part of the divine life, the soul’s happiness, and its peaceful rest in God, with holy delight in all his people. It is the work that lasts forever, when faith and hope are no longer needed.

Faith holds on to God’s revelation and agrees with it. Hope reaches toward future blessing and waits for it. In heaven, faith will give way to sight, and hope to full possession. There will be no need to believe and hope when we can see and enjoy. But love fastens on God’s own goodness, on his image in his creatures, and on our shared relation to God and to one another. These will shine in full glory in the world to come, and there love will be made complete. There we shall love God perfectly, because he will always appear lovely, and our hearts will burn with endless devotion.

There we will love one another perfectly, when all the saints are together, when only saints are there, and when those saints have been made perfect. What a blessed state that will be, and how far it will rise above the best life here below. How beautiful and excellent Christian love is. It surpasses every other gift, because it shines above every grace and becomes their lasting completion.

When faith and hope have reached their end, true love will still burn forever with the brightest flame. Those who come closest to heaven and perfection are the ones whose hearts are filled most fully with this divine spirit and who burn most warmly with love. It is the surest sign of God’s work in a person, and it bears his clearest likeness. For God is love (1 John 4:8, 1 John 4:16). And where God is seen as he truly is, face to face, there love reaches its highest point. There, and there only, it will be made complete.