13:8-12 When will the gifts of the Spirit cease?
13:8-12 When will the gifts of the Spirit cease?
The gifts of the Spirit will cease when that which is perfect is come. Most bible commentators agree that this refers to the consummation of this present age when Jesus comes again to take all the saints of God back to heaven with Him at the first resurrection (CP Jn 14:1-3; 1Cor 15:19-23, 51-54; 1Th 4:13-18).
When we see Jesus face to face in the eternal state there will no longer be any need for the gifts of the Spirit. Our imperfect knowledge in this present age will be full and instantaneous in the future state of glory (CP Ro 8: 18-19).
Some Bible commentators claim that when that which is perfect is come refers to the completion of the Canon of Scripture at the end of the first century, at which time the gifts of the Spirit also ceased.
But there is nothing whatever in scripture that validates this claim. In fact the opposite is true - scriptures clearly attest that the gifts of the Spirit will remain until the end of the present age (CP Mt 28: 19-20; Mk 16: 17-18; Jn 14:12-14; Ac 2: 36-39; 5:32).
Them that believe in Mk 16:17, He that believeth on me in Jn 14:12-14, All that are afar off in Ac 2:36-39, and them that obey in Ac 5:32 all refer to every believer in Christ from the day of Pentecost until God's redemptive plan is fulfilled in the very last repentant sinner saved and filled with the Holy Spirit prior to Jesus' return.
It includes us today and all who will believe in Christ in the future. Jesus qualifies the life-span of what Mk 16:17, Ac 2:36-39 and 5:32 teaches with His declaration in Mt 28:20 …and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
Christ was not only talking to his disciples of that era but to His disciples throughout the whole of the church age. That clearly refutes any teaching that something so integral to God's redemptive plan for mankind was only a temporary activity that would cease with the first century church, when the Canon of Scripture, which instructs us to covet the gifts of the Spirit, was completed.
It is a contradiction in terms. The gifts of the Spirit will cease one day, but that time is not yet.
(See also comments on Mk 16:17-18, Jn 14:12-14; Ac 2:1-4(B), 19:11-12 and 1Cor 12:1-11(B) and author's studies Baptism in the Spirit in his book Foundational Truths of the Christian Faith, Signs and Wonders in God's Redemptive Plan in his book Advanced Studies in the Christian Faith (Volume 1) and The Work of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament Church in his book Advanced Studies in the Christian Faith (Volume 2)).