1 Corinthians 4
I’m going out a limb here by stating that most people do not understand that when Paul refers to the Scripture(s) he is referring to the Old Covenant. In fact, the Gospels are in many ways still part of the Old Covenant while the epistles build on all scripture before it as sort of an update which forms the New Covenant Scriptures. Let me explain why I say the gospels are still part of the “Old Covenant.” You see, Jesus did not give us the new covenant until he mentioned it during the Passover, or the last supper, and then the “Old Covenant” was finished upon the cross of Calvary and the “New Covenant” was ushered into existence. Effects of this “New Covenant” took hold at Pentecost when those in the upper room received the Holy Spirit.
Back to Corinthians 4: In the opening of this chapter Paul instructs ministers of the gospel and defends his position as their guide. Let’s look at the first four verses to see how Paul opens this portion of his letter.
1 Corinthians 4:1-4 — “Don’t imagine us leaders to be something we aren’t. We are servants of Christ, not his masters. We are guides into God’s most sublime secrets, not security guards posted to protect them. The requirements for a good guide are reliability and accurate knowledge. It matters very little to me what you think of me, even less where I rank in popular opinion. I don’t even rank myself. Comparisons in these matters are pointless. I’m not aware of anything that would disqualify me from being a good guide for you, but that doesn’t mean much. The Master makes that judgment. (MSG)”
First, we notice that Paul says not to imagine about being something more than you are. Then he goes on to say that leaders are servants of Christ not HIS masters. Ouch! That’s a big one. It seems that even during Paul’s time there were those in leadership that imagined themselves to be better somehow because they kept secrets of God to themselves. Ouch! These leaders were puffed, lofty, better than others, and is seems they were not being fully accurate with the Gospel, or reliable to deliver the truth unencumbered. These leaders even had some ranking system. I suppose they modeled this ranking system after their education standings. These leaders even looked down on Paul thinking he may not be their equal. Who knows, it does seem that today we have the very same thing going on. I’ll bet we don’t see any of that sort of thing today, do we?
In verse five Paul reaches out a bit more by telling the leaders to slow down a bit with judgments.
1 Corinthians 4:5 — “So don’t get ahead of the Master and jump to conclusions with your judgments before all the evidence is in. When he comes, he will bring out in the open and place in evidence all kinds of things we never even dreamed of—inner motives and purposes and prayers. Only then will any one of us get to hear the “Well done!” of God. (MSG)
I imagine Paul was trying to tell the leaders not to make things up about when Jesus will return, and who is the head of this or that. There were a few leaders who jumped to conclusions about various requirements, and the return of Jesus, and as they did, judgments were made as if certain, even though they had no evidence to support them. Reminds me of the false doctrine created by John Darby in 1830 called the rapture, and that’s a topic for another day.
In verse six Paul lays it out for the leaders in a disarming tone that most likely caused a lot of thinking and self-examination–at least I Hope it did. In the Message version it states in verse six:
1 Corinthians 4:6 — “All I’m doing right now, friends, is showing how these things pertain to Apollos and me so that you will learn restraint and not rush into making judgments without knowing all the facts. It’s important to look at things from God’s point of view. I would rather not see you inflating or deflating reputations based on mere hearsay. (MSG)”
As you can see, in Paul’s time there were those distracters adding things that was no longer applicable to the New Covenant, and in some instances, adding statements and events that were not correct. They were exceeding what was written. And this was not just written, it was preached in the synagogues and on the streets. Paul had a tough time with the Corinthian believes and I venture today that Paul would have an even worse time in the western world.
Note: I’m using the Message translation for readability. Contents can change.
Mike Kovach
30 August 2021
The Christian Underground Journal
thechristianundergroundjournal@gmail.com
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