Cessationists believe that either all or some of the spiritual gifts are no longer operating today.
To prove this claim, they often look to this passage.
Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly; but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
1 Cor. 13:8-12
This passage says that prophecies, tongues, and knowledge will all someday pass away. It does not say that prophecies and tongues would pass away before knowledge passes away. To claim that prophecies and tongues will pass away while knowledge remains is to misinterpret this passage.
This passage reveals that tongues, prophecy, and knowledge will pass away. This will occur when “the perfect has come.” It will be when Christians “see face to face” and “know just as they are known.” These things will happen at the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Jesus alone is perfect, and he will bring perfection to the world at his second coming. He will usher in his kingdom all over the world and give us glorified bodies. At that time we will no longer see God through a glass darkly. We will see him face to face. We will no longer know the things of God in part, but we will know all things.
Paul says believers are growing spiritually to become like spiritual men. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul put himself, along with all the other original apostles, in the “children” category. He had grown up to be a man in the natural. However, he had not yet attained full manhood in the spiritual. He had put away childish things in the natural. Yet, he couldn’t yet do so in the spiritual because he was not yet full-grown. This is why Paul says he was still pressing toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14).
This is why Paul and the other apostles needed spiritual gifts. They needed them to help them relate to God, grow spiritually, and edify the church.
Claiming that spiritual gifts are no longer needed is a wrongly bold assertion. It suggests we have become spiritually perfect “men” who no longer need the gifts of the Spirit. It implies we can now “put these gifts away”. This has not yet happened.
In heaven we will experience the fullness of God, and we won’t need things like prophecy, tongues, or knowledge. Spiritual gifts are tools that give us glimpses of God now, until we experience his fullness. We still need them while we’re on this earth. They are God-given means for our spiritual growth.
1 Corinthians 13 proves the opposite of cessationism. It reveals that until Jesus comes, spiritual gifts like tongues and prophecy will function. They will only cease when Christ returns.
Bethel Cornerstone 