1 Corinthians · chapter 4 of 16
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1 Corinthians 4 presents the apostles as servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries, who must be found faithful and are judged only by the Lord. Paul contrasts the Corinthians' pride with the apostles' suffering, calls them to imitate him as their spiritual father and announces that he will come soon, sending Timothy ahead.
This chapter closes the first major section of the letter, devoted to divisions in the church. Paul has already shown that the cross brings pride low and that leaders are fellow workers. Here he finishes the subject with a personal appeal: the Corinthians thought of themselves as rich and kingly, while the apostles who had led them lived in weakness.
Paul asks them to regard him and Apollos as servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries. What is required of a steward is that he be faithful. It matters very little to Paul to be judged by them or by any human court; he does not even judge himself. His conscience is clear, but that does not acquit him: the one who judges him is the Lord. So he asks them not to pass judgment before the time, until the Lord comes, who will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and reveal the purposes of the heart.
Paul explains that he applied these things to himself and Apollos so that they would learn not to go beyond what is written and not to puff themselves up against one another. He asks who makes them different and what they have that they did not receive. With irony he describes them as already filled, already rich and reigning without the apostles, while God has put the apostles on display as people sentenced to death, a spectacle to the world. The apostles are fools for Christ, weak, hungry, beaten and homeless; when reviled they bless, when persecuted they endure, when slandered they speak kindly. They have become like the scum of the world.
Paul clarifies that he does not write to shame them but to warn them as beloved children. Though they have ten thousand guides, they do not have many fathers, and he became their father in Christ through the gospel. He urges them to imitate him, and for that reason sends Timothy, his beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind them of his ways in Christ. Some have become arrogant, thinking Paul will not come, but he will come soon, if the Lord wills, to find out not the talk of the arrogant but their power, for the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. He ends by asking whether they would rather he come with a rod or with love and a gentle spirit.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Paul asks that the apostles be seen as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. What is required of a steward is not brilliance or success, but faithfulness.
Paul asks who makes one believer different from another and what anyone has that he did not receive. If everything is a gift from God, there is no room to boast as if it were our own achievement.
Though they have ten thousand guides, they do not have many fathers, because Paul became their father in Christ through the gospel. His authority comes from a relationship of care, not from a position of power.
The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. Paul is not impressed by the speeches of those who are puffed up; what counts is a life transformed by God.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: That each be found faithful. — 1 Corinthians 4:2
Answer: The Lord. — 1 Corinthians 4:4
Answer: What do they have that they did not receive? — 1 Corinthians 4:7
Answer: As men sentenced to death, a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. — 1 Corinthians 4:9
Answer: Timothy, his beloved and faithful child in the Lord. — 1 Corinthians 4:17
Answer: Whether they want Paul to come with a rod or with love and a gentle spirit. — 1 Corinthians 4:21
1 Corinthians 4 reminds us that serving God is measured by faithfulness, not applause. A Sunday school or youth leader may be tempted to compare numbers and results; this chapter asks for faithfulness, knowing the Lord is the judge of every work.
It also invites us to check how we speak about what we have. If everything is received, gratitude should replace boasting. And anyone who guides others would do well to imitate Paul's tone: firm in the truth, but with the heart of a parent who corrects in love.
1 Corinthians 4 closes the section on divisions with a firm, pastoral tone. In chapter 5 Paul turns to a concrete moral problem: a serious immorality the church was tolerating, which he asks them to confront.
It is a brief phrase whose exact sense is debated. Most interpreters take it as a call to stay within what the Scriptures teach, without adding the personal standards by which the Corinthians were comparing themselves. Paul uses it to curb pride.
It is strong language to describe the contempt with which the world treated the apostles. It contrasts with the Corinthians' self-sufficiency. Paul is not seeking pity but showing that the way of Christ goes through the cross and not through success.
A young and faithful coworker of Paul, whom the letter calls his beloved child in the Lord. He had been with Paul in Corinth when the church was founded, and Paul sends him to remind the Corinthians of his way of life in Christ.