FIRST EPISTLE TO THE
CORINTHIANS

EXPOSITION

P A R T   F I R S T

APOSTOLIC RELATIONS, AND ASSERTIONS
OF AUTHORITY

1:1-4:21

I.

GREETING, THANKSGIVING, REPROOF OF DIVISIONS,
VANITY OF PHILOSOPHY

1:1-31

      1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother [Paul does not here call himself the slave of Christ as he afterwards did when he wrote to the Romans, for he now needed to assert the divinity of his apostleship because certain Judaizers had affirmed in Corinth that he was not divinely called, as were the twelve. See 1 Cor. 9:1; 2 Cor. 12:12. His apostleship was not the result of his own choice, nor yet the choice of any church, but of the will of God. Who Sosthenes was is not known. It is not unlikely that he was Paul's amanuensis, as was Tertius (Rom. 16:22). The speed with which the apostle uses the pronoun "I" (verse 4) shows how little Sosthenes had to do with the Epistle. It is highly improbable that he is the same man mentioned at Acts 18:17], 2 unto the church of God which is at Corinth, even them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, [50] their Lord and ours [All Christians are sanctified, i. e., set apart from the world and consecrated to God, and in the New Testament Scriptures they are all called saints, which means "holy ones" (Rom. 15:26; 1 Cor. 6:1, 2; Eph. 1:1, 18; Phil. 1:1; Col. 1:2). Into this saintship they were called by the Holy Spirit through the agency of preachers like Paul and Apollos, etc. Unto the saints at Corinth, together with all others who showed themselves saints by calling upon or praying (Acts 7:51; 9:14; Rom. 10:3), in the name of Jesus, who is Lord over all Christians everywhere, Paul addresses his letter, and gives the greeting which follows in verse 3]: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. [See note at 1 Thess. 1:1.] 4 I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus; 5 that in everything [in every respect] ye were enriched in him, in all utterance [so that they were able to preach, teach, prophesy, and speak with tongues--1 Cor. 12:8-10; 2 Cor. 8:7; 11:6] and all knowledge [so that they had perception of doctrine, discerning of spirits, and interpretation of tongues]; 6 even as the testimony of [about] Christ was confirmed in you [Paul here asserts that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit which characterized the times when he preached to them and converted them, were still equally manifest among them]: 7 so that [causing that] ye come behind [other churches] in no gift [or miracle-working power of the Spirit]; waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ [Christ taught all his followers to be constantly ready for his coming, and the Corinthians were conforming to this rule]; 8 who shall also confirm you [assuming that they earnestly desired and labored to be confirmed, or kept stedfast] unto the end [i. e., unto the coming of Christ], that ye be unreprovable [unimpeachable, because forgiven--Col. 1:22; 1 Tim. 3:10; Tit. 1:6] in the day [judgment day] of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, through whom ye were called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. [The faithfulness of God insured that it would be [51] no fault of his if the Corinthians failed to attain fellowship with Jesus; i. e., a close intimacy with him in the present, and an association with him in glory in the future. In these nine verses with which the apostle opens his Epistle he follows his usual course of putting his commendation before his reproof. But the quality of his commendation should be carefully noted. He praises them for their spiritual endowments, and not for their private virtues. There is no commendation for moral advance, as is accorded to the Thessalonians and Philippians. Moreover, he deftly concludes by noting how God had brought them into fellowship and union with Christ, that this unifying act of God might stand in sharp contrast with the schisms and factions into which they had divided themselves, and for which he is just now going to reprove them.] 10 Now I beseech you [a voice of entreaty], brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ [a voice of authority, enforced by threatened judgment (1 Cor. 4:21). In this Epistle Paul has already used the name of Jesus nine times, thus emphasizing its virtue before he uses it as the symbol of supreme authority: as Chrysostom says, "he nails them to this name"], that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment. [The pride of Corinth showed itself largely in philosophical conceit, and the citizens who vaunted their superior intelligence were divided into sects, of whom Aristotle, Plato, Zeno, Epicurus, and later philosophers, were the heads. The church became inflated with this same intellectual vanity, and apparently sought to make Christianity the rival of philosophy by exalting her humble teachers to be heads of religio-philosophical sects, and rivals of Christ himself. As to this sinful condition the apostle gives an injunction, covering three points: 1. Unity of speech. 2. Unity of organization. 3. Unity of mind and judgment. They may be treated in their order as follows: 1. Paul first strikes at their speech, because then, as now, speculative discourses, philosophical dissertations, unscriptural reasonings, vapid dialectics for display's sake, etc., had become a fruitful cause of [52] division. It is this speculative, argumentative spirit which genders confessions and creeds. 2. He strikes next at the divisions themselves, as the finished, completed evil complained of. But the divisions which he censures were mere parties in the church, not sects disrupting it, nor organized denominations professing to be "branches of the church." These greater divisions, and hence greater evils, came centuries later. 3. He proposes unity of mind and judgment as the ideal condition--the condition in which he had left them, and to which he would now restore them. The "mind" represents the inner state, the "judgment" the outward exhibition of it in action. In all this, Paul bespeaks not a partial, but a perfect, unity. "Perfected together" is a very suggestive phrase. Perfection of knowledge brings unity of thought and action, but defective understanding results in division. If one body of men, therefore, grows in truth faster than another, the tardiness of the latter tends to divide. All should grow and be perfected together. Hence, it becomes the duty of the growing disciple to impart his knowledge, and the correlative duty of the ignorant disciple to freely receive it.] 11 For it hath been signified [made known] unto me concerning you, my brethren [as they indeed were, despite their shortcomings], by them that are of the household of Chloe [no doubt one of their number], that there are contentions among you. 12 Now this I mean, that each one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13 Is Christ divided? [the church is called the "body of Christ" (1 Cor. 12:12, 13, 27), and Paul asks if that body can be cut in pieces and parceled out to human leaders] was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized into the name of Paul? [Paul shows the disinterestedness of his rebuke by centering it more especially upon those who had honored him as their leader, thus showing, as Bengel says, that "he disliked Paulinists as much as he did Petrinists." Jesus became the Author of our salvation, and the head of the church through suffering upon the cross (Heb. 2:10), and Paul, in order to be his rival, should [53] not only have been crucified for his followers, but his sacrifice should have been as efficacious for the cleansing of sin and the procuring of salvation as was Christ's. This was, of course, preposterous. Again, if Paul was incompetent as the head of a religious body, his followers also had not properly qualified themselves as his disciples, for they had not been baptized into Paul's name, but being baptized into Christ they had put on Christ (Gal. 3:27), and, becoming thus members of Christ, how could they belong to Paul? What Paul thus spoke of himself could be said with equal force of either Apollos or Cephas.] 14 I thank God [who, foreseeing the future, prevented him from making such a mistake] that I baptized none of you, save Crispus [the ruler of the synagogue--Acts 18:8] and Gaius [from whose house Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans--Rom. 16:23.]; 15 lest any man should say that ye were baptized into my name. [Paul knew that they would think it unreasonable that he should be accused of baptizing in his own name, but it was equally unreasonable in them to suppose that he was making disciples in his own name. Though many converts were made at Corinth, they appear to have been baptized by Paul's assistants, Silas and Timothy, and the few whom he baptized with his own hand were no doubt converts made before Paul's two friends arrived from Thessalonica. We should note how inseparably connected in Paul's thought were the sacrifice of the cross and the baptism which makes us partakers in its benefits--Rom. 6:3-11.] 16 And I baptized also the household of Stephanas [this man, being then present with Paul in Ephesus, probably reminded the apostle of his baptism]: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. [Inspiration did not make the apostle remember such matters.] 17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not in wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made void. [A baptism is part of the commission (Matt. 28:19). Paul was sent to baptize; but it was not necessary that the apostle should administer the rite in person. It sufficed if he saw to it that it was done [54] (John 4:2). Paul does not here mean to assert that he preached without study or forethought. His words must be construed in the light of the context; which show that he intends to deny that he encumbered the gospel message with any philosophical reasoning.] 18 For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us who are saved it is the power of God. [From this point Paul proceeds to contrast the "words," or message of the cross, with the "wisdom of words," or worldly wisdom, i. e., the philosophical messages or schemes of men, of which he has just spoken; having particularly in mind those of the two leading classes; viz.: Greeks and Jews. He first notes that the word of the cross is differently viewed by two different classes; those who, whether as disciples of Greek philosophers or of Jewish scribes, have dulled their moral perception by following worldly wisdom, and leading a worldly, perishing life, look upon it as foolishness; while those who have quickened their apprehension by leading a godly life, look upon it as God's saving power.] 19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the discernment of the discerning will I bring to nought. 20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? [triumphant questions, as at Isa. 36:19] hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe. [Here Paul quotes Isa. 24:14 to show that God had foretold how he would make foolish and useless all kinds of worldly wisdom, Grecian or Jewish, by making the gospel the only means of salvation, and how he had carried out the prophecy; for in his wisdom, or plan of operation, he had frustrated the efforts of wise men to find or know him by their coldblooded, philosophical research, or speculative reasoning (Acts 17:23), and showed that it was his good pleasure to reveal himself and his salvation through this (to them) foolish preaching, and save them who believe the preaching. Where, then, asked the [55] apostle in triumph, are these men of worldly wisdom, be they scribes or philosophical dialecticians? What have they done in comparison with that gospel which reveals their efforts as foolish and useless? What place, then, has a wise Paul or a disputing Apollos in the church, which, having the gospel, has this superior, saving wisdom of God? and why should the Corinthians leave the leadership of God in Christ and return to fools?] 22 Seeing that Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek after wisdom: 23 but we preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumblingblock, and unto Gentiles foolishness; 24 but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. [The apostle here enlarges the thought of verse 18, and describes the two methods by which worldly wisdom sought to be led to God, or to know him when he revealed himself as he did in Christ. The Jews looked for him to prove his claims by miracles of power, such as signs from heaven (Matt. 12:38; 16:1; John 2:18; 4:48); and the Greeks required that he transcend all their philosophers before they gave him their allegiance. But God revealed himself in his crucified Son, and so was rejected by both classes of wiseacres, the one stumbling at a crucified Messiah, whom they regarded as an accursed one (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13), when they expected a regal and victorious Messiah (Rom. 9:33; comp. Isa. 8:4); the other, looking upon crucifixion as a slave's death, regarded salvation by such a one as absurd. But believing Jews saw in Jesus a power of God far transcending all their dreams of an earthly Messiah, and believing Greeks found in him a divine wisdom higher than all their ideals of truth, goodness and holiness. Thus God vindicated his so-called foolishness as wiser than all man's wisdom, and his so-called weakness in Christ as stronger than all the conceptions of an earthly Messiah--yet the Corinthians were leaving this transcendent sign and incarnate truth to return to their old worldly wisdom with its human leaders.] 26 For behold your calling [the [56] "principle God has followed in calling you"--Beza; a principle whereby "God," as Augustine says, "caught orators by fishermen, not fishermen by orators"], brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called [The wise were moved by conceit to reject the gospel invitation: see the case of Gallio (Acts 18:12-17). The corruptness of Roman politics kept the mighty aloof from the purity of Christianity, and the pride of noble birth felt repugnance at the lowly fellowship of the early church. A brief catalogue will record all the distinguished names brought into the church during its first thirty years, viz.: Joseph of Arimathea, perhaps Nicodemus, Saul of Tarsus, Sergius Paulus and Dionysius the Areopagite]: 27 but God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world [Ps. 8:2; John 2:5], that he might put to shame the things that are strong; 28 and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, did God choose, yea and the things that are not [the people whom the world called "nobodies"], that he might bring to nought the things that are: 29 that no flesh [no minister or other instrument of his] should glory [take pride in himself, and aspire to be head of a faction] before God. [The Corinthians in endeavoring to exalt their leaders were running counter to the counsels of God, who had rejected as his instruments all those who had worldly wisdom and power, and had chosen those utterly deficient in those things, that the triumph of his gospel might be manifestly due to his own power, and not to any excellency residing in the instruments or ministers whom he chanced to employ--2 Cor. 4:7.] 30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption: 31 that, according as it is written [Jer. 9:24], He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. [By the power of God, therefore, and not by the human wisdom of preachers, were the Corinthians brought into Christ, in whom they had found a wisdom of God [57] superior to all worldly wisdom, and also the blessings of righteousness and sanctification and redemption, which no philosophy could obtain for them; so that every one who gloried in being a Christian was properly directed by the Scripture to glory in the Author of his salvation, and not in the humble nobody whom God had used as a messenger of grace. Glorying in men is even more sinful in us than it was in the Corinthians, for we have more light.]

II.

THE GOSPEL VERSUS PHILOSOPHY.

2:1-16.

      [In the last section Paul showed that it was God's plan to overthrow the vain wisdom of the world by those weak and lowly ones whom the world despised. He now proceeds to show that the church at Corinth was founded by him as a weak and lowly one, in accordance with God's plan.] 1 And I, brethren, when I came unto you, came not with excellency of speech [as an orator] or of wisdom [as a philosopher], proclaiming to you the testimony of [about] God. [Though Paul was educated at Tarsus, which Strabo preferred as a school of learning to Athens or Alexandria, yet he made no display of his learning, and hence his enemies spoke of his speech as contemptible or no account (2 Cor. 10:10). He quotes from Aratus at Acts 17:28, and Epimenides at Tit. 1:12, and Menander at 1 Cor. 15:33. But Paul counted all such polite learning as mere dross in comparison with the excellency of the knowledge of Christ--Phil. 3:8.] 2 For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. [Paul here asserts that the subject-matter of his preaching was selected from choice, or fixed design. He does not mean to say that every sermon was a description of the crucifixion of our Lord, but that all his teaching and preaching related to the atonement wrought by Christ upon the cross. This atonement, through [58] the sacrifice of our Lord, was recognized by Paul as the foundation of the Christian system, and he here means to say that he handled no doctrine or theme at Corinth without remembering and recognizing its relation to that foundation.] 3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. [Paul frequently asserts his tendency to physical weakness and depression (1 Cor. 4:7-12; Gal. 4:13; 2 Cor. 10:1, 10; 12:7). This sense of weakness was accentuated by his recent semi-failure at Athens, by frequent persecution, and by the absence of his companions, Silas and Timothy, till Paul's sense of timidity amounted to actual fear (Acts 18:9). He was also out of money and had to work for Aquila. The slight admixture of philosophy which he had used in addressing the Athenians (Acts 17:22-34) had thoroughly convinced the apostle that it was of no use, or benefit, in the presentation of the gospel.] 4 And my speech [discourse on doctrine] and my preaching [announcement of facts] were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power [1 Cor. 1:5. He relied upon the divine aid, rather than upon the aid of human learning]: 5 that your faith should not stand in [should not be based upon] the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 6 We [as an inspired apostle] speak wisdom, however, among them that are fullgrown: yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nought [Paul here begins to correct the impression which his semi-ironical language about the foolishness of God might have made, and proceeds to show that the gospel is the highest wisdom--a wisdom which he had not yet been able to impart to the Corinthians because it could only be comprehended by mature Christians, and so was above the receptive powers of the Corinthians who as yet were mere babes in Christ (1 Cor. 3:1). But if the Corinthians who were developing in spiritual manhood could not receive this heavenly wisdom, much less could the world-rulers who were moving backward, crab-fashion, into nothingness, in accordance with the plan of God outlined in the last section. Thus the apostle [59] reveals the startling fact that progression in philosophical and political worldliness is retrogression as to the kingdom of God, so that the Corinthians in seeking to better their religious condition by bringing these worldly elements into the church, were not only retarding their spiritual growth, but were actually associating themselves with those who were shrinking and shriveling toward the vanishing point]: 7 but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, even the wisdom that hath been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds unto our glory [Paul often speaks of Christ and his gospel as a mystery (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:4-9; Col. 1:26; 1 Tim. 3:6, 17). God's purpose to give his Son for the salvation of the world was a mystery long hidden, but now revealed, but still hidden from those who wickedly refused to receive it (Matt. 11:25; 13:10-13), to which class Paul proceeds to relegate the world-rulers]: 8 which none of the rulers of this world hath known: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory [their conduct proved their ignorance even as Jesus asserted--Luke 23:34]: 9 but as it is written, Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, And which entered not into the heart of man, Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him. [This passage is taken from Isa. 64:4; but it is an exposition, and not a verbatim quotation. The words form an unfinished sentence, and, as is not infrequent with Paul's quotations, do not fit nicely into the general structure of his discourse. To understand them we should supply the words "we speak" from verse 7; i. e., we fulfill the prophecy by telling those things which God prepared for those that love him (the mystery of the gospel), but which no uninspired man ever in any way surmised or anticipated. The prophecy includes the unseen glories of heaven.] 10 But unto us [inspired apostles] God revealed them through the Spirit [Here the defective knowledge gained by the world-rulers through their wisdom or philosophy stands in sharp contrast to the heavenly and perfect knowledge which the apostles had by revelation of the Spirit. Paul proceeds to discuss the [60] perfection of this inspired knowledge]: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things [Rom. 11:33] of God. 11 For who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him? even so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God. 12 But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God. [As a man alone knows himself, so God alone knows himself. As the thoughts and intentions of a man are best known by his own spirit, so also are the divine counsels of God best known by the Spirit of God. If a man's knowledge of himself surpasses that of his neighbor who knows him well, much more must the revelation of the unseen God by his Spirit far surpass all the speculations of mankind with regard to him. But this revelation of God the apostles enjoyed, through the Spirit of God, who guided them into all truth (John 16:13). How superior, then, was their knowledge to that of worldly philosophy, even if it embraced the collective knowledge of all men.] 13 Which things also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth; combining spiritual things with spiritual words. [Here again we have a clear claim to inspiration, and not only so, but verbal inspiration. Paul did not reason after the manner of worldly philosophers, but imparted his truth under the guidance of the Spirit, who taught him the words to use, so that he taught spiritual truths with spiritual words, a fitting combination. The leaders of our current Reformation did well in conforming to this rule, by seeking to express Bible thoughts in Bible language. To Paul the terms and phrases of theology would have been as distasteful as those of philosophy, because equally man-made and unspiritual.] 14 Now the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged. [As sound is perceived by the ear, and not by the eye, so the spirit of man perceives spiritual things which can not be comprehended by his [61] psychic nature. But a man who has lived on the low psychic plane--a carnal, sensuous victim to bodily appetites--has, by neglect, let his spiritual faculties become so torpid, and by sin so deadened them, that the spiritual things of God become as foolishness to him, despite their worthiness--1 Tim. 1:15.] 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, and he himself is judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ [A spiritual man, helped by the indwelling Spirit of God, is enabled to judge of things divine, and much more of things human. But he himself can not be judged of carnal men, because they have no knowledge of those things by which they should weigh or estimate him. Could a man know God so as to instruct him? Surely not. No more, then, could a man counsel, judge or instruct a man who, by the inspiring power of the Spirit, thinks the thoughts and has the mind of Christ. Jesus revealed his mind to the apostles (John 15:15), and also to Paul as one of them--Gal. 1:11, 12.]

III.

SUPREMACY OF GOD AND THE CHURCH.

3:1-23.

      1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ. [The simplicity of Paul's instruction had given occasion to the false apostles (2 Cor. 11:12-15) to criticize him as a shallow teacher (2 Cor. 10:10), rather than as one who had "the mind of Christ." To this the apostle replies that their own immature condition up to the time when he left them, rendered them incapable of any fuller instruction; for, far from being mature disciples (ch. 2:8; Eph. 4:13), they were still swayed by the prejudices and passions of the unregenerate life out of which they had been but lately born, and to which they were not wholly dead.] 21 fed you with milk, not with meat, for [62] ye were not yet able to bear it [he had merely grounded them in first principles, and had not enlightened them as to those higher doctrines which lead on to perfection, because they could not grasp them. Comp. Heb. 5:11-6:2; 1 Pet. 2:2; Mark 4:33; John 16:12]: nay, not even now are ye able; 3 for ye are yet carnal [showing undue reverence for men, etc.]: for whereas there is among you jealousy and strife, are ye not carnal [Gal. 5:19, 20; Jas. 3:16], and do ye not walk after the manner of men? 4 For when one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not men? [Surely the Corinthians had no ground to argue with Paul as to their condition when he was among them, for their present condition was no better, since they were still swayed by the same prejudices and passions, and were showing themselves worldlings, rather than Spirit-led Christians--Gal. 5:25.] 5 What [the neuter of disparagement] then is Apollos? and what is Paul? Ministers [literally, deacons, i. e., servitors--Acts 6:2; Col. 1:7; not leaders--Luke 22:25, 26] through whom ["not in whom"--Bengel] ye believed; and each as the Lord gave to him. [i. e., gave spiritual gifts (Rom. 12:6); and success.] 6 I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth anything [in himself, without Christ--2 Cor. 12:12; John 15:4, 5, 16], neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. [Paul brought them into the vineyard or kingdom, Apollos instructed them; but God gave the results, causing them to live and grow, and so to God alone was due the honor and praise (Ps. 115:1). Paul regarded it as his especial duty because of his apostleship to tarry in no territory already occupied, but to press into new fields and plant churches, leaving others to help water them--Rom. 15:20; 2 Cor. 10:15, 16.] 8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one [with respect to their purposes, or the ends for which they labor: hence, not rivals]: but each shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. [Since God gives the increase, the reward will be proportioned to fidelity, etc., [63] rather than to results.] 9 For we are God's fellow-workers: ye are God's husbandry, God's building [The supreme ownership of God is here emphasized, as is shown by the three possessives. Paul and Apollos were not fellow-workers with God, but fellow-workers with each other under God. The Corinthians were God's field in which they labored, or his building which they reared; but workers, field and building all belonged to God.] 10 According to the grace [apostleship with its attendant gifts--Rom. 1:5; Gal. 1:15, 16; Eph. 3:8] of God which was given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder I laid a foundation [In Corinth Paul had preached Christ as the foundation of the church and of each individual Christian, and this foundation admitted no mixture of philosophy and no perversion which could produce sects (Gal. 1:9). All this Paul asserts without any shadow of boasting, for the skill or wisdom by which he had done it had been imparted to him by God]; and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon. 11 For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid [of or by God the Father (1 Pet. 2:6); God laid him by gift, Paul by preaching], which is Jesus Christ. [Paul had laid Christ as the foundation (Matt. 16:18; Acts 4:11, 12; Eph. 2:20); and others (each being individually responsible, hence the singular) had been building carnal, worldly-minded factions upon it, and these are warned that the superstructure should comport with the foundation, for so worthy a foundation should have a correspondingly worthy structure.] 12 But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 each man's work shall be made manifest: for the day [the judgment day] shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire [as to its quality]; and the fire itself shall prove each man's work of what sort it is. [All of the building materials here mentioned were familiar in Corinth. The first three kinds were found in their fireproof temples--material worthy of sacred structures, and the latter three were used in their frail, combustible huts which were in no way dedicated [64] to divinity. The argument is that Corinthian Christians should build the spiritual temple of God, the church, with as good spiritual material as the relative earthly material employed by their fathers in constructing idolatrous shrines. The church should be built of true Christians, the proper material; and not of worldly-minded hypocrites, or those who estimate the oracles of God as on a par with the philosophies of men. The day of judgment will reveal the true character of all who are in the church, as a fire reveals the character of the material in a temple structure. The Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory is in some measure founded on this passage; but the context shows a purging of all evil men from the church as an entirety. There is no hint that the evil in the individual is purged by fire, leaving a residuum of righteousness. Our sins are not purged by fire, but by the blood of Christ, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission--Heb. 9:22.] 14 If any man's work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss [if a teacher's disciples endure the test of judgment, he shall receive a reward, of which his converts will be at least a part (1 Thess. 2:19; Phil. 2:16); but if his disciples do not stand that test, he shall of course lose whatever property he had in them, and perhaps more--2 John 8]: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire. [The teacher may of course be saved independently of his disciples, for salvation is a gift and not a reward; but he will be saved as a steward who has lost the things of his stewardship; as a tenant who has had his harvest burned, or as a contractor whose structure has gone up in flames: see verse 9.] 16 Know ye not [a touch of amazement at their ignorance] that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? [In verse 9 he had called them God's building; he now reminds them of what kind the building was, and how exalted were its uses. The Jerusalem temple was honored by the Shechinah, but the church by the very Spirit of God.] 17 If any man destroyeth the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the [65] temple of God is holy, and such are ye. [The factions are here plainly made aware of the magnitude of their sin, and the severity of their punishment. They were destroying the church by their divisions (Eph. 5:27), maiming and dismembering it by their discordant factions--2 Pet. 2:1.] 18 Let no man deceive himself. [By thinking himself wise enough to amend or modify God's truth.] If any man thinketh that he is wise among you in this world, let him become a fool, that he may become wise. [Let such a one become a fool in the world's sight, as Paul was (Acts 26:24; ch. 4:10), that by preaching the so-called foolishness of God he may learn the real wisdom of it.] 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written [Job 5:13], He that taketh the wise in their craftiness: 20 and again [Ps. 94:11], The Lord knoweth the reasonings of the wise, that they are vain. [Alford interprets the passage thus: "If God uses the craftiness of the wise as a net to catch them in, such wisdom is in his sight folly, since he turns it to their own confusion." How foolish to modify or adapt the gospel to make it palatable and acceptable to sectarian spirits or worldly minds! Man is to be adjusted to God, not God to man, for he is unchangeable--Jas. 1:17; Heb. 13:8.] 21 Wherefore let no one glory in men. [A returning upon the thought at ch. 1:31.] For all things are yours [why, then, grasp a paltry part and forego the glorious whole?]; 22 whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world [Matt. 5:5; Mark 10:29, 30], or life [with its possibilities], or death [with its gain--Phil. 1:21], or things present, or things to come [Rev. 21:5-27]; all are yours [This is a positive, as Rom. 8:38, 39 is a negative side of the truth at Rom. 8:28. All things further, and nothing hinders the saint's prosperity]; 23 and ye are Christ's [and hence not the property of his servants]; and Christ is God's. [These words are an echo of the prayer of the Master at John 17:21-23. The church must have perfect unity in Christ that Christ may maintain his unity with God. Christ must of necessity quiet all contention between the [66] members of his body (1 Cor. 12:12); for if he is at variance with himself, how can he have unity with the Father? Variance is an infallible proof of imperfection, and imperfection can not have unity with God, who is perfection--Matt. 5:48.]

IV.

APOSTOLIC STEWARDSHIP AND AUTHORITY.

4:1-21.

      1 Let a man so account of us, as of ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. [Paul here gives the rule by which apostles and evangelists are to be estimated. They are not to be magnified, for they are servants, nor are they to be deprecated because of the value and importance of that which is entrusted to them as stewards. The term "ministers" here means literally under-rowers. The church is a ship, or galley; Christ is the chief navigator, or magisterium; and all the evangelists and teachers are mere oarsmen with no ambition to be leaders. In the second figure the church is a household, God is the householder, the gospel truths are the food and other provisions which are dispensed by the evangelists or stewards.] 2 Here, moreover, it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. [It was not expected of the steward that he would procure or provide; he was merely to distribute that which was provided by the master. The apostles were not philosophers burdened with the discovery and invention of truth, but were mere dispensers of truth revealed to them by God--truth which must be thus revealed because it can not be discovered by any process of ratiocination. If the apostles faithfully rehearsed that which was revealed, nothing more could be asked of them.] 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's Judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. 4 For I know nothing against myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. [Paul is not arrogantly [67] vaunting himself as disdaining the good or bad opinion of the Corinthians, but pointing out the inadequacy of all human judgment, even his own, to decide that which God alone can decide. God gave the office and fixed the manner in which its duties should be discharged, and so God alone can judge the officer (Rom. 14:4). One might do wrong unconsciously, and yet justify himself--Ps. 19:12; 1 John 3:20.] 5 Wherefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall each man have his praise from God. [The revelation or manifestation of things which shall accompany the Lord's coming, was mentioned in our last section. In the light of that hour, not only the deeds of men will be manifest, but even the motives which prompted the deeds. The Corinthians, having no adequate means of telling whether Paul spoke less or more than was revealed, would have to wait until that hour of revelation before they could judge him accurately and absolutely. If he was then approved, he would receive not only their praise, but the praise of God--Matt. 25:21.] 6 Now these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes; that in us ye might learn not to go beyond the things which are written; that no one of you be puffed up for the one against the other. [Though neither Paul nor Apollos had headed a faction in Corinth, Paul has spoken in this Epistle as though they had done this, and that he might spare the feelings of the real leaders in faction he had put himself and Apollos in their places, and had shown the heinousness of their supposed conduct as reproved by many passages of Scripture. He had done this that the Corinthians, seeing the evil of such a thing even in an apostle, might see it more plainly in their little local party leaders, and might not boast themselves of any one leader to the disparagement of another. We may be sure that those who were puffing themselves up in one, were correspondingly busy traducing the other.] 7 For who maketh thee to differ? and what [68] hast thou that thou didst not receive? but if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? [God had made them to differ both in natural and in spiritual gifts (Rom. 12:3-8). If, then, one had more subtle reasoning faculties than another, what ground had he for boasting, since his superiority was due to the grace of God in bestowing it, and not to himself in acquiring it?] 8 Already ye are filled [with self-satisfaction], already ye are become rich [with intellectual pride], ye have come to reign without us [Ye have so exalted yourselves that we poor apostles have become quite needless to your lordly independence. The inflated self-esteem of the Corinthians was like that of the Laodiceans some twoscore years later--Rev. 3:17, 18]: yea and I would that ye did reign, that we also might reign with you. [Here, moved by his ardent affection, the apostle passes instantly from biting sarcasm to a divinely tender yearning for their welfare. He wishes that they possessed in reality that eminence which existed only in their conceit. How different, then, would be his own condition. Their true development was his joy, their real elevation his exaltation, and their final triumph in Christ his crown of glorying (1 Thess. 2:19; 1 Cor. 9:23). From the brilliant picture thus raised before his imagination, Paul turns to depict his true condition, in all its unenviable details.] 9 For, I think, God hath set forth us the apostles last of all, as men doomed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, both to angels and men. [As, after the end of the performance, condemned criminals were brought into the amphitheater and made a gazing-stock to the populace before their execution, so the apostles seemed to be exhibited to public contempt.] 10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye have glory, but we have dishonor. [In this verse Paul resumes his satire, contrasting the vain imaginations of the Corinthians with the real condition of the apostles, himself in particular.] 11 Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted [69] [smitten with the clenched fist], and have no certain dwelling-place [Matt. 8:20; 10:23]; 12 and we toil, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless [Luke 6:27; 1 Pet. 2:23]; being persecuted, we endure; 13 being defamed, we entreat [Matt. 5:44]: we are made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things, even until now. ["Filth" indicates either rubbish swept up, or such foulness as is cleansed by washing. "Offscouring" indicates dirt removed by scraping or scouring. Each neighborhood to which the apostles came hastened to be cleansed of their presence.] 14 I write not these things to shame you [to make you feel how contemptible you are in adding to my many sorrows and burdens], but to admonish you as my beloved children. [As to the foolishness of your conceit.] 15 Though ye have ten thousand tutors [literally, pedagogues: the large number rebukes their itch for teachers] in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers [they had but one--Paul]; for in Christ Jesus I begat you through the gospel. [In the first, or highest, sense disciples are begotten by the will of God (John 1:13); but in a secondary sense they are begotten by the teacher of gospel truths (Jas. 1:18). The Corinthians had many builders, but one founder; many waterers, but one planter; many tutors, but one father. He had rights, therefore, which could never be rivaled.] 16 I beseech you therefore, be ye imitators of me. [Again, in the highest sense we can only be imitators of God (Eph. 5:1); but in a secondary sense the Corinthians could imitate Paul--his humility, faithfulness, self-sacrifice and industry, as did the Thessalonians--1 Thess. 1:6.] 17 For this cause have I sent unto you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who shall put you in remembrance of my ways which are in Christ, even as I teach everywhere in every church. [To aid you in imitating me, I have sent Timothy. He can tell you how I teach, not accommodating the gospel to the prejudices and foibles of any locality; and he can, as my spiritual son, aid you by his own manner of life to remember mine. Paul knew [70] that as soon as they heard of this sending of Timothy, his enemies would conclude that he had sent a messenger because he was afraid to face the church himself. Instantly, therefore, he proceeds to counteract this conclusion.] 18 Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you shortly [as he did], if the Lord will [Jas. 4:15]; and I will know, not the word of them that are puffed up, but the power. [I will test not their rhetorical ability, but their power, whether they can stand against that which I possess as an apostle.] 20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. 21 What will ye? [which do you choose or prefer?] shall I come unto you with a rod [to punish you], or in love and a spirit of gentleness? [Because ye will have repented of your factious spirit.]