1 CORINTHIANS
Chapter 4, Verses 1-10
“Are We Really ‘All That’?”
[3-15-22]
Review: “How Is Doctrinal Error Judged?”
1 Corinthians 3:16-23) [NAS] Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17) If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.
QUESTION: What are the six building materials referring to?
ANSWER: They represent the various doctrines that are taught to the Christian Church.
QUESTION: How do I know that?
ANSWER: Christian doctrine/teaching is what this chapter is about. Paul laid the foundation of/ taught them the doctrine of “Jesus Christ.” He taught them that they must place their faith in Christ alone; not Christ and the Jewish Law.
18) Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become foolish that he may become wise.
19) For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness”;
20) and again, “The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.”
21) So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you,
22) whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you,
23) and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.
QUESTION: What was leading Christians to get caught up with who is the best preacher nonsense?
ANSWER: Evidently there were some false teachers that built their false doctrines upon the premise of having a new revelation/a superior wisdom.
QUESTION: Were any of the false teachers Paul, Apollos, or Cephas?
ANSWER: Absolutely not! Paul only used these reputable ministers to point to the foolishness of the believers at Corinth aligning themselves with others who were buying into error, and separating themselves from those who were clinging to truth.
QUESTION: What was Paul’s conclusion?
ANSWER: You don’t belong to the preacher; the preacher belongs to you, the church.
This Week’s Lesson: “Are We Really ‘All That’?”
1 Corinthians 4:1-10) [NAS] Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
2) In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.
3) But to me it is a very small thing that I should be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself.
4) For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord.
QUESTION: How should we look at preachers/teachers of the Word?
ANSWER: Ministers are servants of Christ and stewards of the Scriptures.
QUESTION: What does God require of a minister?
ANSWER: He requires him/her to trustworthy with the Word.
QUESTION: What does that mean?
ANSWER: We ministers had better be doing our utmost best to preach the Word honestly; we had better be telling you the truth about what the Word teaches so far as we are able to understand it.
NOTE: Paul’s telling the Corinthian believers that if they’re so determined to compare preacher to preacher then go ahead and examine Paul. But the truth is that only God knows which ministers are treating the Word honestly. IT’S BEST TO LEAVE THOSE JUDGMENTS TO GOD!
QUESTION: Is Paul telling us in verse 4 that he is unaware of any sin in his life?
“He does not mean for a moment that he does not know of any sin in his life or any way in which he falls short of perfection! The passage should be read in the light of the context, and the subject here is Christian service and faithfulness in it” [BBC].
“Not a statement of fact, but an hypothesis to show the unreliability of mere complacent self-satisfaction” [Robertson].
ANSWER: No! Teaching is the subject at hand here. Paul is not aware of any unfaithfulness on his part in delivering the Word honestly.
5) Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.
6) Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written, in order that no one of you might become arrogant in behalf of one against the other.
(NLT) Dear brothers and sisters, I have used Apollos and myself to illustrate what I’ve been saying. If you pay attention to the Scriptures, you won’t brag about one of your leaders at the expense of another.
(CEV) Friends, I have used Apollos and myself as examples to teach you the meaning of the saying, “Follow the rules.” I want you to stop saying that one of us is better than the other.
QUESTION: What is Paul telling us in verse 5?
***ANSWER: We should quit judging which preacher is the best preacher and leave those judgments to God. He knows who is faithfully delivering the Word.
NOTE: Paul and Apollos understood that each minister had a different task; some planted, and some watered, etc. Judging one against another is like comparing apples and oranges.
7) For who regards you as superior? And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
“If one Christian teacher is more gifted than another, it is because God made him so. Everything he has, he received from the Lord. In fact it is true of all of us that everything we have has been given to us by God. That being the case, why should we be proud or puffed up? Our talents and gifts are not the result of our own cleverness” [BBC].
NOTE: Paul is now addressing the teachers who are trying to steal the hearts of the people by convincing them that that are the superior teachers with the superior doctrines.
QUESTION: What can you and I learn from this passage about our own conduct?
ANSWER: We are not God’s prize children. There is nothing special about us that isn’t a gift we’ve received from the Lord, and if we did receive it as a gift why do we act as though we are superior to others.
NOTE: Again, he is mainly talking to preachers in this verse. If we deliver the Word with passion, that passion is a gift from God. If we deliver the Word with special insight, that insight is a gift from God.
**ANOTHER NOTE: Though Paul has the preacher in mind, the same principle applies to us all. If we sing like a bird, that talent is a gift from God. If we are good looking, that appearance is a gift from God. Paul’s point? If it’s all a gift from God then we need to quit acting like we’re all that because of that gift.
8) You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and I would indeed that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you.
9) For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.
10) We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor.
QUESTION: What is Paul doing here?
ANSWER: He’s being sarcastic. These phony preachers present themselves as “all that,” but God sees through that foolishness.
NOTE: When any of us think we are “all that,” God sees through us as well. We are all, ministers and congregations, simply servants of Christ who serve one another. God gifts one of us in this way, and another of us in that way. They are all God’s gifts! To God be the glory!
1 CORINTHIANS
Chapter 4, Verses 11-21
“Is There Any Power In The ‘Gospel’ You Believe?”
[3-20-22]
Review: “Are We Really ‘All That’?”
1 Corinthians 4:6-10) [NAS] Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written, in order that no one of you might become arrogant in behalf of one against the other.
NOTE: Paul tells us here that we should quit judging which preacher is the best preacher and leave those judgments to God. He knows who is faithfully delivering the Word.
NOTE: Paul and Apollos understood that each minister had a different task; some planted, and some watered, etc. Judging one against another is like comparing apples and oranges.
7) For who regards you as superior? And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
NOTE: Paul is now addressing the teachers who are trying to steal the hearts of the people by convincing them that that are the superior teachers with the superior doctrines.
NOTE: Again, he is mainly talking to preachers in this verse. If we deliver the Word with passion, that passion is a gift from God. If we deliver the Word with special insight, that insight is a gift from God.
ANOTHER NOTE: Though Paul has the preacher in mind, the same principle applies to us all. If we sing like a bird, that talent is a gift from God. If we are good looking, that appearance is a gift from God. Paul’s point? If it’s all a gift from God then we need to quit acting like we’re all that because of that gift.
8) You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and I would indeed that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you.
9) For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.
10) We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor.
ANSWER: Paul’s being sarcastic. These phony preachers present themselves as “all that,” but God sees through that foolishness.
NOTE: When any of us think we are “all that,” God sees through us as well. We are all, ministers and congregations, simply servants of Christ who serve one another. God gifts one of us in this way, and another of us in that way. They are all God’s gifts! To God be the glory!
This Week’s Lesson: “Is There Any Power In The ‘Gospel’ You Believe?”
1 Corinthians 4:11-21) [NAS] To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless;
QUESTION: What were the false teachers at Corinth, and some of the congregation, evidently doing?
“Today, the church is heavy with this same attitude of the Corinthian Christians. They were concerned about the image of worldly success and power, and many of them despised Paul and the other apostles because they did not display that image. Today, there is no shortage of ministers who want to display the image of worldly success and power, and no shortage of Christians who will value that in their minister” [Guzik].
QUESTION: On the other hand, what were the apostles doing?
“No fixed or permanent home. They wandered to distant lands; threw themselves on the hospitality of strangers, and even of the enemies of the gospel; when driven from one place they went to another; and thus they led a wandering, uncertain life, amidst strangers and foes. They who know what are the comforts of home; who are surrounded by beloved families; who have a peaceful and happy fireside; and who enjoy the blessings of domestic tranquility, may be able to appreciate the trials to which the apostles were subjected” [Barnes] <vs. 8>.
“The Apostle would point out to his converts the true glory of the Christian minister. Labour and suffering for Christ’s sake are the marks of the servants of God, not self-conceit and self-praise” [Cambridge].
“Today, the church is heavy with this same attitude of the Corinthian Christians. They were concerned about the image of worldly success and power, and many of them despised Paul and the other apostles because they did not display that image. Today, there is no shortage of ministers who want to display the image of worldly success and power, and no shortage of Christians who will value that in their minister” [Guzik].
*QUESTION: What were the false teachers at Corinth evidently doing?
ANSWER: They seemed to be living “high off the hog,” perhaps preaching messages that allowed them to receive huge offerings from the Corinthian believers. They had “become kings.”
QUESTION: What is Paul doing here?
ANSWER: He’s telling the false teachers that while they lived well, he, and the other Apostles, lived difficult lives. They didn’t always have food, and they didn’t always have nice clothes. They were treated badly by those who rejected the Gospel, and they didn’t have a home to go to at the end of a difficult day.
12) and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure;
13) when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.
QUESTION: What material blessings was Paul reaping from the fruits of his labor?
ANSWER: None! He had to support himself; he was verbally abused often; he was persecuted; and he was slandered.
QUESTION: What did he conclude?
ANSWER: He was looked at as “the scum of the world.”
QUESTION: What did Paul evidently miss out on?
ANSWER: He must have missed all the faith sermons of today. Surely, according to many of the TV preachers of today, God would have wanted him to “reign” as a king; instead he was treated like scum.
QUESTION: How did Paul respond to those who misused him?
***ANSWER: He blessed his revilers; he endured his persecution; and he spoke kindly to those who slandered him.
(GNB) when we are insulted, we answer back with kind words. We are no more than this world’s garbage; we are the scum of the earth to this very moment!
14) I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
15) For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.
16) I exhort you therefore, be imitators of me.
NOTE: Paul’s reminding the Corinthian Christians that he is their spiritual father. He was the one that God sent to them with the Gospel.
QUESTION: Why is he doing that?
ANSWER: He wants those Christians to imitate his conduct, not the conduct of the false teachers.
17) For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church.
QUESTION: What did Paul do to correct the situation?
ANSWER: He sent Timothy to them to remind them of all the things Paul taught them.
QUESTION: What can we conclude from this?
ANSWER: Revisiting the truth is the best way to reject error.
18) Now some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you.
19) But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant, but their power.
20) For the kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power.
NOTE: Paul is again addressing the false teachers. He’s answering their assumptions that he is afraid of conflict.
QUESTION: Why is he so bold in his claim that he will find out if their words have any power?
ANSWER: God struck an opponent of his blind in the past [Acts 13:7-12]; God could do anything.
21) What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod or with love and a spirit of gentleness?
NOTE: I believe Paul is now addressing the believers. He is asking them if they would prefer him to visit them “with a rod or with love and a spirit of gentleness.”