Bible Study 1 Corinthians 4
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1 Corinthians 4 · WEB

Servants of Christ, Fathers in the Faith

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So let a man think of us as Christ's servants, and stewards of God's mysteries.
2Here, moreover, it is required of stewards, that they be found faithful.
3But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you, or by man's judgment. Yes, I don't judge my own self.
4For I know nothing against myself. Yet I am not justified by this, but he who judges me is the Lord.
5Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God.
6Now these things, brothers, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to think beyond the things which are written, that none of you be puffed up against one another.
7For who makes you different? And what do you have that you didn't receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
8You are already filled. You have already become rich. You have come to reign without us. Yes, and I wish that you did reign, that we also might reign with you.
9For, I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last of all, like men sentenced to death. For we are made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and men.
10We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You have honor, but we have dishonor.
11Even to this present hour we hunger, thirst, are naked, are beaten, and have no certain dwelling place.
12We toil, working with our own hands. When people curse us, we bless. Being persecuted, we endure.
13Being defamed, we entreat. We are made as the filth of the world, the dirt wiped off by all, even until now.
14I don't write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
15For though you have ten thousand tutors in Christ, you don't have many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, I became your father through the Good News.
16I beg you therefore, be imitators of me.
17Because of this I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, even as I teach everywhere in every assembly.
18Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you.
19But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord is willing. And I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power.
20For the Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
21What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?
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Summary

The Corinthians should regard their leaders as Christ's servants and stewards of God's mysteries — and what is required of a steward is faithfulness, not popularity. Paul refuses to be judged by their tribunal; he doesn't even judge himself; the Lord judges him, and the verdict will come on the Day. Then Paul satirizes their arrogance: while they imagine themselves already kings, already wise, already strong, the actual apostles are the last and least, on display like condemned criminals — hungry, beaten, homeless, slandered, working with their hands and blessing their persecutors. Paul writes as a spiritual father, not just an instructor. He has sent Timothy to remind them of Paul's apostolic way. Some are puffed up; he is coming, and what he will test is not their words but their power — for the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.

Themes

  • Faithfulness as the steward's only requirement
  • Premature judgment versus the Day of Christ
  • All gifts received, none earned
  • The apostolic pattern of weakness, not triumph
  • The kingdom in power, not just talk

Key verses

  • 1 Corinthians 4:2 — “It is required of stewards, that they be found faithful.”
  • 1 Corinthians 4:20 — “For the Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.”
  • 1 Corinthians 4:5 — “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness.”
  • 1 Corinthians 4:7 — “What do you have that you didn't receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?”

Context & background

Written c. AD 54-55 from Ephesus. The "steward" (Greek *oikonomos*) was the household manager — usually a trusted slave — entrusted with the master's property; faithfulness, not flair, was the criterion. The "spectacle" image (v. 9) draws on Roman triumphal processions where prisoners of war were displayed and often killed at the end — Paul says the apostles are like those last, doomed prisoners. The "puffed up" language (v. 6, 18, 19; cf. 5:2, 8:1, 13:4) is one of Paul's signature words for the Corinthian disease. The Corinthian believers, in their wealthy, status-obsessed culture, had imported their values into the church and were measuring spirituality by impressiveness. Paul's catalog of sufferings (vv. 11-13) parallels his fuller list in 2 Corinthians 11:23-29. Timothy (v. 17) is being sent as Paul's living letter; Paul will follow. The "rod" or "gentle spirit" alternative (v. 21) is the apostolic discipline that will come depending on the church's response.

Cross-references

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  1. Observe

    What title does Paul use for himself and Apollos at the beginning of chapter 4, and what single quality does he say is required of those in this role?

  2. Observe

    What does Paul say about the kingdom of God in verse 20, and how does he apply it to his coming visit?

  3. Interpret

    Paul asks in verse 7, "What do you have that you didn't receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?" What theological truth does this rhetorical question expose?

  4. Interpret

    Paul draws a sharp contrast in verses 8-13 between the Corinthians' self-perception ("already filled, already rich, reigning") and the apostles' actual condition (hungry, beaten, homeless, working with their hands). What is his point?

  5. Apply

    Paul says, "I don't even judge myself... he who judges me is the Lord" (vv. 3-4). How can refusing to make final judgments about your own standing free you from the trap of both self-condemnation and self-justification?

  6. Apply

    Paul calls himself the Corinthians' father in the faith (v. 15) and urges them to imitate him (v. 16). What does sending Timothy to "remind you of my ways in Christ" suggest about how Christian formation works?

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