The Gifts of the Holy Spirit: - Vital Christianity

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Also while “perfecting” is a neuter noun, in Greek there is no warrant for limiting its reference
to another neuter noun. A neuter noun or pronoun can be used to describe masculine or feminine
things or persons. One example is the Greek word “child” (teknon). Even though it is neuter in
gender, this noun may describe a girl or a boy. In Greek, like English, gender is grammatical, not
sexual. The word “Spirit” (pneuma) is also a neuter noun, and the Bible is clear that it is not
referring to a thing but a Person--the Third Person of the Godhead.
This cessation theory leaves the immediate context of I Corinthians 13 in order to identify
“perfection.” II Timothy 3:15-16 is used to identify “perfection” as Scripture. This is arbitrary.
Biblical scholar F. F. Bruce convincingly argues that the most plausible interpretation of
“perfection” is the second coming of Christ which ushers in our eternal state.1 Such an
interpretation fits well with the context of I Corinthians, especially chapter one verse seven:
“Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our
Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.”
The second coming of Christ as “perfection” fits well also because Paul describes the
perfection as the time when we “shall see face to face” and “know fully, even as I am fully
known” (v.12), that is, “perfectly.” This condition did not exist at the end of the first century, and
will not occur until the end of the age at the coming of Christ.
The nature of the eschatological (futuristic) language in verse 12 clearly implies that the term
“perfect” has to do with the Eschaton (end) itself, not some form of “perfection” in the present
age. This does not mean that the End itself is “the perfect” but what happens at the End, when
God’s goal has been reached. For the coming of Christ ushers in the final purpose of God’s saving
work in Christ. This coming leads to the final consummation when God will be “all in all” (I Cor.
15:20-28). At Christ’s coming, therefore, those gifts now necessary for the building up of the
church in the present age will disappear, because “the complete” will have come.2 As Swiss
theologian Karl Barth beautifully put it:
“Because the sun rises all lights are extinguished.” 3
While Scripture is perfect in all that it affirms, its perfection has to do with the fact that it is
without error and will not lead us astray. If perfection in reference to Scripture means
completeness then why did Paul affirm: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has
conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him” (I Cor. 13:12)? It is very unlikely,
therefore, that “when perfection comes” refers to the Bible.