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1 Corinthians 4:7
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5 aTherefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to blight the hidden things of darkness and creveal the counsels of the hearts. dThen each one’s praise will come from God.  

Fools for Christ’s Sake

6 Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be1 puffed up on behalf of one against the other.  
7 For who1 makes you differ from another? And awhat do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?  
8 You are already full! aYou are already rich! You have reigned as kings without us—and indeed I could wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you!  
9 For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a aspectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.  
10 We are afools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! bWe are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored!  
11 To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless.
12 aAnd we labor, working with our own hands. bBeing reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure;  
Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
<< 1 Corinthians 4:6   1 Corinthians 4:8 >>


1 Corinthians 4:7

Maketh thee to differ (se diakrinei). Distinguishes thee, separates thee. Diakrinw means to sift or separate between (dia) as in Acts 15:9 (which see) where metacu is added to make it plainer. All self-conceit rests on the notion of superiority of gifts and graces as if they were self-bestowed or self-acquired.

Which thou didst not receive (o ouk elabev). "Another home-thrust" (Robertson and Plummer). Pride of intellect, of blood, of race, of country, of religion, is thus shut out.

Dost thou glory (kauxasai). The original second person singular middle ending -sai is here preserved with variable vowel contraction, kauxaesai=kauxasai (Robertson, Grammar, p. 341). Paul is fond of this old and bold verb for boasting.

As if thou hadst not received it (wv mh labwn). This neat participial clause (second aorist active of lambanw) with wv (assumption) and negative mh punctures effectually the inflated bag of false pride. What pungent questions Paul has asked. Robertson and Plummer say of Augustine, "Ten years before the challenge of Pelagius, the study of St. Paul's writings, and especially of this verse and of Romans 9:16, had crystallized in his mind the distinctively Augustinian doctrines of man's total depravity, of irresistible grace, and of absolute predestination." Human responsibility does exist beyond a doubt, but there is no foundation for pride and conceit.




Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing 1 Corinthians 4:7:

John 3:27
Romans 2:17
Romans 12:3
1 Corinthians 12:11

 

<< 1 Corinthians 4:6   1 Corinthians 4:8 >>

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