1 Corinthians 4:7 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Corinthians 4:7

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You have formed into groups at Corinth, he tells them, and you are very proud of your champion. You have selected your chosen name to admire, the one you are going to line up behind, and you boost that person, and say to yourselves, ‘I am pleased with myself because I have chosen this particular preacher to champion and to represent, and ignore the others. And what made me do this? Well, presumably my superior discernment and wisdom. So I'm proud to be in this party and representing this particular great name.’ Well who made you to differ from another, and what do you have that you did not receive? You think you have judgement. You think you have discernment. You think you are superior in some way to other believers, but anything that you have got, any understanding, any light, any virtues: they have all been given to you. You did not produce them or work them up yourself. ‘Now if thou didst receive it’ by the grace of God – salvation, light, life, everything – ‘why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it’, but given it to yourself? So pride is a problem with party spirit in Corinth. Well, how do differ from any other Christian? Doesn’t every other Christian have the same blessings? What have you that God didn’t give you, free and undeserved? So, why begin to think proudly, as though you obtained these things for yourself? Pride must be resisted to the very end of life.

Application

Pride is a problem today. What do you see in each other that demands that you praise each other so strongly? Do not be like those who get carried away by important people, or people who seem to have done better than others, and almost worship them. This is not just about entertainment celebrities – although we should be careful not to get into that either. But this was a tendency among the Corinthians; among their preachers, and among their fellows believers also.

What are the greatest things you could possibly have? The forgiveness of God, converting grace, new life, an emancipated mind, the anointing of God which even the simplest believer has, the ability to understand the word in greater measure? To have a sanctified heart, a new nature, a longing for righteousness, a greater power over your sin than you ever had before, communion with Christ every day, and the facility of prayer: all these things are so wonderful, and they are the things we should value.

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1 Corinthians 4:7 Commentary and Bible Study