After his introductory words (1:1-9), Paul brings up the
problem of divisions among the Corinthians. From 1:10–3:9,
Paul approaches the problem in terms of principle. He shows
that the basis for the divisions in Corinth is contradictory
to the gospel. In 1:10–3:9, Paul attacks the divisions
theologically; beginning at 3:10, Paul spells out specific
corrective measures to set this matter right. Here, Paul is
not only calling for repentance, but spelling out the form
repentance must take.
In 3:10, Paul warns the Corinthians they must be careful how
they build upon the foundation that he has laid. Paul
describes the ministry of each believer as the construction
of a portion of God’s building” (3:9). Each believer is a
worker, assigned with the construction of a certain portion.
Each must build on the foundation Paul has laid. Both the
materials and the workmanship of each believer must be of
the highest quality. If the worker’s work endures, he will
receive a reward from God (3:13-14). If the worker’s
construction is detrimental and destructive to the “temple
of God” (vv 16-17), Paul warns that God will destroy this
worker.
In 4:1-5, Paul sets down yet another principle of the
repentance that God desires and requires from the
Corinthians. We need to listen to these words of the Apostle
Paul, knowing that what God required of the Corinthians, He
also requires of us.
In 4:1-5 Paul seeks to revise the Corinthians perception of
leaders. Even those whom God had appointed as apostles are
to be regarded as servants, not as masters. Thus, the
Corinthians must take their leader off the pedestal on which
they had placed them. Even apostles are mere men, appointed
by God to be His servants. Servants do not own things; their
Master owns them. As servants, the apostles did not own or
possess their followers, as the false teachers seemed to do,
and as their followers even boasted, we are of so and so. As
stewards, the apostles had a certain authority to act in
behalf of their Master, but they are still servants of
Christ. As servants and stewards, the apostles are not
intent on pleasing men but on pleasing the Master. The Lord
is their Master, and He will be their Judge. They will give
account to Him for their stewardship, and the standard for
judgment is their faithfulness in fulfilling their
stewardship.
In verses 3 and 4, Paul pursues the matter of the judgment
of himself and the other apostles as God’s stewards. Paul
informs the Corinthians he is not influenced by their
judgment of his faithfulness to his calling as an apostle.
He does so, not by directly attacking their ability to judge
him, but rather by pointing out his own limitations in
judging himself. If Paul cannot rely completely on his own
self-evaluation, then how can he be influenced by the
judgment of the Corinthians, whose knowledge of him is much
more limited? Paul can search his conscience to see if there
is something worthy of an indictment, but even if his
conscience gives him a clean bill of health; his conscience
may be ill informed. Consequently, the only One who is
completely qualified to judge Paul is his Master. The Lord
examines him.
If human judgment is fallible, then Paul can rightly
instruct the Corinthians to refrain from making final
judgments that should be left to God. This he does in verse
5. “Therefore” indicates that the instructions Paul gives
here are the conclusion of his argument in verses 1-4. When
he says, “do not go on passing judgments,” Paul is
instructing them to cease what they are doing.
How can Paul instruct us to cease judging, when we know
there are times when we must judge? We must judge the
character of a person, based upon the descriptions given in
Scripture. We are to judge sin, which is clearly defined in
the Scriptures, and evident in our life (1 Corinthians
11:17-31) and in the life of another (1 Corinthians 5). We
are also to make judgments on spiritual matters involving
believers (1 Corinthians 6). We are to judge the doctrinal
truth of what we are taught (Acts 17:10-11).
There are also things we must not judge. We are not to judge
the convictions of a brother in the Lord, since these are
not matters of biblically defined sin, but of liberties
(Romans 14:4). We are not to judge or speak against a
brother in any matter which the Scriptures have not defined
as sin, and for which we have no biblical support, to do so
is to place ourselves above the Word of God and to pass
judgment on God’s law and God, the Lawgiver and the Judge
(James 4:11-12).
In our text, Paul is forbidding men to judge in God’s place,
passing judgment upon those things that God alone can judge.
The judgment which does not belong to men is that which will
be done by our Lord in the Day of Judgment, when He returns
to the earth to establish His kingdom (1 Corinthians
3:10-15). The judgment Paul forbids is God’s judgment, a
judgment to be carried out by God in His appointed time.
This judgment is God’s judgment alone, because it is the
judgment that only God can perform. Our judgment is temporal
and incomplete; it is not final, nor can it be. When God
passes judgment in that coming day, it will reveal or brings
to light “things hidden in darkness” and discloses “the
motives of men’s hearts. These motives of the heart and
things hidden in darkness are not just the wrong and sinful
things the human eye cannot see they are also the wholesome
and commendable things we cannot see or know. Only God can
reveal these things, and reveal them. Until then, we do not
have sufficient information on which to make a final
judgment.
Paul instructs the Corinthians to cease judging their fellow
servants because they do not have sufficient data on which
to base a judgment. The arrogant, boastful Corinthians who
are judging actually think they are wise enough to judge in
God’s place. They base their judgments on outward
appearances, a very dangerous thing to do. No wonder we will
soon find Paul insisting that all do not possess gifts which
produce visible results (1 Corinthians 12:29-30). These are
the gifts the boastful Corinthians hold in such high esteem,
because those granted such gifts are able to produce visible
results, and thus judged spiritually superior by their
fellow-Christians.
One thing remains vague in what Paul says, what are the
Corinthians judging which they are told to cease passing
judgment? It seems evident that it is making a final and
decisive judgment on the success and quality of the ministry
of an apostle of our Lord. Paul warns these Corinthians, who
are themselves servants of Christ, not to keep on passing
judgment on the service of those servants who are apostles,
and in so doing condemning apostolic leadership, while
choosing to follow a particular favorite leader.
The real problem at Corinth is not between any of the
apostles or their alleged followers. The real problem is
divisions and cliques which center about others. Paul’s
intent to this point in the first Epistle to the Corinthians
is to draw men’s attention and commitment to the Scriptures.
The Corinthians departed from the Scriptures, and in so
doing, proudly boasted of their attachment to a certain
leader and their disdain for others. In verse 7, Paul
becomes much more specific: the Corinthians have become
arrogant against the apostles. Verses 7-13 are a graphic
description of how the Corinthians look at themselves and,
in contrast, how they look at Paul and his fellow-apostles.
Paul raises three very crucial questions in verse 7 that, if
answered correctly by the Corinthians, will expose the
seriousness of their self-deception and sin. Paul first
asks, “Who regards you as superior?” Who is their judge? Is
it the unbelieving community? God is their judge, not the
corrupt Corinthians of that day. Paul asks yet another
question, “What do you have that you did not receive?” The
Corinthians boast in their abilities? Where did these
abilities come from? If they were given, and they were, then
they were given by God. If the Corinthians are boasting in
their God-given gifts, then they are boasting in God’s
place. They have the wrong judge, and they have the wrong
object of praise. Men have taken the place of God.
There is a third and final question: “If all that the
Corinthians possess is a God-given gift, then how can they
boast, as if it were not a gift?” If they take credit for
something they were given, as though they were not the
recipients of a gift, they have forgotten, or worse yet,
they have forsaken, grace, they are self-deceived.
