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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | The gift of the Holy Spirit | Acts 2:38 | alanh | 172046 | ||
Since the neuter gender of the word “perfect” precludes a reference to a person in I Cor. 13:10, it must refer to an inanimate thing. But what thing is it? Instead of searching for some elusive antecedent which is unstated in the immediate context, let us look more closely at the very sentence in which this word is found. For herein lies our answer. Verses 9-10 together comprise one sentence where a contrast occurs between something that is partial (ek merous) now, but will be complete (teleion) later. That something is precisely stated in the words “we know in part, and we prophesy in part” (vs. 9). Paul was discussing the spiritual gifts of knowing and prophesying God’s will- the proclamation of the gospel by divine inspiration!? Jesus had foretold that the Holy Spirit would guide the apostles into “all the truth” (John 16:13). As this was done little by little over the ensuing years, men could see into the mirror of God’s revelation only as “in a mirror, darkly,” but later they would “know fully” all that God intended to reveal and thus see it clearly or “face to face” (vs. 12). By the time the last apostle died (near the end of the first century), the church had passed through its period of infancy and “put away childish things” (vs. 11) When the Scriptures were completed, the church would be sufficiently protected from doctrinal error so that spiritual gifts would no longer be needed (Eph. 4:8-16)A. nd thus they were done away (I Cor. 13:8). During the remaining centuries until the end of time faith, hope and love have continued on (vs. 13) until eternity dawns when faith and hope are swallowed up in sight and fulfillment (2 Cor. 5:7, Rom. 8:24-25). Meanwhile, let us not put our trust in the temporary spiritual gifts of the past, but in the permanent spiritual qualities of the present. |
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2 | The gift of the Holy Spirit | Acts 2:38 | BradK | 172078 | ||
Hi Alanh, OK, but you still never answered my original question which was, " How do you know that the "perfect" is refering to the completed canon of scripture?". You are still making a theological assumption, my friend:-) The Bible Knowledge Commentary offers this perpective: "What Paul meant when he referred to the coming of perfection is the subject of considerable debate. One suggestion is that perfection described the completion of the New Testament. But verse 12 makes that interpretation unlikely. A few have suggested that this state of perfection will not be reached until the new heavens and new earth are established. Another point of view understands perfection to describe the state of the church when God’s program for it is consummated at the coming of Christ. There is much to commend this view, including the natural accord it enjoys with the illustration of growth and maturity which Paul used in the following verses. [Walvoord, John F., Roy B. Zuck, and Dallas Theological Seminary. The Bible Knowledge Commentary ] Speaking the Truth in Love, BradK |
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