1 Corinthians 4:18 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Corinthians 4:18

Comments

Once again, we exercise caution. We do not run away with the idea that all the Corinthian believers were puffed up. ‘Some’, says the apostle Paul. Some had become very proud, even arrogant, and yet they are addressed as believers. Is it possible for believers to become proud and arrogant? Yes, tragically, it is. We can forfeit and lose humility. We can stop obeying the Lord. We can stop living a life of sacrifice, in which we are committed to him, and we are under his rule, and we begin to get heady and proud. Some in Corinth had become so proud, they even outwardly doubted whether the apostle Paul was an apostle at all. They would speak their opinions and their mind. They knew better. Why, they were Corinthians: Corinth was a very proud city, proud of its culture. So they wanted preachers who were deeply impressive. The apostle Paul was rather a gentle preacher and speaker. ‘No, give us somebody more impressive, after the manner of the Corinthians. Give us somebody who follows the laws of Greek oratory, and plays histrionic tricks, and has all kinds of wonderful philosophical quotations at hand. The apostle Paul is very unimpressive to us.’

Application

They were no longer concerned to please God. When you and I are concerned above all else to please God, we cannot be proud. We see how far we fall short. We struggle to honour him and obey him and please him. We pray to him for the opportunities to do so. And our innate human pride is dampened down and shrivelled up. Perhaps they had stopped self-examination; they did not close every day with, ‘How much have I fallen short? What have I done, which I need to repent and seek the help of God to overcome in future?’

They acted as though God would not discipline, but he will, because if we are really converted he loves us. He has a greater love toward us than we realise. He has us on his heart and in his mind. He will not let us drift away, and get prouder and more foolish and spiritually colder and detached, and gradually taken by the tentacles of the world. He wants us near to him.

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1 Corinthians 4:18 Commentary and Bible Study