First Corinthians 13:13 teaches us definitively that the miraculous gifts of the first century have ceased.  I am not saying that God cannot or never does perform miracles today.  I would not attempt to put God into a box like that.  God is a supernatural being with omnipotent power and strength.  I am saying, however, that the miraculous age is over.  That means that the gifts that the Holy Spirit gave to Christians; the gifts recorded for us in 1 Corinthians 12:1-10, received by the laying on of hands by the apostles (Acts 8:9-19), are no longer possessed by man.

How is this revealed by 1 Corinthians 13:13?  First, to be fair, it is not just ver. 13 that teaches this, but the entire context of 1 Corinthians 13.  The thirteenth verse does, however, say something that proves beyond doubt that miracles were always meant to be temporary.  This is what Paul says.

1 Corinthians 13:13 (ESV)
¹³  So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

From the beginning, Paul has been proving the superiority of love over miraculous gifts by its duration.  Now we learn that love is not the only thing that would outlast the gifts—faith and hope will do so as well.

The abiding nature of faith, hope, and love is in contrast to the ceasing of spiritual gifts.  This presents an inescapable problem for those who claim that spiritual gifts are still here.  Faith and hope are going to outlast the gifts.  That conclusion is unavoidable.  But will faith and hope be in heaven?  No!

Hebrews 11:1 (ESV)
¹  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

We will not need faith in heaven for there we will see God face to face (Revelation 22:4).

Romans 8:24 (ESV)
²⁴  For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?

Since hope is something unseen, once we see it, we will no longer be hoping for it.  While we hope for heaven now, once we get there it will be a reality, not a hope; thus, hope will not exist in heaven.

While faith and hope will not exist in heaven, they will be necessary throughout this final dispensation.  So then, faith and hope will cease at the second coming of Christ.  Now, here is the critical point.  If the miraculous gifts are going to last until that time as well, wherein is the superiority of faith and hope? If the spiritual gifts last until the second coming of Christ, then faith and hope and the spiritual gifts are going to cease at the same time, and Paul’s argument is ruined.  The only reasonable conclusion from this text and the argumentation of Paul is that the gifts would cease sometime before the second coming of Christ, before faith and hope come to an end, making faith and hope, as well as love, superior to miraculous gifts.

Possession of gifts was not the most important thing—love was and will always be.  This is the point that the saints at Corinth needed to grasp.  Let us, too, see how important love is.  Remember, without it, we are nothing.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things