QUESTION: Please explain 1 Corinthians 13:10 as to what the “perfect” is. Basically we teach that it is the complete Word of God as opposed to Ephesians 4:13: “unto a perfect man.”
Is this correct?
ANSWER: Both passages are teaching the same truth! The “perfect man” of Ephesians means a “mature/complete man” as contrasted with a child (an immature person) and has reference to the mature church, but note how that maturity is attained: “through the knowledge of the Son of God.” The knowledge necessary for maturity could only come through the completed/mature Word of God! The perfect of 1 Corinthians 13:10 also means “complete or mature,” but refers directly to that which is able to make the church (Christians) mature (1 Corinthians 13:11-12), i.e., the Word of God.
Clearly, the New Testament was not given in its totality on the day of Pentecost, but rather it was given and written over a period of years during the first century. Once it was completed, it became the perfect (complete) law of liberty (James 1:25) and being confirmed and written, the need for gifts (confirmation of the word) no longer existed! The word “perfect” in the subject passages does not denote “sinlessness” or “without fault.” It simply, as already indicated, means “complete” or “mature.” In 1 Corinthians thirteen, verses eight through eleven, this word (perfect/complete) is contrasted with that which is in “part;” that which is to be done away. What was it that was known in part (vs.9)? When would the part be done away (vs.10)? According to verse ten, the part would be done away when the complete (perfect) was come! With the coming of the “complete” law of liberty, the church would no longer have to know in part, because it would now have all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who hath called us to glory and virtue (2 Peter 1:3), through “all” scripture which alone can make the man of God “complete, furnished unto every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Both passages teach that when the perfect/mature/complete would become attainable through the perfect/mature/complete Word of God, then the gifts wouldpass away!