The Complete Thing

1 Corinthians 13:8-12 The love never falls, but whether prophecy, it will be caused to be idle¹, whether languages,² they will cause themselves to cease³, whether knowledge, it will be caused to be idle. For out from a part we experientially know and out from a part we prophecy, but when the complete thing comes, then what is out from a part will be caused to be idle. When I was a baby⁴, I spoke as a baby, I thought as a baby. When I became a man, I made the things of the baby idle. For now I see through a mirror obscurely, but then face to face. Now I experientially know out from a part, but then I will be fully experientially know just as I am fully known.

Paul speaks of a day when the Church will no longer require the use of the Spiritual gifts of prophecy, languages⁵, and knowledge. When the full Word of God comes, He will stop giving revelation; therefore, prophecy will become idle. Languages, or better known as speaking in tongues, will cause themselves to stop existing because the purpose for speaking in another language ceases to exist. Speaking in another language was a sign to the Jews. It is no longer active since the Jewish nation has fully rejected Jesus and the Church⁶.  Paul explains what knowledge he is referring to further down in the context where he states that the knowledge comes from only a partial revelation. Paul did not have the full cannon of Scripture at this time. He only had access to the Old Testament. Although he was involved […]

Stewardship and Dispensations: The Significance of Οικονομός and Οικονομία

The sixty-six books of the Bible span thousands of years of man’s history and beyond. They begin before God created man and end with the creation of new heavens and a new earth where righteousness settles down and feels at ease¹.  Within the pages of the Bible, we see changes in the relationship and expectation that God has for mankind and the failure of mankind to live up to God’s expectation, which ultimately brings judgment. In the garden of Eden, man was not allowed to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil². Upon eating of the fruit from this tree, mankind’s spirit was separated from God³, he became subject to physical death, and was expelled from the garden⁴. Having been expelled from the garden, the expectation for man was to properly govern the manner of his life by the knowledge of good and evil that he now possessed. However, again men failed and God judged the earth by bringing a flood⁵. After the flood, God instructs Noah that men are to govern themselves and capital punishment is implemented⁶. Again, men fail to follow God’s instruction, rejected God, and sought their own way. Therefore, God brought judgment and forced man to separate and spread across the earth⁷.  This judgment brought about multiple languages and the division of the continents, which caused man to spread out across the earth⁸.  Having scattered man across the face of the earth, God then approaches Abram and ultimately offers him four covenants⁹. These covenants included a promise of […]