Study Desk

I may have the gift of prophecy. I may understand all the secret things of God and have all knowledge, and I may have faith so great I can move mountains. But even with all these things, if I do not have love, then I am nothing.

It is the same with us. Now we see a dim reflection, as if we were looking into a mirror, but then we shall see clearly. Now I know only a part, but then I will know fully, as God has known me.

I will explain why. Those who have the gift of speaking in different languages are not speaking to people; they are speaking to God. No one understands them; they are speaking secret things through the Spirit.

If you praise God with your spirit, those persons there without understanding cannot say amen to your prayer of thanks, because they do not know what you are saying.

You may be thanking God in a good way, but the other person is not helped.

I thank God that I speak in different kinds of languages more than all of you.

The secret things in their hearts will be made known. So they will bow down and worship God saying, "Truly, God is with you."

So, brothers and sisters, what should you do? When you meet together, one person has a song, and another has a teaching. Another has a new truth from God. Another speaks in a different language, and another person interprets that language. The purpose of all these things should be to help the church grow strong.

But if there is no interpreter, then those who speak in a different language should be quiet in the church meeting. They should speak only to themselves and to God.

If a message from God comes to another person who is sitting, the first speaker should stop.

God is not a God of confusion but a God of peace. As is true in all the churches of God's people,

Those who ignore this will be ignored by God.

All the other apostles are greater than I am. I am not even good enough to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

And also, we are guilty of lying about God, because we testified of him that he raised Christ from the dead. But if people are not raised from the dead, then God never raised Christ.

and then the end will come. At that time Christ will destroy all rulers, authorities, and powers, and he will hand over the kingdom to God the Father.

The Scripture says that God put all things under his control. When it says "all things" are under him, it is clear this does not include God himself. God is the One who put everything under his control.

After everything has been put under the Son, then he will put himself under God, who had put all things under him. Then God will be the complete ruler over everything.

Come back to your right way of thinking and stop sinning. Some of you do not know God—I say this to shame you.

But God gives it a body that he has planned for it, and God gives each kind of seed its own body.

I tell you this, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood cannot have a part in the kingdom of God. Something that will ruin cannot have a part in something that never ruins.