The New Testament lists as many as twenty spiritual gifts. It is important to note that these gifts were given subsequent to the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven according to Ephesians 4:8.[1] While there were prophets and teachers operating in Old Testament times, these gifts (two of the twenty gifts) could not have been, since they were not given until after the Old Testament times had concluded. This distinction indicates that these gifts were necessary for the formation of the Church, which would be born on the day of Pentecost. It also indicates that these gifts did not accomplish a general function, but a specific one. For example, for believers to possess knowledge has always been a necessity since the beginning of time. In that the gift of the word of knowledge was not given until the ascension, it indicates that the knowledge gained by that gift was something specific to the Church and knowledge that had not been revealed in the Old Testament. Since these gifts were for a specific period of time, it becomes possible that some or even all these gifts could be temporary in their duration.
In the following pages, evidence of the temporary nature of some of the gifts will be presented. That evidence comes with two basic assertions. First, some gifts were necessary for the validation of the authority of the apostles and prophets of the New Testament[2]. Ephesians 2:20 makes it crystal clear that these two gifts (actually gifted men) were foundational to the church. [3] In this passage, the progress of the formation of the Church is likened to the construction of a building. The very first part of the actual building process is the foundation. Generally speaking, the materials used in constructing the foundation are used only for the foundation, and not the superstructure of the building. Asphalt shingles are not used in the construction of the foundation and concrete is not used for roofing. When the apostles and prophets had completed the work they were to accomplish, then these gifted men ceased to exist. Consequently, any gifts that were for the purpose of validating the authority of these gifted men would also cease to exist.
The second assertion is that 1 Corinthians 13:8-10 is very clear that at least three gifts (prophecy, word of knowledge[4] and tongues) are temporary in nature. While it can be debated when these gifts will cease, it is without debate that they will cease at some point in time. As with the gifts of apostles and prophets, when these gifts have accomplished the function for which they were given, then they too shall cease to exist[5].
It must be emphasized, though, that while certain gifts may have ceased, the purpose that the gifts served may be accomplished by some other means. As noted above, knowledge has always been a necessity for the believer in order to accomplish the will of God. Knowledge will continue through eternity. In heaven, the saints will possess a perfect knowledge of all things. However, that does not necessitate a gift of knowledge. Again, the gift of the word of knowledge was given subsequent to the ascension of Christ into heaven, and was not found in Old Testament times. How then did the Old Testament saints gain knowledge? Obviously, this gift was not the only means to that end, and therefore had a particular use in the early church. A logical question for the first century believers would be: How would they know how to live the New Testament lifestyle, when there was as yet no New Testament? If the word of knowledge was given, then for a time a believer, as well as others with whom he communicated, would be able to accomplish God’s will. Once the New Testament had been revealed, though, that gift no longer would be necessary. Any and every believer then would have the ability to accomplish the will of God simply by understanding biblical revelation. To require the continuance of this gift would then render the completion of the New Testament as unnecessary.
It also must be stated emphatically that the cessation of a spiritual gift does not prohibit God Himself from accomplishing what man was able to do by exercising a gift. For example, it will be stated later that the gift of healings was given temporarily. But God, prior to the exercise of the gift, as well as after the discontinuance of the gift, was capable of providing miraculous healing, and continues to do so today when it is in His will. That God was capable of accomplishing what a spiritual gift would accomplish prior to its inception, indicates that the giving of that spiritual gift was not necessary for the immediate purpose or accomplishment of the gift. Since God was capable of providing miraculous healing prior to the giving of the gift of healings, why then did He give the gift? The giving of the gift did not make God more efficient in curing sickness, because He was already perfectly and infinitely efficient. Consequently, we conclude that the giving of this gift had a purpose other than simply providing health.
That gifts would cease to operate when their purpose had been accomplished is paralleled by the offering of sacrifices in Old Testament times. According to the author of the book of Hebrews, sacrifices offered in the Old Testament could never remove the penalty of sin[6]. However, the offering of the blood of Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption once and for all time[7]. He then goes on to say that because of the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice to accomplish our salvation, the offering of sacrifices had to cease because they became unnecessary and ineffectual[8]. For a person to offer sacrifices today, he demonstrates he does not believe in the sufficiency of Jesus’ accomplishment on the cross of Calvary. In like manner, if the purpose of a spiritual gift has been accomplished, then for a person to insist on its continued usage would indicate that he simply does not believe (knowingly or unknowingly) the new method or means is able to do what God intended it to do. For example, if the gift of the word of knowledge was given until all necessary knowledge was revealed in the New Testament, then those who advocate the continuance of this gift would, of necessity, deny that the New Testament is capable of providing all necessary knowledge for the current day and age in which we live. However, if the gift of the word of knowledge did not function in such a manner, then the gift may still be operative today. It becomes absolutely essential then to discern the purpose of each spiritual gift. The permanent or temporary nature of each gift will be determined in the section dealing with the delineation of each gift.
The most exhaustive portion of the New Testament that is devoted to the exercise of spiritual gifts is found in First Corinthians chapters 12 through 14. In the 10th verse of Chapter 13, an indication is given concerning the duration of two gifts: prophecy and the world of knowledge. There, it says that these two gifts will terminate when “that which is perfect is come.” The identity of the perfect thing and its consequent time of arrival is debated by theologians, both cessationists and continuationists. A common understanding of the perfect thing among cessationists is that it refers to the completion of the revelation of the New Testament. But not all cessationists hold to that position. Richard B. Gaffin Jr. writes, “To argue, as some cessationists do, that ‘the perfect’ has in view the completion of the New Testament canon or some other state prior to the Parousia is just not credible exegetically.”[9] For Gaffin and most continuationists, the perfect refers to the second coming of Jesus Christ[10]. The most determinative verse of Scripture for the belief that the perfect refers to the second coming is Verse 12 which says that the believer will have a “face to face” experience and will know in the same manner/degree/quality/quantity as the believer is known. Gaffin writes, “Such knowledge will not cease until the arrival of ‘perfection’ (v. 10), at Christ’s return; only then, in contrast, will full ‘face to face’ knowledge be ours (v.12).”[11]
There are a number of significant problems with equating the perfect to the second coming of Jesus Christ. If these gifts (prophecy and word of knowledge) are operative throughout the church age, then by necessity there must be prophets throughout the church age. But as stated at the beginning of this section, the church is built upon the foundation of the prophets (Eph. 2:20). If prophets continue throughout the entire church age, then the church never advances past a foundational stage. Two chapters later, Paul declares there are four gifted people given to the church who will bring the church to maturity. There he adds to the apostles and prophets both evangelists and pastor-teachers. The analogy then becomes very clear. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone. The cornerstone is always the very beginning of a building’s construction. It determines everything concerning the direction of the construction of the building. Jesus’ earthly ministry, death, burial, resurrection, ascension into heaven and promised return become that which the entire building of the church is founded upon. But one stone, as important as it is, does not make an entire foundation. Completing the foundation would be the apostles, who gave direction to the infant church, and then the prophets, who by giving New Testament revelation provided stability upon which the church could grow. Once the foundation had been completed, evangelists and pastor-teachers were necessary for the completion of the building. Foundational materials allow a building to grow out, but superstructure materials allow a building to grow up to completion.
A second problem is found in the purpose of Paul’s argument concerning the contrast between the permanence of love and the temporary nature of these gifts. The contrast is seen in Verse 8. Love is enduring or permanent; it never fails. However, there will be a time when these two gifts shall cease. If the cessation of these gifts is at the return of Jesus Christ, then they operate permanently throughout the church age, and the contrast is greatly diminished or even negated. What purpose would the apostle accomplish by writing to the church about a change in the nature of ministry if that change will not occur until after the church has finished its course on earth?
This is further detailed in Verse 11, where Paul contrasts the activities of a child and an adult. A child speaks, understands and thinks in an immature or incomplete manner. In instructing a child, a parent will use a limited vocabulary because a child will only comprehend a few words. Likewise, instruction will be more command-oriented since a child will be limited in experience and incapable of making wise decisions concerning the activities of life. However, once a child has reached an adulthood, vocabulary hopefully will have reached a level that they are able to communicate intelligently without the addition of new words.[12] To speak to an adult as one would to a child would be insulting to the hearer and embarrassing to the speaker. The operation of the gifts of prophecy and word of knowledge were necessary in the infancy of the church, but once the church had reached a degree of maturity, to continue to use them would be like speaking to an adult in the manner one would instruct a child.
Also, in continuing this analogy, when a child reaches a place of maturity, he hopefully continues to live for many more years and exercise and refine the knowledge he learned as a child in order to live in a more mature manner. The church will exist on earth until the return of Jesus Christ. If the exercise of the gifts of prophecy and word of knowledge continues until the return of Christ, then the analogy of Verse 11 has the child ceasing to exist as soon as he reaches maturity. While some may say this presses the analogy beyond its intent, it is nonetheless interesting that the completion of the New Testament position fits perfectly with it. The church, in its infant stage, receives instruction for life through those exercising the gifts of prophecy and word of knowledge. When all necessary lessons had been taught, such communication became unnecessary and the gifts ceased. However, the church continued to increase in its comprehension of the things of life, not by receiving more elementary teachings, but by refining the understanding of those elementary principles into mature thought.
Another argument used by those advocating the return of Christ position as the identity of the perfect thing is supposedly found in Verse 12 of the chapter. There, Paul likens the knowledge of the church to one looking through a glass. It is generally agreed that Paul has reference to a mirror. Paul says that the reflection in the mirror is obscure, as mirrors in his day were made of polished metal and, consequently, reflections were not as accurate as those produced by mirrors today. Paul states that as the mirror communicates imperfect knowledge, when the perfect thing comes, our knowledge will also be perfect; we will know even as we are known. It is assumed that the one who knows us in this verse is God. Who else knows us perfectly? Without controversy, our knowledge today is imperfect. But when Jesus returns, according to 1 John 3:2, we will see him as He is (face to face) because we will be like Him. This argument seems to be conclusive, but it fails on at least two counts.
First, it is assumed that the one who knows us is God. But where is the person of God in the context of this verse? To assert that God is the one who knows us has no contextual support. The one who knows us in this context, is the mirror. What Paul is communicating can be illustrated in this manner: Here is a person who wants to see his reflection in a a first-century mirror. 
Unfortunately, the mirror has a number of imperfections that will not reflect anything. 
Consequently, when this person looks into the mirror, all he will see of himself is 
. But while the mirror is incapable of reflecting a perfect image, it does, regardless of its imperfections, see a perfect image. When the imperfections of the mirror are removed, then the person looking into the mirror will have a face-to-face representation of himself. This leads to the second reason against the argument that this face-to-face knowledge can only be attained at the coming of Christ.
What is seen in the reflection of the mirror? Only the face of the person can be seen. The mirror does not reflect everything, but only that which is within its frame. To insist that the believer has the same knowledge as God when the perfect thing comes simply is not what the illustration communicates. If the believer has at his disposal all knowledge that pertains to the church age, then he has all that is needed for now. This truth is stated in at least two places in the New Testament. 2 Peter 1:3 says everything pertaining to life and godliness is given to us by the knowledge of the one who called us to glory and virtue. Certainly there are things that pertain to what comes after life that I cannot know now. But these things are outside the frame of the mirror and so I do not need to know them now.
The second passage of Scripture dealing with the completeness of the believer’s knowledge is found in Jesus’ declaration in John 16:12-12. There, Jesus tells the apostles, that after His ascension back into heaven, the Holy Spirit would guide the apostles into all truth that they were, at that time, unable to bear. Dr. Renald Showers provides excellent commentary on this passage writing:
Jesus indicated that the solution to the problem would be the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit would come after Jesus' departure, the Spirit would guide the apostles "into all the truth" (the Greek text has the definite article "the" before the word "truth," v. 13). Jesus explained further how this would work — "for he shall not speak of himself, but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak" (v. 13). In other words, the Holy Spirit would communicate to the apostles whatever Jesus would speak to Him.
It is important to note that Jesus declared that the Holy Spirit would guide the corporate body of the twelve apostles into all the truth, including a knowledge of future events. Apostles and New Testament prophets had the responsibility of communicating to the Church the truth or knowledge which the Holy Spirit communicated to them (1 Cor. 2:7-13; Eph. 3:3-9). This meant, then, that the twelve apostles would be responsible to communicate to the Church all the truth that the Holy Spirit would communicate to them after Jesus' departure to the Father. In light of this responsibility, it can be concluded that, when Jesus declared that the Spirit would guide the apostles into all the truth, He was referring to all the truth which He wanted the Church to have.
Thus, in John 16:12-13 Jesus indicated that all the truth, knowledge or revelation which He wanted the Church to have would be delivered to the corporate body of twelve apostles during the corporate lifetime of that group. Since that corporate body came to an end when John, its last living member, died around 100 A. D., then it can be concluded that the Holy Spirit had delivered all the truth that Christ wanted the Church to have by 100 A. D. The Church was not to receive new revelation of truth or knowledge after the end of the apostolic age. Since the Spirit had delivered all the truth or revelation that Christ wanted the Church to have by 100 A. D., then there was no further need for the revelational gifts by that time. Thus, the gifts of prophecy and knowledge must have been put out of existence by 100 A. D.[13]
There is one final note concerning the analogy of the mirror. In James 1:22-25, the writer likens the Word of God to a mirror and in Verse 25 calls it “perfect.” While the verse in James by itself is insufficient to conclude that the perfect thing in 1 Corinthians 13 is referring to the Word of God, it seems to be sufficient corroborating evidence to it.
There are a number of arguments that I believe, taken together, conclude that the perfect thing of 1 Corinthians 13:10 can be nothing other than the completion of the New Testament revelation. The first is a grammatical argument. The Greek text is otan de elqh to teleion. A word-for-word translation is, “when but is come the thing which is perfect.” The words to and teleion are both neuter in gender. If the perfect thing was referring to the person of Jesus Christ, then the text would need to be, “otan de elqh o teleioV,” changing the neuter to a masculine gender. In that the Greek word for spirit (pneuma) is neuter in gender, it is possible grammatically that the perfect thing could refer to Him, but the Holy Spirit already had come many years prior to the writing of 1 Corinthians. Although the word “rapture”’ is not found in the King James translation, the event is declared in a number of passages. In 1 Thessalonians 4, the Greek verb arpazw (harpadzo) is used. The noun form of this verb arpagmoV (harpagmos) is masculine in gender and therefore is not referred to as the perfect thing. The words parousia (parousia) and apokaluyiV (apokalupsis) which refer to the second advent of Christ are both feminine and therefore are not the perfect thing. None of the words that pertain to the second coming of Jesus Christ grammatically can fit the gender issue. Yet the Greek word for “bible” (biblion) is neuter in gender and, as noted above, is called perfect in James 1:25.
A second argument for the identity of the perfect thing being the completion of the New Testament is in the meaning of the word “perfect” (teleion). Those who argue for the coming of the person of Jesus Christ rightly state that He alone is sinlessly perfect. However, the word does not necessarily refer to sinlessness. Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon defines the word as “brought to its end, finished; wanting nothing necessary to completeness; perfect.”[14] Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words says that when used of a person it means “primarily of physical development, then, with ethical import, fully grown, mature.”[15] Consequently, there are a number of places in the New Testament where a person other than Jesus Christ is referred to as “perfect.” Hebrews 5:14 speaks of those who are of "full age" (teleiwn) being able to handle the Word of God correctly. In Philippians 3:15, Paul writes, "As many as be perfect ... ” indicating there were already living saints who were perfect. Likewise, Ephesians 4:11-15 indicates the growing into perfection is obtainable in this lifetime. The being carried about by every wind of doctrine refers to being deceived while spiritually immature. To prevent this, God gave to His Church certain gifted men. If perfection can come about only by the return of Christ, then the endowment of these gifts was useless.
That the perfect thing refers to the completion of the New Testament though, can be concluded not only from the meaning of the word teleion, but by the context in which it is used. In the 1 Corinthians passage, teleion is set in contrast to the “in part” nature of the revelatory gifts. Neither the coming of Jesus Christ for His Church in the rapture nor the coming of Christ in the Second Advent to establish His earthly kingdom happens in parts, nor does either coming equip the people involved with no further need of revelation. The church age saint will reign with Jesus Christ in the millennial kingdom. At some future point, revelation must be given as to how the saint will exercise his reigning responsibilities. Likewise, the Old Testament and tribulational saints who will enter the kingdom will need revelation to define the economy in which they shall live. It is at this point that, according to Joel 2:28, prophecy will be given again, rather than be terminated.
Some say the Joel passage was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost and is therefore reason that revelatory gifts should be operative today. There are a number of reasons why this cannot be so. First, in the Acts 2 passage where reference is made to Joel’s prophecy, nowhere is it stated that Joel’s prophecy was being fulfilled. When Bible prophecies are fulfilled, Scripture declares it to be so. For example, in the birth of Jesus Christ, Joseph was motivated not to put away Mary as he was considering. His acceptance of Mary is stated specifically as being done to fulfill the prophecy in Isaiah concerning a virgin conceiving. In the Acts passage, all Luke records is that Peter said, “This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. “ The conclusion of those who mocked the men speaking in tongues was that they had to be drunk. Peter’s response was that there was another explanation for what was transpiring. Joel had spoken of a day when God would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh, and miraculous things would transpire. Miraculous things were happening in their midst. Could not what was happening be explained as the power of God being demonstrated before them? It was not that Joel’s prophecy had to be fulfilled, but that in one day Joel’s prophecy had to be fulfilled indicated that God was certainly capable of producing these miraculous things on the day of Pentecost. Drunkenness was not the only explanation for what was transpiring.
In citing Joel’s prophecy, Peter stated in verses 19 and 20 a number of things that did not occur on the day of Pentecost or thereafter, and consequently the prophecy cannot be fulfilled. Also, in citing the prophecy, Peter used the term “last days” to describe when Joel’s prophecy would be fulfilled. In the Old Testament account, Joel does not use the term “last days” but says that the pouring out of the Spirit shall occur “afterward.” The pouring out of the Spirit would occur after a number of other events. In the beginning of the chapter it is stated that Israel would be invaded by a ruthless army causing great destruction. In Acts 2, Israel had been enjoying relative peace (although under Gentile domination) for over 500 years. Next, after celestial and terrestrial signs, the Lord would defeat the invading armies by His coming. In Acts 2, not only was Israel still under Gentile domination, but also the Lord had left the nation only 10 days prior. Next, before the pouring out of the Spirit, there would be a national repentance toward the Lord. Sadly, years after Acts 2, the Apostle Paul would describe the nation of Israel as enemies of the gospel (Romans 10:28). Finally, prosperity from the hand of God would bless the land. Yet in Acts 2 and following, there was no such prosperity; in fact, in time Paul would need to take an offering for the saints who were suffering in Jerusalem.
Most importantly, though, Joel declares that the Spirit would be poured out upon all flesh. Dr. Showers once again provides insightful commentary on this when he writes:
Two things should be noted concerning this. First, God is not pouring out the Holy Spirit upon all human beings living on the earth today. Second, God pours out or gives the Holy Spirit only to believers (Jn. 7:38-39; 14:16-17; Acts 10:44-48; 11:15-18; Rom. 8:9). Since Joel 2:28 referred to a time when God would pour out the Holy Spirit upon all human beings living on the earth, and since God pours out the Spirit only upon believers, then Joel 2:28 was referring to a future time when every human being living on the earth would be a believer. That certainly is not the situation on the earth today.
Between the time that the Joel 2:28 prophecy was delivered and the time that the history of this present earth will end there is only one time period when every human being living on the earth will be a believer. That time period will be during the early foundational stage of the Millennium. Passages such as Matthew 13:37-43, 47-50; 25:31-46 and Luke 17:26-37 indicate that only believers will be allowed to enter the Millennial Kingdom. All living unbelievers will be removed from the earth in judgment in conjunction with Christ's Second Coming.[16]
That the prophetic gift will once again be exercised at the beginning of the millennial kingdom indicates that the return of Jesus Christ cannot be the perfect thing that causes prophecy to cease. And not only that, but also the perfect knowledge brought about by the coming of the perfect thing cannot occur when He returns because we shall still need to learn from the prophecy being given at that time. Consequently, the only option for the identity of the perfect thing in 1 Corinthians 13:10 is the completion of the revelation of the New Testament, and the knowledge that one can obtain from it is perfect for the day and age in which we live.
[1] “Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.”
[2] These gifts are often referred to as “sign gifts.”
[3] “And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;”
[4] While the text reads that knowledge shall vanish away, it is clear from the context that the gift of the word of knowledge is what is in view, not knowledge in general.
[5] The delineation of which gifts are temporary will be addressed in the next section which addresses their function.
[6] “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.” (Hebrews 10:4)
[7] “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” (Hebrews 9:28)
[8] “Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.” (Hebrews 10:18)
[9] Grudem, Wayne A. ed., Are Miraculous Gifts For Today? Four Views, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing Co., 1996), p. 55, footnote 81.
[10] Because of differing understandings of eschatological events, it is best to state the second coming of Christ as opposed to the rapture of the church or the second advent in that it is generally understood that the term, second coming, is comprehensive of both events.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Obviously, the analogy is not perfect. As an adult I am interested in constantly learning (or at least I should be) both vocabulary and how to reason through the problems of life. But in contrast to how I learned as a child, my education has ceased.
[13] Showers, Renald, The Cessation of Revelational Gifts, Israel My Glory, October/November 1988, pp. 23-24.
[14] Thayer, Joseph Henry, The New Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1979), p. 618.
[15] Vine, W.E., Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words, Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revel Publishing, 1981), p. 174.
[16] Ibid, p. 25.