God Isn't Giving Extra

Some read through the Bible and hope for additional input from the Holy Spirit along the way. They pray for God’s guidance, they pray to receive wisdom, and they scoff at the notion that God would leave them with only the Bible, their mind, and the church for spiritual progress. But that is essentially what God has done, according to 1 Corinthians 13.

1 Corinthians 13 is often discussed when anyone needs to define what love looks like, and that’s a good thing. In it, Paul discusses how critical it is for Christians to be motivated by the concern for souls in all we do. One reason this love is so important is that God would soon finish revealing His word and the time of miracles would then end, according to 1 Corinthians 13:8-10. Once God finished His message, the miracles would cease, and the Corinthians would need an identity and a purpose beyond using their spiritual gifts. Love, care for one another’s souls, is the purpose that still drives Christians today as we study God’s Word and grow in holiness.

Through Paul, God described the blessing brought by His completed message, saying in 1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.” In the time of God’s continuing revelation, there was a kind of fuzziness, or dimness, to Christianity. People knew they wanted to serve God, but the specifics sometimes eluded them. But once God finished revealing His Word, then it would be like wiping the fog from the mirror after a hot shower: like seeing face to face. Since God has finished His revelation, every person can know Him and His will as fully as God knows the person themselves. There is no need for additional input or guidance; God has revealed His entire will with unmatched clarity so we can please Him with certainty.