The Duration of Prophecy: How Long Will Prophecy Be Used in the Church? (Part 2) by Wayne A. Grudem
It should perhaps be said again that these alternative explanations of 1 Corinthians 13:10 often seem to be prompted by a prior conviction that New Testament prophecy consists of words equal to Scripture in authority. Now I have no objection to bringing to bear on one passage of Scripture what is clearly taught in other passages of Scripture, because I am convinced that all Scripture is God-breathed and therefore consistent with itself. But when the view that New Testament congregational prophecy was equal to Scripture in authority is itself open to considerable doubt (see chapters 2, 3, and 4 of The Gift of Prophecy), then it is appropriate to be very hesitant to use that view as an explicit or even implicit factor influencing us to adopt a very doubtful interpretation of 1 Corinthians 13:10 as well. Clear teachings of Scripture elsewhere should rightly influence our interpretation of any one text of Scripture, but doubtful or tentative conclusions about teachings of Scripture elsewhere should have only very slight, if any, influence on the interpretation of any one text.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones observes that the view which makes “when the perfect comes” equal the time of the completion of the New Testament encounters another difficulty:
It means that you and I, who have the Scriptures open before us, know much more than the apostle Paul of God’s truth. . . . It means that we are altogether superior . . . even to the apostles themselves, including the apostle Paul! It means that we are now in a position in which . . . “we know, even as also we are known,” by God. . . . indeed, there is only one word to describe such a view, it is nonsense.10
John Calvin, referring to 1 Corinthians 13:8-13, says, “It is stupid of people to make the whole of this discussion apply to the intervening time.”11
3. “1 Corinthians 13 refers only to prophecies contained in Scripture”12
This third objection also ignores the context of 1 Corinthians 13. Paul is talking about spiritual gifts and is showing how love is superior to them. In 1 Corinthians “prophecy” certainly does not refer to “written Scripture” but to a gift of prophecy that was not divinely authoritative. That is what Paul is telling the Corinthians how to use.
4. “Prophecy is a miraculous sign-gift associated with the apostles, and therefore it ceased when the apostles died”
There is no doubt that miraculous gifts were closely associated with the apostles, and that miracles did confirm the truth of the apostles’ message. In fact, most of the remarkable miracles in Acts were done by or through the apostles.
However, several other facts must be kept in mind:
(a) Almost everything in Acts (including evangelism and the founding of churches, for instance) is closely connected with the apostles. This tells us nothing about whether miracles could occur in relation to other Christians to confirm the truth of the gospel they were proclaiming or to serve some other purpose (edification of believers, ministries of mercy to those who were sick, etc.) all through the history of the church. The fact that miracles were done mostly through the apostles does not tell us that they couldn’t be done through others as well.
Category: Spirit, Summer 2001
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