It's A Miracle

Many theologians teach that the gifts of prophecies, tongues, and knowledge were for a limited time and have already passed away. They teach, as well, that that the gift of miraculous healings is not in effect for today, and that Jesus performed miraculous healings only to validate that He was the Son of God. It is my proposal that these things which some claim to have passed away – prophecies, tongues, knowledge, and miraculous healing – are still in operation today but at a FAR GREATER spiritual level. The gifts are forerunners that point to the substance, which is Christ (Col. 2:17)!

Ephesians 4:12-13 tells us quite plainly that the purpose of gifts is for the “perfecting of the saints…until we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

Perfect-5046 téleios; means “full age, adulthood, full–grown, of persons, meaning full–grown in mind and understanding (1 Cor. 14:20); in knowledge of the truth (1 Cor. 2:6; Phil. 3:15; Heb. 5:14); in Christian faith and virtue (Eph. 4:13). The final destination of the believer, that is, heaven (1 Cor. 13:10, as contrasted to the full age in knowledge and understanding in 1 Cor. 13:11). This image of fully completed growth as contrasted with infancy and childhood underlies the ethical use of téleioi, being set over against the babes in Christ (1 Cor. 2:6; 14:20; Eph. 4:13, 14; Phil. 3:15; Heb. 5:14). The téleios is one who has attained moral maturity, the goal for which he was intended, namely, to be a man obedient in Christ” (Zodhiates, 2000, # 5046).

Why then the controversy surrounding the occurrence of “when that which is perfect is come” in 1 Corinthians 13:10, given that the phrase is in the center of a dissertation about spiritual gifts? Some theologians speculate “that which is perfect” refers to the written revelation of Scripture, while others believe it is in reference to the return of Christ. As shall be shown, both explanations appear improbable in light of the context.

Immediately following a long list of gifts in 1Corinthians 12, believers are instructed to earnestly covet the best gifts, but the passage goes on to say there is still a more excellent way. The gifts are good, but there is something even better: love! We are told in 1 Corinthians 13:8 that love never fails (ceases), and Paul goes on to mention three gifts that will fail: prophecies shall fail, tongues shall cease, and knowledge shall vanish away. These three gifts appear to be mentioned as representative of the gifts rather than listing all of them again. The perfection of the believer is then addressed in verses 9-12, which contrasts those who are of completed growth (“…when that which is perfect is come…”) with those who are still children. That which is in part remains necessary for those not yet perfect, but shall be done away with at completion of growth.

· 1 Cor. 13:9-11 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 11When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

When the Body of Christ reaches perfection, childish things will be put away. There will no longer be a need for any of the gifts! The gifts are in part, given temporarily as means with which to love one another for the present time while we look through a glass darkly. When full growth is attained (admittedly, the Body will not attain full perfection until Christ returns), childish things will be put away and all that is in part shall cease. ALL the gifts will cease, not merely prophecies, or tongues, or knowledge. The passage concludes by contrasting the temporary with the permanent. When the temporary gifts are done away with, what will remain? Faith, hope and love will endure forever, with love being the greatest of all.

Abide means “to remain, to continue, to continue to exist, to still be in existence.” (^[1]Louw, 1996, LN 13.89). “In 1 Corin 13:13, abide is used in an absolute sense, with the idea of perpetuity, i.e., to remain or endure forever, to be perpetual” (Zodhiates, 2000, # 3306 B). The central message of this text is that gifts are given for temporary use and will be done away with when all “come unto a perfect (mature) man,” but faith, hope and love will continue to exist forever!

Current Functioning of Prophecies, Tongues, and Knowledge

The word prophecy means “to tell forth,” and the Bible tells us that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Rev 19:10). This passage in and of itself demonstrates that prophecies have not passed away. The Old Testament prophets “told forth” of the Christ, and believers today still testify of Jesus!

God gives us more knowledge and a greater revelation of Himself today as well. Words from God were rare and for a select few in the Old Testament, but now the Holy Spirit is given to all believers to guide into all truth (John 16:13). “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son,” (Heb 1:1-2).

And tongues? At Pentecost, the Spirit transcended language and culture to give utterance to those who spoke (Acts 2:4) and understanding in their own language to those who would hear (Acts 2:8,11). Today, the Spirit must continue to give utterance; the Spirit must give understanding. Something supernatural must happen, for the natural man cannot understand the things of God. A miracle takes place every time someone understands the gospel message!

Miraculous Healing

Jesus indeed healed the physically afflicted in His earthly incarnation as a sign that He was the Christ:

A sign is “a sign, mark, token, miracle with a spiritual end and purpose. A sign by which the divine power in majesty is made known, a supernatural event or act, a token, wonder, miracle by which the power and presence of God is manifested, either directly or through the agency of those He sends” (2 Zodhiates, 2000, # 4592). “It is not an end but a means to an end…It is simply an indication, pointing to revelation which is taking place…(^[2]Theological Dictionary of the NT, 1964, Vol. 7, p. 240).

The Lord is so gracious to give us signs – concrete illustrations that lead us into spiritual truth! His revelations unfold at ever increasing levels to further our understanding. The progress is from physical illustration to spiritual reality to better enable our comprehension. “From Genesis to Revelations, God's dealings with men have constituted one progressive transition from the earthly back to the heavenly, displacing the religious trappings that served as object lessons only for a season with an ongoing disclosure of Himself” (Clark & Davis, 2005, §Mt. Zion & the open tent of David, ¶31). The physical healings performed by Jesus were figures of a greater and more perfect spiritual healing, and the New Testament interprets Isaiah 53:5 as ultimately fulfilled by the fact that Jesus brought healing from the worst sickness of all – SIN.

Jesus Himself said that He healed physically “that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins.”

After Jesus sent the seventy disciples out to heal the sick, they returned rejoicing that even the devils were subject to them through His name. Jesus pointed them to the far greater reality, saying:

Before His ascension, Jesus charged His followers to go into all the world and preach the gospel.

Tony Warren (1991) said, “When the believers go into the world with the gospel, these are the indications that will be seen as evidence of conversions. In Christ's name those who believe will do these things that Jesus lists. If these signs or indicators were to be taken literally, then all of the greatest Christians of our time were not believers, because these signs did not 'literally' follow them in that sense” (¶3). But when these passages are examined in the light of spiritual fulfillment, it can be seen that these miracles still occur today. Warren (1991) explains:

              We indeed (by the power of the gospel) in Christ's
        Name cast out devils, for Satan is evicted from He
        who is baptized in the Holy Spirit. We have been
        given the 'spiritual' keys of the Kingdom to loose
        on earth what 'has been' loosed in heaven. We are
        the vessels God uses to get that job done.

      We indeed in Christ's name speak in new tongues or languages, for the gospel has gone out to every language in all the earth, and every people understands what was before a mystery. Our Commission to go to the ends of the earth with the gospel is faithfully being fulfilled in He who believes.
        We Indeed In Christ's Name have the power to take up Serpents and not be harmed. For we have no fear of that old serpent Satan, nor his minions, for they have no power to harm us.
        If we should drink any deadly thing it will not harm us. Because false doctrines are like deadly poison…We are those who by power of God keep the Word faithfully, that falsehoods not harm us.
        And indeed, in Christ's name, through His Spirit and by our laying hands on the spiritually sick, they recover. By coming with the word of God in our hands those sinners (sick) are healed by the stripes of Christ, who died specifically for that purpose. (Concl. ¶2-6).

Every time the message of the testimony of Jesus goes forth into this dark world (prophecy), it’s a miracle! Every time the living God reveals Himself to someone, it’s a miracle (knowledge)! Every time the gospel is understood (tongues), it’s a miracle! And Jesus continues to perform miraculous healings every day. Those who are blind see with new spiritual eyes; those who walked according to the ways of the world now walk in holiness; those sick with the dreaded leprosy of sin are cleansed in the precious blood of the Lamb; those once deaf to the truth now hear; those once condemned to death because of their sinfulness are raised to new life in Christ! HALLELUJAH, WHAT A SAVIOR!

Zodhiates, S. 2000, c1992, c1993. The complete word study dictionary : New Testament
(electronic ed.). AMG Publishers: Chattanooga, TN

^[1]Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996, c1989). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament : Based
on semantic domains (LN 13.89). New York: United Bible societies.

^[2]Theological dictionary of the New Testament. 1964-c1976. Vols. 5-9 edited by Gerhard
Friedrich. Vol. 10 compiled by Ronald Pitkin. (G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley & G. Friedrich,
Ed.) (Vol. 7, Page 240). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.