A gracious reader has raised questions about our Miraculous Gifts post. These queries arise from our view of “that which is perfect” in 1 Cor 13:10–12.1 There, Paul says:
When that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
We said “that which is perfect” is the messianic age. The Mosaic age was an imperfect age. The Temple’s fall in AD 70 marked the end of the transition from the imperfect Mosaic age to the perfect messianic age. We now live in “that which is perfect.”
Our reader believes “that which is perfect” describes the eternal state. He says we will “know as we are known” only after the resurrection. To prove his point, he asks, “Do you…now know as fully as you are known?” He expects a negative answer that invalidates our position regarding messianic-age perfection.
His overarching concern is with our view of the spiritual gifts. We believe God placed both ordinary and extraordinary (or miraculous) gifts in the church during the transition period between the Mosaic age and the messianic age. The supernatural gifts began on Pentecost (in AD 30; e.g., Acts 2:1–4) and were a normal part of church life for the next 40 years. During that time, God used them to confirm the apostles’ preaching (Mark 16:20; Heb 2:3–4). When the transition to the “perfect” messianic age ended, God withdrew the supernatural gifts. The ordinary gifts (Gk. charisma) continued (e.g., Rom 12:6–8).
Based on his view of “that which is perfect,” our reader believes the supernatural gifts are still part of the church’s normal experience. This will not change, he believes, until the resurrection. Then these gifts will cease and we will know as we are known.
This post will examine Paul’s statement: “Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known” (1 Cor 13:12b). It will show this change in knowledge coincides with the change from the Mosaic age to the messianic age.
Before we begin, let’s review some of our key points in previous posts. Paul knew the church had reached “the end of the ages” (1 Cor 10:11). The true Exodus in Christ (Luke 9:31 Wuest2) had occurred (in AD 30). God’s people would soon experience the equivalent of “crossing the Jordan River.” The forty-year transition period was almost over. Israel’s manna and other supernatural provisions had ceased after forty years. In like manner, the church’s miraculous gifts would also end after forty years.3
We have traced this theme in every part of 1 Cor 13:10–12. Scripture never uses “that which is perfect” (1 Cor 13:10) to describe the eternal state (here). “Perfection” and similar metaphors (1 Cor 13:11) pertain to the messianic age (here). And, the church enjoys a face-to-face relationship with God through Christ (1 Cor 13:12a; here).
Each of these elements pertained to the transition from the Mosaic age to the messianic age, not from the messianic age to the eternal state. The transition to full knowledge did so, too.
We will arrange our demonstration of this around three issues: the nature of the knowledge-change, its timing, and other Biblical statements about it.
The Nature of Paul’s Knowledge
Many commentators think 1 Cor 13:12b is a reference to knowledge we will have in the eternal state. Matthew Poole, for example, says,
In heaven we shall have such knowledge as two men have who see one another face to face, and shall know God fully, in some measure, though not in the same degree, of the fulness and perfections wherein God knoweth us.4
These writers assume Paul’s knowledge-change is one of degree. This forces them to hedge. Poole hedges by saying our new knowledge will be “in some measure, though not in the same degree” as God’s. Another commentator says, “This is not to say that Paul will have knowledge that is divine.”5
Paul did not guard his knowledge statement in 1 Cor 13:12. This is because he was speaking about a change in the kind of knowledge saints would have, not the degree. Israel had known God through the symbols and types of the Mosaic age (e.g., Heb 9:10). In the messianic age, she would know God through the reality of these symbols. This change was absolute and required no qualifications.
We can go further. Paul says, “then I shall know just as I also am known” (1 Cor 13:12). “The adverb as…means that as God knows Paul so Paul will know God.”6
How did God previously know Paul? How, in the future, would he and other saints know God in this manner?
Earlier in this letter, Paul had said, “if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him” (1 Cor 8:3). Herman Ridderbos provides a key insight regarding this knowledge:
“Being known by God” refers to the gracious and loving electing act of God; “to be known” by him in this way means the same as to have been chosen by him and loved by him (cf. Gal. 4:9; 1 Cor. 13:12; Eph. 1:6).7
God knew his saints before the world began. The Apostle describes them as those “whom [God] foreknew” (Rom 8:29). God’s knowledge of his people came through his choice of them in Christ (Eph 1:4).
The Mosaic age did not reveal this knowledge. The messianic-age did. Paul said, “The mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints…is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:26–27).
Paul had already mentioned this messianic-age knowledge to the Corinthians:
We speak wisdom among those who are mature [i.e., perfect], yet not the wisdom of this [Mosaic] age, nor of the rulers of this [Mosaic] age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this [Mosaic] age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Cor 2:6–8)
W. D. Davies confirms our thesis from the writings of Jewish Rabbis:
The Messianic Age, as indeed we might expect, is presented as an era in which certain difficulties or incomprehensibilities, which the Torah [i.e., the law] presented in this [Mosaic] Age, would be adequately explained and comprehended: now we see in a glass darkly, but then obscurities will be removed…
The normative position arrived at was that in this [Mosaic age] the demands of Torah were to be obeyed because they were commanded: this was sufficient reason for their observance.… But although theirs was not to reason why in this [Mosaic age], the Rabbis were convinced that the Messianic Age would bring with it an explanation of the inexplicable demands that the Torah made in this world: the [the grounds or reasons for the Torah’s demands] would be revealed. We have previously quoted passages from the Old Testament where the Messianic Age was depicted as a time when God himself would teach His people. This was the firm conviction of the Rabbis also.8
These rabbis described the knowledge-change of which Paul spoke in 1 Cor 13:12. It was the change in knowledge between the Mosaic age and the messianic age. It was one of kind. In the Mosaic age, symbols had mediated the saints’ knowledge of their election in Christ. In the messianic age, God would remove those symbols. The saints would then possess a direct knowledge of his electing love in Christ. They would know God as he had known them from all eternity. The law “would be adequately explained and comprehended.”
The Timing of Paul’s Knowledge
Understanding Paul’s “now … then” timing statement in 1 Cor 13:12 is essential to understanding his assertion about knowledge. Placing his knowledge-change at the resurrection creates problems. For example, what change in knowledge will the saints already in heaven experience at the resurrection? They are already reigning with the Lord (Rev 20:4; et al). How will their knowledge experience a fundamental transformation?
Paul says, “now I know in part (Gk. ek meros), but then I shall know [God] just as I also am known [by him].” Other Scriptures explain his “now … then” orientation. We will look at five of them.
Second Corinthians. Our last post used this passage to explain Paul’s “face to face” metaphor (1 Cor 13:12a). The veiled face of Moses represented the Mosaic age. In the messianic age, unveiled Christians see “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor 4:6).
Second Corinthians also explains Paul’s “now … then” orientation in 1 Cor 13:12b. He uses the same word for “in part” in both passages. In 2 Cor 3:10, these words represent the Mosaic age. Paul says,
Indeed, in this case [lit. part; Gk. ho meros], what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. (2 Cor 3:10–11 ESV)
Ralph P. Martin says “in this case” (2 Cor 3:10) means, literally, “‘in this part’ (of the whole).”9
Paul associates “this part” with the Mosaic age that was coming to an end (2 Cor 3:11). It existed in his “now,” but would not exist in his “then.”
Romans 13:12. The Apostle described his “now … then” situation for the saints in Rome. He said, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand” (Rom 13:12). This is not the “day” of the eternal state, nor the “night” of world history. Paul was referring to the advanced “night” of the Mosaic age and the soon-coming “day” of the messianic age. This age-transition period was his “now … then.”
Zechariah 14:7–9. Zechariah foretold Paul’s situation. He said before the messianic age would come,
It shall be one day
Which is known to the LORD
Neither day nor night.
But at evening time it shall happen
That it will be light.
And in that day it shall be—
That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem…
And the LORD shall be King over all the earth.
In that day it shall be “The LORD is one,”
And His name one. (Zech 14:7–9)
A time of “neither day nor night” would precede the “day” of the messianic age. Paul was living in that period. This was Paul’s “now … then” situation.
Hebrews. As we saw in our last post (here), the Hebrew letter confirms this as Paul’s time perspective. God had established the messianic age, but the Temple still stood. The priests were “go[ing] in continually” to offer sacrifices. And, “The way into the holy place hath not yet been made manifest.” This was Paul’s “now.”
The Temple represented the Mosaic age. Soon, in the “time of reformation” (Heb 9:6–10 ASV), it would fall. The Jewish priests would stop offering animal sacrifices. And, “the way into the holy place” would be manifested. That was Paul’s “then.”
John 4:23–24. Jesus also described this “now … then” timing. He said “the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father” (John 4:21). The time of worshipping God in Jerusalem was Paul’s “now.”
Jesus also described Paul’s “then.” He said,
The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:23–24)
Jesus said the messianic age was “coming, and is now here.”
As long as the Temple stood, the saints knew “in part.” In the messianic age, saints would “know fully” (1 Cor 13:12), not through symbols and not through the Temple at Jerusalem. Instead, they would know “the Father in spirit and truth.”
Many other Scriptures show Paul’s “now … then” timing orientation. It was not the passing of history into the eternal state. It was the demise of the Mosaic age and the arrival of the messianic age.
The Support of Paul’s Knowledge
Our third issue involves scriptural support. What passages, besides 1 Cor 13:12, mention a fundamental change in knowledge when the church passes from the messianic age to the eternal state? We know of none.
But many passages show the change in knowledge of which Paul spoke. It would come when the church passed from the Mosaic age to the messianic age. We have space to cite only a few.
New Covenant knowledge. A fundamental change in knowledge would occur when God took away the Old Covenant and established the New. God said, in the messianic age, “None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them” (Heb 8:11).
When Jesus established the new covenant in his blood, he ensured a transformation in knowledge. F. W. Grosheide does not endorse inmillennialism, but he makes our point regarding Heb 8:11. He says, “In our verse the thought is rather that knowledge may be used to characterize the new dispensation.”10
An increase of knowledge. Daniel described a time when “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase” (Dan 12:4). This would precede the Temple’s fall (in AD 70) and occur in conjunction with Israel’s “time of trouble” (Dan 12:1). Paul wrote 1 Cor 13:12 during this timeframe.11
The increase of knowledge in the messianic age would be stupendous. It would continue until “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isa 11:9). “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab 2:14).
In the prophets, the great knowledge-change would occur when the Mosaic age gave way to the messianic age, not in the eternal state.
Jesus and knowledge. Jesus often spoke of messianic-age knowledge. We will list a few of his statements with emphasis:
If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:31–32)
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (John 17:3)
Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God…. For nothing [concerning the kingdom of God] is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. (Luke 8:10, 17; cp. Matt 13:11)
Scriptural support for a fundamental change of knowledge in the messianic age is vast and deep.
Conclusion
In light of the above, we are prepared to answer our reader’s penetrating question through an amplification of Paul’s words. He said,
Now [in the Mosaic age] I know in part, but then [in the messianic age] I shall know [God through Jesus Christ] just as I also am known [by him from all eternity in electing grace]. (1 Cor 13:12)
I live in the perfect age (Heb 7:19 KJV). The glory of God shines in the face of Jesus Christ and I see it (2 Cor 4:6). And, I know God [in election] as I have been known [in election] by him.
The imperfect Mosaic age, its veil that hid the face of God, and its hidden mysteries about my relationship to Christ, are gone. God has given the “knowledge of salvation unto his people” (Luke 1:76–77).
God gave the miraculous gifts as a normal part of the church’s life to establish the messianic age. He has achieved that purpose and has withdrawn them. His other spiritual gifts (charisma) continue.
Footnotes
- Unless otherwise noted, Scripture references are from the NKJV.
- Kenneth S. Wuest, Expanded Translation of the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1961), 156.
- We developed these ideas in Typology and Inmillennialism.
- Matthew Poole, A Commentary on the Holy Bible, 3 vols. (1685; repr., Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1962), 3:587.
- Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, NTC (1993), 469.
- Kistemaker, First Corinthians, 469.
- Herman Ridderbos, Paul: An Outline of His Theology, trans. John Richard de Witt (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1975), 294.
- W. D. Davies, “Torah in the Messianic Age and/or the Age to Come,” Journal of Biblical Literature Monograph Series 7 (1952), 66-68.
- Ralph P. Martin, 2 Corinthians, WBC 40 (1986), 63.
- F. W. Grosheide, First Epistle to the Corinthians, NICNT (1953), 311. Emphasis added.
- We cannot here take time to prove this statement. It conforms to our inmillennial model.
