Lessons #473 and 474
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Permanence of Love (1 Cor 13:8-13)
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
The message of this section of 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 that we have been considering is: The permanency of love is the primary reason for its supremacy over gifts of prophecy, tongues, and knowledge and over faith and hope. Recall we stated in our last study that at the introduction of this section, Apostle Paul was concerned with permanency of love that he communicated by providing three reasons for the supremacy of love over prophecy, tongues, and knowledge that we considered in a previous study. Furthermore, we stated that the apostle made two comparisons. The first is between childhood and adulthood. The second is between the time of “the perfect” and “now”. Both comparisons, he discussed in verses 11 to12. We considered the first comparison the apostle gave that involves childhood and adulthood although he used himself in the comparison. Today, we proceed to the second.
The second comparison the apostle makes concerns the time of “the perfect” and “now.” It is true that the apostle is concerned with comparison of the time of “the perfect" and “now” but what he said in the second comparison is certainly an explanation that will help us to understand the time when spiritual gifts given to the church of Christ will end or no longer needed. We say this because of the use of a Greek conjunction that is not explicitly translated in the 1984 edition of the NIV and a handful of our English versions, but the 2011 edition of the NIV has joined some of our English versions that begin verse 12 with the word “for.” The word “for” is translated from a Greek conjunction (gar) that has several usages. For example, it can be used as a marker of inference with the meaning “so, then, by all means” or it can be used as a marker of cause or reason for something in which case it may be translated “for, because.” In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:12, it has the meaning “for” in the sense that it is used to provide explanation regarding the time spiritual gifts will end that was referenced in verse 8.
The explanation the apostle gave is concerned first with a comparison between reflection and reality that involves “now” and the future time of “the perfect.” The metaphor of reflection is given in the first clause of 1 Corinthians 13:12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror. The Greek sentence is not that simple to translate into the English as we have in the NIV. This we can see from the various ways our English versions rendered the Greek clause. The NASB, the ESV, the NRSV and a few others translated the Greek as now we see in a mirror dimly. The NET translates the Greek as we see in a mirror indirectly. The old KJV reads now we see through a glass, darkly. The HCSB and the revised edition of the NAB read now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror. The GW Translation reads Now we see a blurred image in a mirror. The AMP in its usual way of trying to capture everything translates the Greek as now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection [of reality as in a riddle or enigma]. So you get the idea that there is difficulty in translating the Greek sentence that a literal translation is For now we see by means of/through/in (a) mirror indistinctly. Another literal translation of the Greek is “now we gaze with the help of a mirror in riddle form (or in an indirect image).”
The word “now” is translated from a Greek temporal adverb (arti) that concerns immediate moment. The Greek word may mean “just now” to refer to an immediate past as the word is used in the report of a ruler who came to Jesus seeking help about his daughter that died before he came to Jesus as we read in Matthew 9:18:
While he was saying this, a ruler came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.”
The word may mean “now” as referring to the immediate present as the word is used in Peter’s question regarding Jesus’ statement to him that he could not go with Him to the place He was about to go as we read in John 13:37:
Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
The word may mean “now, at the present time” to refer to the present in general as it is used in Jesus’ assuring His disciples that He had much to teach them, but they were not at that present time able to absorb all He has to teach but when the Holy Spirit comes, He would guide them to all truth as we read in John 16:12:
“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:12, it means “now” in the sense of “the present in general or a point of time simultaneous with the event of the time of writing of the epistle we are studying.”
The event that is simultaneous to the time of writing of this epistle that apostle described is given in the sentence we see. The apostle emphasized this sentence because normally a Greek verb does not begin a sentence unless the author intends to emphasize the action of the verb. Here the Greek verb translated we see begins the Greek sentence hence we know the apostle is emphatic in what he stated. Furthermore, the apostle wants to emphasize the generality of the truth he stated since he switched from the first person singular “I” he used in the previous verse to the first person plural “we” that includes himself and the Corinthians and so all believers in Christ. You see, when the apostle used “I” in the preceding verse what he stated of himself is true of all humans or specifically believers since his epistle was directed to the Corinthians. Thus, to ensure that what he said of himself is true of every person, he emphasized that truth by switching from the singular to the plural so there can be no doubt that he was concerned with the experience that is common to all believers in Christ as in the sentence we see.
The word “see” is translated from a Greek verb (blepō) that may mean “to see,” that is, to perceive with eyes as in the instruction given by the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul to the Corinthians about focusing on heavenly things than earthly ones in 2 Corinthians 4:18:
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
The word may mean “to watch, be aware of” in the sense of being ready to learn about something that is needed or is hazardous, as it is used in the instruction of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul to the Galatians concerning backbiting each other as in Galatians 5:15:
If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
The word may mean “to be careful” as it is used in the instruction how one conducts self as a believer as stated in Ephesians 5:15:
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:12, it is used with the meaning “to see,” that is, “to perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight.” The apostle used a present tense in the Greek that here is used to convey that what he stated about perceiving by sight is universally true in that whatever he said about seeing is that which takes place everywhere without any exception. That aside, the apostle did not tell us what it is that we see or perceive probably because he was more concerned with manner of seeing than the object perceived. Of course, since the Greek word he used can be used for intellectual or spiritual perception, he could have had in mind some of the spiritual gifts that their manifestations are visible such as speaking in tongues or prophesying. Nonetheless, he was more interested in the process of seeing than the object seen.
The process of seeing or the manner of seeing is given in the NIV in the phrase but a poor reflection as in a mirror that literally reads by means of/through/in (a) mirror indistinctly. This is because the apostle used a Greek preposition (dia) here that is capable of three possible interpretations. It could mean “by means of” that expresses the mirror as the means or medium of seeing something the apostle did not specify. The second interpretation is to take the Greek preposition to mean “through” implying that the object is behind a mirror. A third meaning is to take the preposition to mean “in” so that a person simply looks into a mirror. Any of these interpretations is possible, depending on how one interprets the manner of perception rendered in the NIV as but a poor reflection or literally indistinctly.
The expression but a poor reflection of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (ainigma) that literally may mean “that which requires special acumen to understand because it is expressed in puzzling fashion,” hence means “a riddle.” This literal meaning raises a problem as to how something one sees or perceives can be said to be a riddle or puzzling especially as mirror is involved in the perception the apostle mentioned. The difficulty with the Greek word is helped by the usage of the Greek word in the Septuagint where it refers to “indirect mode of communication” so may mean “indirectly” as that is the sense the Greek word is used to report Yahweh’s assertion of communicating face to face with Moses in Numbers 12:8:
With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”
The phrase not in riddles in the Septuagint reads either not in dark speeches or not through obscure utterances. The standard Greek English Lexicon (BDAG) indicates that the Greek phrase that involved our word in the context of mirror imagery functions as an idiom meaning “indirectly” but that in our passage it gives “the sense we see by reflection as in a mirror with emphasis on anticipation of direct personal encounter ...” That aside, the Greek word in our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:12 has the sense of “abstruse thing,” that is, “something difficult to penetrate mentally; incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding or knowledge.”
Our Greek word that has the sense of “abstruse thing” is associated with a Greek preposition (en) with several usages. For example, it could be used as a marker of agency in which case it may mean “with the help of.” In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:12, it is used as a marker of means so that it may mean “by, by means of, through.” Thus, the Greek phrase used in our verse may literally be translated “through a riddle” but, as we have stated previously, according to the standard Greek English lexicon (BDAG), in the context of mirror, the literal translation is an idiom that means “indirectly.” Thus, the Greek sentence we are considering may then be translated we see indirectly by means of a mirror. This translation implies that we have taken the Greek preposition (dia) we mentioned previously, to have the meaning “by means of” since what we see that is not real in the sense of being able to touch it is by using a mirror. A mirror being a polished surface that forms images by reflecting light implies that what is seen through it is indirectly and not the actual object. You see, we cannot see what our face looks like but when we use a mirror, we indirectly see our face that we can easily forget what it looks like as it is referenced in James 1:23:
Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror.
That aside the word “mirror” in the phrase of the NIV of 1 Corinthians 13:12 but a poor reflection as in a mirror is translated from a Greek word (esoptron) that refers to the ancient mirror that unlike modern mirror that is made of glass and mercury consists of polished bronze that forms images by reflecting light. The apostolic father Tertullian believes that our Greek word “can denote a semitransparent, translucent pane of horn through which vague shapes on the other side can be perceived.” This is unlikely since Corinth was well known for the production of the finest quality bronze mirrors of the ancient world. Because of the high quality of the mirrors in Corinth, it is unlikely that the mirrors in Corinth were such as to produce dim or dark images as some have assumed that led to the idea of dim images being perceived by means of the mirrors in Corinth. That aside, we should recognize that the apostle was using metaphors in referencing the fact of seeing by means of mirrors so that we should be more concerned about what the apostle intended to convey by his reference of perceiving by means of mirror.
Apostle Paul is concerned we recognize that whatever we see at the present in the spiritual life is indirectly in that we do not see the real thing implying that we have to be careful in how we interpret what we see. For example, what we know of God is by indirect understanding of who He is through His work. Our knowledge of Him is also based on our interpretation of the Scripture that cannot be taken to be perfect. We try to make sense of what the Scripture says about God but there is no way we could really come close to describe Him. We may say that God is love because the Scripture tells us that, but our understanding of love is imperfect because we are imperfect beings. There is no way we could possibly understand love as an attribute of God although we try to explain various passages of the Scripture to help us conceive of His love, but we have to admit that on this planet, we could not possibly interpret His love in such a way that we have a perfect knowledge of who He is. My point is that any interpretation of whom God is or even what He has revealed to us is an indirect representation of Him. This limitation that we have should be a reason we should be careful about fighting each other in doctrines of things that will happen in the future. I have a personal conviction that one of the reasons the Jewish rabbis rejected Christ or did not recognize Him during His incarnation is because they imperfectly interpreted the prophets about the Messiah so that when He appeared and He did not match their interpretation, they rejected Him. This is the same kind of thing that is happening today with the various interpretations of the various events that will take place at the second coming of Christ or the prophecies that many are absorbed in as given in book of Revelation. It is also because our interpretation of the Scripture is an indirect explanation of the reality of what God has given us that may account for the fact there are many interpretations of the Scripture, some of which are conflicting with others. I am saying that because we see reflections of the reality that we often have interpreters reading the reflection differently although some see things more clearly than others, but the fact remains there is no such thing as a perfect interpretation of the Scripture that brings us to God’s reality as He exists. Again, the apostle wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror or as we have suggested we see indirectly by means of a mirror.
The thing we see indirectly or as a reflection from a mirror is contrasted with the real thing that we will perceive directly when the perfect comes. It is this reality that is given in the next clause of 1 Corinthians 13:12 then we shall see face to face.
The word “then” is translated from an adverb of time (tote) that is often translated “then” but it may mean “at that time” as it is used to describe the time following the second coming of Jesus Christ when believers will be evaluated for praise as we read in 1 Corinthians 4:5:
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
The word may mean “finally” as used to introduce that which follows in time as it is used to describe when Pilate eventually handed Jesus Christ over to be crucified as we read in John 19:16:
Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.
The Greek word may mean “formerly” as a reference to past time as the word is used by Apostle Paul to describe the state of Galatians prior to their salvation as we read in Galatians 4:8:
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:12, it has the sense of “then,” that is, “at that time.” The time in view is when the perfect comes which we have already noted means the second coming of Jesus Christ. It is at that time that reflection will be replaced with reality.
The concept of reality that believers will perceive is given in the sentence of the NIV of 1 Corinthians 13:12 we shall see face to face although literally the Greek simply reads face to face. The word “see” was not repeated but is implied. In effect, it is assumed that perception of spiritual reality that involves ultimately perceiving God will be done personally, that is, face to face.
The word “face” is translated from a Greek word (prosōpon) that literally refers to the human face, but it has other usages or meanings that are not literal. The word may mean “appearance” as the word is used in the charge of Jesus to the Jewish leaders of knowing how to forecast the weather by looking at the sky but unable to correctly interpret His presence with them as recorded in Matthew 16:3:
and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.
The word may mean “presence” as it is used in quotation of psalm by Peter during his sermon on the day of Pentecost as we read in Acts 2:28:
You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’
The word may mean “surface” as it is used by Apostle Paul in his rebuke of the Corinthians for being those who look at the outward things of people or what is obvious instead of looking deeper as it relates to the spiritual as we read in 2 Corinthians 10:7:
You are looking only on the surface of things. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as he.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:12, it has the sense of “personal presence.”
In any case, when the apostle wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:12 then we shall see face to face he meant to convey that when the Lord returns, believers will perceive directly or in person the things they need to perceive. We use the word “directly” and the phrase “in person” because of the way the phrase face to face is interpreted in the Scripture especially in the OT. The phrase face to face in the NIV in the OT is how the translators of the NIV translated three different Hebrew phrases. A first Hebrew phrase that literally means “face to face” is used when God appeared personally to a human being. Thus, the first usage of the Hebrew phrase that translates literally as “face to face” is when God appeared in human form to wrestle with Jacob. After that event, a hip socket of Jacob was dislocated, and his name was changed to Israel. Consequently, he realized that God had appeared to him as we read in Genesis 32:30:
So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
When Jacob asserted that he saw God face to face, he meant that he saw God in person. The same Hebrew phrase that literally translates “face to face” was used to describe Yahweh’s communication to Moses as we read in Exodus 33:11:
The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.
That Yahweh spoke to Moses face to face has the sense of speaking to him directly. It could not mean that Moses saw the face of God as would be the case if two humans are communicating with each other in person. Of course, God had informed Moses that he could not see His face without dying as we read in Exodus 33:20:
But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
Because no one could see the face of God and live, Yahweh showed His back to Moses according to Exodus 33:23:
Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”
The fact is that Yahweh spoke to Moses directly when it is said that He spoke to him face to face. A second Hebrew phrase that the translators of the NIV rendered “face to face” is a Hebrew phrase that literally translates as “mouth to mouth.” This Hebrew phrase appears in the Hebrew text that we cited previously, that is, Numbers 12:8:
With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”
The phrase face to face is literally from the Hebrew mouth to mouth. The literal phrase conveys the sense of direct communication or communicating to a person directly. By the way, experts inform us that this passage was a subject of debate among rabbinical scholars regarding the difference between Moses and other prophets. We are told that both sides in the debate held that Moses, like the other prophets, saw the Lord through a mirror. One side held that the difference between Moses and other prophets is that he saw the Lord through a mirror while the others saw Him through a series of mirrors. Alternatively, that Moses saw the Lord through a polished mirror while the other prophets saw him through a blurred one. This later interpretation is actually implied in those English versions that translate the passage of 1 Corinthians 13:12 that we are considering, to reflect that we see things dimly at the present time. That aside, a third Hebrew phrase translated “face to face” in the NIV is a Hebrew phrase that translates “eye to eye” as it appears in Moses’ plea to God not to destroy the rebellious Israel in Numbers 14:14:
And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, O LORD, are with these people and that you, O LORD, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
When it is said that Yahweh have been seen face to face, this does not mean that the Israelites saw Him. Instead, what that means is that there was a direct contact of the Israelites by Yahweh as He spoke directly to them when they heard His voice in Mount Sinai. In at least, one occasion when the Hebrew phrase face to face is associated with the word “know” it conveys the sense of personal friendship or intimacy between God and human as it is used to describe Yahweh’s relationship with Moses as we read in Deuteronomy 34:10:
Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.
To say that Yahweh knew Moses face to face meant that he was Yahweh’s friend or had intimate knowledge of God. The phrase is used primarily in the OT Scripture in relationship of humans to God but that does not mean that it is not used with relationship of humans to each other. For in the prophecy of Jeremiah regarding the fate of King Zedekiah, the phrase was used in Jeremiah 32:4:
Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape out of the hands of the Babylonians but will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes.
Here the phrase face to face meant that Zedekiah would personally be in the presence of king of Babylon. It is this sense of personal presence of an individual that the phrase face to face appears in the NT. For example, the apostle used it in his defense of his ministry to the Corinthians as we may gather from 2 Corinthians 10:1
By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” when away!
When the apostle used the phrase when face to face with you, he meant when personally present with Corinthians. The same phrase is used in 2 John 12:
I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
Here the phrase face to face has the sense of in person and directly. So, there should not be any doubt that when the phrase face to face is used with reference to God that it conveys the sense of “directly” or “personally.” The point then is that when Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:12 then we shall see face to face he meant to convey that when the Lord returns believers will perceive directly or in person the things they need to perceive. Thus, the apostle contrasts reflection with the reality of perception that will be realized at the second coming of Jesus Christ.
The point of the apostle when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:12 then we shall see face to face is that when the Lord appears, we will be in personal or direct contact with Him so that we will no longer need any indirect way of knowing Him. We study the Scripture to help us understand to a limited extent our God or our Savior Jesus Christ. We study the Scripture to help us recognize Christ if we were to see Him. I would imagine that it is possible that believers who learn nothing about the Savior before death may probably not easily recognize the Savior at the point of death although eventually, they would recognize Him. Anyhow, prophecies or tongues serve to an extent to help in learning about our God but when the Lord Jesus appears there would be no longer any need to study the Scripture as we do today or any need for prophecies or tongues. I am saying that the Bible we have is useful only until the Lord Jesus appears. When He appears we would no longer need the Scripture since we will be personally present with Him to learn directly from Him all that we need to learn about God that definitely is part of what we will do throughout eternity. It would be foolish to think that after the Lord returns, we will still need the Scripture or other spiritual gifts that are useful in helping us understand God. It is like you have a picture of someone unknown to you sent to you to help identify the person, say, at the airport where you are to pick up the individual. When the person arrives and you use the picture to identify the person, you will set aside the picture because you can now directly interact with the person. Would it not be foolish that once you have the person, you keeping looking at the picture instead of the actual person? So, the Holy Spirit is telling us through the apostle that now we are learning of God indirectly through the Scripture and spiritual gifts that are necessary to help us learn about our God but when Christ returns none of these indirect means or manner of learning about God would be needed. This is the sense of the first comparison of the apostle in the passage we are considering.
The second element of the comparison of the apostle between when “the perfect” comes and “now,” that is, at the present, is that of partial versus full knowledge. It is this that the apostle introduced with the sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:12 Now I know in part.
The word “know” is translated from a Greek word (ginōskō) that may mean to arrive at a knowledge of someone or something, hence “to know, know about, make acquaintance of.” Thus, it may be used to arrive at understanding of truth, as it is with this meaning that the word is used in Jesus’ declaration of a person being set free by knowledge of truth in John 8:32:
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
In the same meaning, it can refer to arrive at the knowledge or even be acquainted with someone as it is used by Apostle Paul regarding Christ in 2 Corinthians 5:16:
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.
The translators of the NIV used the meaning “to regard” in translating our Greek word here since, for example, the sentence we once regarded Christ is more literally, we have known Christ. The word may mean to acquire information through some means and so means “to learn (of), to ascertain, to find out.” Thus, it is in the sense of to find out something that our Greek word is used to describe Apostle Paul’s desire to learn about the faith of believers in Thessalonica, as we read in 1 Thessalonians 3:5:
For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.
The word may mean to grasp the significance or meaning of something and so means “to understand, comprehend” as it is used to indicate the disciples of Jesus did not comprehend what He said to them about His coming death and resurrection when they were on their way to Jerusalem as reported by Luke in Luke 18:34:
The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.
Of course, it is in this meaning of grasping the significance of something that our Greek word was used in the apostolic prayer of Paul for Ephesians to comprehend Christ’s love for them although our word is translated “know” in Ephesians 3:19:
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
The word may mean to be aware of something, that is, “to perceive, notice, realize”, as it is used to describe that the woman Jesus healed of her bleeding, realized, or perceived it, as recorded in Mark 5:29:
Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
The sentence she felt is more literally she knew, that is, she realized or perceived that she has been healed because her bleeding stopped. The word may mean “to acknowledge, recognize” as it is used in Galatians 4:9:
But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?
Although the NIV translated our Greek word with “know” twice but the sense of the Greek word in this passage is that of “to acknowledge.” Thus, the clause now that you know God is translated in the NEB as now that you do acknowledge God. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:12, the word is used in the sense of “to know (experientially),” that is, “to know or have knowledge about (someone or something); normally as acquired through observation or the senses.”
The knowledge the apostle used himself as an example is a partial knowledge as in the sentence I know in part. The word “part” is the same Greek word (meros) used in verse 9. Let me review what we said about the word. It has two major meanings. The word may mean “part” in contrast to the whole as Apostle Paul used it to describe members of the body of Christ in Ephesians 4:16:
From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
The word may mean “share” of or in something as the word is used to refer to the warning of the eternal punishment of those who reject the prophetic message of the book of Revelation, and by implication rejection of the gospel message, presented in terms of being excluded from participating in the fruit of the tree of life in the holy city as we read in Revelation 22:19:
And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:12, the word is used together with a Greek preposition (ek) that may be used as a marker of separation in which case it means “out of, from” but in our verse it is used in the sense of “partially,” that is, “in part or in some degree.” Thus, the apostle indicates that at the time of his writing of this epistle his knowledge is partial or incomplete indicating that all believers’ knowledge is also incomplete or partial.
In any case, the apostle stated in 1 Corinthians 13:12 Now I know in part. The apostle did not state what he knew in part and by implication what all believers know partially. We have dealt with this sentence in verse 9 where the apostle used the first-person plural so what we said there applies here. So, let me review what we stated previously but before I do, we should observe that there must be a reason the apostle changed from first-person plural he used in verse 9 to first-person singular. It is probable that the apostle did so to make his point clearer in the sense that if he the apostle could assert that he has partial knowledge, it would be inconceivable how any other believer in Corinth would not have partial knowledge.
We have partial or limited knowledge of God in that we are limited to what we know of His thoughts beyond what He has communicated to us in His word as implied by what Apostle Paul states in the question recorded in 1 Corinthians 2:11:
For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
We have limited knowledge of languages of the world let alone the language of angels; that is the reason the apostle conveyed that the gift of speaking in tongues is not useful in the local church if there is no one to interpret it as we read in 1 Corinthians 14:9–11:
9 So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. 10 Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. 11 If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me.
We have limited or partial understanding of Christ’s love for us hence the prayer of Apostle Paul for the Lord to grant the Ephesians and so all believers the ability to grasp the significance of His love as we read in Ephesians 3:19:
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
No matter how we try, we have limited knowledge of what God’s grace truly means. We have limited knowledge of God’s grace despite the declaration of the apostle to the Colossians as we read in Colossians 1:6:
that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.
Certainly, we are all limited in our knowledge of God’s ways as implied in Hebrews 3:10:
That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
No matter how much we struggle by learning the Scripture, we are limited in our knowledge of God’s ways so whatever knowledge we have based on the Scripture is partial and incomplete since there is so much to God that we cannot know with the bodily limitation we have. Thus, there is no gift of knowledge that could cause us to know fully God’s nature or ways on this planet. Although the apostle would have had in mind these areas of limited knowledge of believers, but it is most likely that he was thinking more about our limited knowledge of God than any other thing.
Be that as it may, to complete the comparison the apostle has been making, he referred to the type of knowledge that will exist at the second coming of Jesus Christ. It is this that is given in the next clause of 1 Corinthians 13:12 then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. Again, the adverb “then” is translated from the same Greek word (tote) in the first half of this verse that we indicated in our context has the meaning “at that time” that refers to the second coming of Christ. There is more to this sentence so we will consider it in our next study but let end by reminding you of the message of this section that we have considering: The permanency of love is the primary reason for its supremacy over gifts of prophecy, tongues, and knowledge and over faith and hope.