Lessons #109and 110
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Stewards of Christ (1 Cor 4:1-5)
1 So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
Ministers of God’s word are essential in the church of Christ carrying out its mission of preaching the gospel and equipping believers to function as the Lord intended that involves their spiritual growth. As we have indicated in the past, spiritual maturity or lack of it in a local congregation is related to the presence or absence of sound doctrinal teaching in that local church. Satan knows this truth even if believers do not. Therefore, he focusses on the ministers of the word of God with the intention of causing trouble to the church of Christ. His effort leads to believers having distorted view of the ministers of God’s word. On the one hand, there are believers who are so enameled by them that they brag about them leading to partisanship as in the local church of Corinth. On the other hand, there are those who are very critical of them to the point that they probably do not respond properly to the teaching of God’s word from them. In other words, there are those who are so critical of the ministers of the word of God that their criticism prevents them from learning truth from them. Both extremes are found in the church of Corinth that the Holy Spirit through the Apostle had delivered corrective instructions to believers in Corinth and so to all believers regarding the ministers of God’s word.
The Holy Spirit through the apostle had so far communicated two major messages to the Corinthians and so to the church of Christ in general because of their wrong perception and or attitude towards those who are ministers of God’s word. His first major message that we have considered is that the Corinthians and so all believers should understand that God is infinitely superior to all ministers of His word that He uses in His divine work regarding them. Thus, it is not necessary to compare one minister to another. The second major message is that believers should not brag about spiritual leaders because everything in God’s creation serves them and because they are in Christ they belong to God. This was the message the apostle conveyed in the preceding section, that is, 1 Corinthians 3:21-23. So, in our present section the Holy Spirit through the apostle delivered a third major message that relates to the ministers of God’s word that we will state shortly.
In the present passage that we are about to consider, that is, 1 Corinthians 4:1-5, the concern of the Holy Spirit through the apostle is still those who are minsters of God’s word. Thus, the apostle is concerned that he and other ministers of God’s word should be correctly assessed but there should be no premature judgment of them. This is the other extreme that we mentioned previously concerning the tendency of some to be critical of the ministers of God’s word to the point that they do not respond to their teaching of God’s word since they are busy being critical of them. Those who are involved in criticism of ministers of God’s word indeed do not have genuine respect for them and so they do not grow spiritually. The message of the apostle in this section is intended to correct such attitude towards the ministers of God’s word. Based on this truth that the Holy Spirit through the apostle intended to convey to the Corinthians, we derive the third major message, we believe the Holy Spirit wanted communicated to the church of Christ regarding the ministers of God’s word. The third major message is this: Be careful of how you prematurely evaluate the ministers of God’s word since that is the Lord’s function when He returns. This message we will consider as that which requires three responsibilities from each believer. In other words, we will consider three responsibilities that you have regarding the message we have stated. But before we get to these, we need to consider an introductory matter regarding the passage we are considering.
The introductory matter involved with our passage is whether what the apostle stated in the passage is directly related to the preceding section or whether what he stated in this section is a new instruction that is not directly linked to the preceding although the overall concern is still with the ministers of the word of God. This problem arises because of the first phrase of 1 Corinthians 4: 1 So then.
The expression “so then” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (houtōs) that may mean “in this manner, thus, so” in the sense of referring to what precedes. This is the way the word is used when Apostle Paul applied the doctrines he taught, regarding believers’ blessings in Christ that are associated with His death and resurrection that precede the instruction recorded in Romans 6:11:
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
When the apostle said that believers should count themselves dead to sin, he meant that we should count ourselves dead as far as the power of sin to control our lives is concerned. The word may mean “in this way, as follows” in pertaining to what follows in discourse material and sometimes what is so introduced follows immediately after our Greek word. It is in this meaning that Apostle Paul used the word in encouraging Philippians to imitate him, as we read in Philippians 3:17:
Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.
It does not appear that the meaning we indicated is used in this passage of Philippians, but it is. You see the expression of the NIV take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you is more literally observe those who walk in this way, just as you have us as an example. The word may mean “so” as a marker of a relatively high degree of something when used before an adjective or adverb as Apostle Paul used it to express his surprise that the Galatians were quick to abandon salvation by grace to accept salvation by works in Galatians 1:6:
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—
We have noted the various usages of the Greek word that begins verse 1 of 1 Corinthians 4. The question is in what way should we understand it. As far as translation is concerned, either the meaning “thus” or “in this manner” is appropriate but that remains the problem of interpretation of the Greek word used. There are generally three ways to interpret the Greek word. It may be understood as referring to what preceded, that is, that it refers to the preceding section. Another interpretation is that it is forward looking to what is stated in the passage we are considering. A third interpretation is that it refers to both two interpretations. It is this interpretation that I hold. On the one hand, the apostle looked back to what he stated in the preceding section that believers should not brag about ministers of God’s word since they serve the people of God and believers themselves belong to God. Because of this or in the same manner they are to correctly assess ministers of God’s word as those who belong to Christ and serve Him. On the other hand, the apostle gives in what follows information that would be necessary in correct assessment of the ministers of God’s word. With this consideration of the introductory matter of the section we are considering, we focus our attention on believers’ responsibilities regarding the third major message of the Holy Spirit through the apostle that concerns the ministers of God’s word.
A first major responsibility you have regarding the message of this section is that you should correctly assess ministers of God’s word, being mindful of what is required of them. This responsibility implies that you cannot correctly evaluate a pers’s performance in a given position unless you understand the person’s responsibility. Take for example, a person cannot truly say “we have a good or poor pastor” unless the individual understands what the responsibilities of a pastor are. So, your correct assessment of ministers of God’s word involves first regarding them as servants of Christ. This responsibility is based on what Apostle Paul stated in the sentence of 1 Corinthians 4:1 men ought to regard us as servants of Christ. The use of the word men in the NIV is an interpretative translation that is probably meant to generalize the word the apostle used since it is the singular of the Greek word that is used.
There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile;
The word may mean a male person, that is, “a man” as Apostle Paul used it in his quotation from the second chapter of Genesis in Ephesians 5:31:
“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”
The word may mean “a person, someone, one” although some English versions may use the word “man” in their translation as Apostle Paul used the word in referencing justification by faith in Galatians 2:16:
know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
Justification is for both men and women so that the phrase a man is to be understood as “a person,” hence the NRSV simply used the phrase a person. The word in some contexts is used in idioms with several meanings. For example, it may mean “self” when it is used with a Greek adjective (palaios) that means “old” in describing a pattern of behavior as Apostle Paul used it to instruct believers to behave differently than they did as unbelievers in Ephesians 4:22:
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
The phrase your old self is literally the old man. Likewise, it may be used to describe the inner being of a person so may mean “being” as the apostle used it in Ephesians 3:16:
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
The phrase inner being is literally inner man. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 4:1, the Greek word is used in the sense of a human being, that is, a person. This would mean that the apostle stated what should be true of any believer. It is doubtful that he would be including unbelievers in his usage of the word since the epistle is directed to believers in Corinth. Consequently, the word “person” may be replaced by the word “believer” so that what the apostle states is expected of believers who should know better.
The apostle’s expectation that is the basis of the first correct assessment of the ministers of God’s word is given in the expression ought to regard us as servants of Christ. The expression “ought to regard” is translated from a Greek word (logizomai) that may mean “to reckon, calculate” and so it is used with the meaning “to count” in Romans 4:8:
Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”
The word may mean “to evaluate, estimate, look upon as, consider” so it is used with the meaning of “to look upon” in describing true Abraham’s descendants in Romans 9:8:
In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.
The clause the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring may alternatively be translated the children of the promise are looked upon/reckoned as seed of Abraham. The Greek word may mean “to think (about), consider, ponder, let one’s mind dwell,” that is, to give careful thought to a matter. Thus, Apostle Paul used the word to encourage believers regarding the kind of things we should reflect on in Philippians 4:8:
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
The word may mean “to hold a view about something,” hence “to, think, believe, be of the opinion.” It is this meaning that is reflected in the view the apostle stated regarding food although the translators of the NIV used the word “convinced” to translate it in Romans 14:14:
As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 4:1, the sense of the word is “to consider, look upon someone as.”
Believers should constantly consider or regard ministers of God’s word as those who belong to Christ and serve Him as that is demanded in the expression of 1 Corinthians 4:1 regard us as servants of Christ. You may wonder the reason for our use of the word “constantly” since there is nothing in the English of this expression that suggests the concept of “constantly.” True, but the Greek suggests this since the apostle used a present tense of the Greek word translated “regard” in the NIV. His use of the present tense is intended to convey to the original readers that they should form the habit of regarding ministers of God’s word as he stated. You may be tempted to have a different view or to think of the ministers of God’s word in any other way humans think of others, but you must resist that. In other words, you may be tempted to think of ministers either as those who annoy you because they tell you the truth or you think of them as your servants who must dance to your whims or you think of some of them as not eloquent. If this is the case, then you should avoid such thoughts and regard them as the apostle stated in this passage.
It is not only that the word “constantly” is not found in the expression that we are considering but the phrase “ministers of God’s word” is also not found in the expression regard us as servants of Christ. So why do we use this term? It is because of the personal pronoun us the apostle used. The context demands that we understand the pronoun as a reference to Paul, Peter (Cephas), and Apollos as they were the men the apostle mentioned in 1 Corinthians 3:22. These three men that apostle mentioned were those who ministered the word of God. Therefore, in applying our passage to believers at the present time, it is fitting for us to use the phrase “ministers of God’s word.”
In any case, believers are expected to regard ministers of God’s word as those who serve Christ and belong to Him. This assertion is because of the phrase servants of Christ. The word “servants” is translated from a Greek word (hypēretēs) that is a technical term for a governmental or other official hence the word is used for one who functions as a helper, frequently in a subordinate capacity, hence “helper, assistant.” The word may be used to describe a court attendant with the meaning “officer, attendant” as in Matthew 5:25:
“Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.
The word is used to describe the attendant in a Synagogue in Luke 4:20:
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him,
It is used to describe the relationship of John Mark to Apostles Paul and Barnabas during their first missionary journey in Acts 13:5:
When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.
The word is used to describe the apostles as assistants of Christ although it is translated “servant” in Acts 26:16:
‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you.
It is in the sense of “subordinate” as one subject to the authority and control of another that the word is used and so the meaning “servant” is appropriate. Thus, the apostle indicates that he and others who minister the word of God should be regarded as servants of Christ.
We have asserted that believers should form the habit of regarding ministers of God’s word as those who serve Christ and belong to Him. This is because the Greek syntax involved in the phrase servants of Christ of 1 Corinthians 4:1 may be interpreted in at least two ways, that is, that the servants belong to Christ or they serve Him. It is probably that the apostle had in mind both interpretation when he penned down the phrase. You see, it is difficult to conceive of a person being a servant without serving. So, the apostle must have meant to convey not only that he and others who labor for Christ in preaching and teaching the word of God belong to Christ but that they serve Him that he used our Greek word instead of a normal Greek word (doulos) that means “a slave” he uses to describe his relationship to Christ in his ministry as, for example, in Philippians 1:1:
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
Of course, the Greek word translated “servants” in Philippians should better be translated “slaves” as that is the meaning of the word that reflects what the apostle meant. We should understand the apostle’s use of the word he used in 1 Corinthians 4:1 in that he wanted the Corinthians to recognize that he and the others who labor in the field for the advancement of God’s word belong to Christ as he had conveyed to the Corinthians that they belong to Christ. Anyway, the apostle did not use the Greek word that means “slaves” but one that conveys one who assists another although the individual would be under the control or the authority of the one so assisted. The apostle saw himself and others with similar role in the ministry of the word of God as those who are servants who belong to Christ and assist in the advancement of the word of God. It is true that the apostle wanted to convey to the Corinthians that he and other ministers of God’s word belong to Christ and serve Him, it is also possible that he wanted to convey that he and others are sent from Christ and depend on Him for their ministry. That aside, the fact the apostle wanted to convey to the Corinthians is that he and the others mentioned in the preceding chapter belong to Christ and serve Him regarding the advancement of God’s word. Hence, it is important that every believer should regard those who minister to them the word of God as servants who belong to Christ and serve Him. We should disregard any other thoughts that we may be tempted to have about such individuals and recognize them as those who advance the course of Christ. Anyway, your first correct assessment of ministers of God’s word should involve regarding them as servants of Christ who belong to Him and serve Him.
Your second correct assessment of ministers of God’s word is to regard them as those who administer God’s truth revealed in the Scripture. This assessment is based on the last verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 4:1 and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. This verbal phrase may be interpreted in one of two ways of either providing additional fact or for providing an explanation. This is because of the possible meanings of the Greek conjunction (kai) used that is often translated “and” in our English versions to connect clauses of equal importance in a given compound sentence or to add additional fact. It may also be used as a marker of explanation in which case it may be translated “that is, namely.” Both meanings are reflected in our English versions. Majority of our English versions use the conjunction “and” while others did not translate it. Some of the English versions that did not translate it, such as the NCV and the TEV, use a comma to imply that what follows is an explanation of what preceded it or simply translated what follows as an explanation of what preceded. While both approaches are correct, it is probably that the apostle used the conjunction to provide an explanation of what he meant in the use of the Greek word translated “servant” in the first clause.
Be that as it may, the translators of the NIV in their rendering and as those entrusted with the secret things of God used an expanded translation in rendering the Greek since literally the Greek reads and administrators of mysteries of God. The expression “those entrusted with” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (oikonomos) that may mean manager of a household or of an estate hence “(house) steward, manager” as the Greek word is used in Jesus’ Parable of the Shrewd Manager in Luke 16:1:
Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.
The word may mean “public treasurer” as that is the sense of the word in Romans 16:23:
Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings.
Erastus, who is the city’s director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings.
The phrase the city’s director of public works is literally the city treasurer. The person described as city treasurer is a city official that controls the funds of the city government. The word may mean “administrator,” that is, one who has authority and responsibility for something or entrusted with management in connection with transcendent matters. Thus, the word is used to describe an overseer of Christian community in Titus 1:7:
Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.
The clause an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless is more literally the overseer to be blameless as God’s steward. It is in the same sense of one entrusted with management in connection with transcendent matters that the word is used in 1 Peter 4:10:
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.
The word is used twice in the section of 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 that we are considering. In its first usage in 1 Corinthians 4:1 the sense is that of an “administrator,” that is, one who has authority and responsibility for something or entrusted with management in connection with transcendent matters. But in the second usage in verse 2, it has the sense of “manager.” Hence, the apostle indicated that the ministers of the word of God should be regarded as those who administer God’s truth revealed in the Scripture.
We use the concept of truth revealed in the Scripture because of the phrase the secret things of God of the NIV that literally reads of mysteries of God. This is because the expression “secret things” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (mystērion) that is used to describe the secret teachings and rituals of those in mystery cults. The members know what these secret teachings and rituals are but not those who are outside the given mystery cult since members of the given cult are under orders not to reveal what they know. So, the word does not refer to things that no one knows but to things whose knowledge is hidden to those who are not members of the mystery cults. This explanation indicates that the Greek word means “mystery, secret.” In Jewish apocalyptic literature, the word was used to describe the “secret truth” of the way in which God was at work in the world but this truth was known only to God’s faithful people. Hence, the word refers to “a secret truth” that was once hidden but had been revealed by God to His people. It is this meaning that is reflected in the NT. It is used for secret thoughts and plans of God which are hidden from human reason and comprehension. Thus, Jesus used the word to indicate that the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God is limited to His disciples when they asked for explanation of a parable He gave, as we read in Luke 8:10:
He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’
Apostle Paul used it in a sense of a special teaching revealed to him so that he may pass it on with regard to the future of believers during the Second Coming of Christ, as he implied in 1 Corinthians 15:51:
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
The apostle used the word to describe the teaching that Gentiles have been accepted into God’s people in Ephesians 3:6:
This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
It is in the sense of the significance of Jesus Christ for Gentiles that the apostle used the word in Colossians 4:3:
And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.
The phrase the mystery of Christ as some have suggested may be understood as Christ’s relevance to the Colossians. The Greek word can mean that which transcends normal human understanding, hence “ultimate reality, secret” and so the word is used with the meaning of “deep truths” in 1 Timothy 3:9:
They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.
The phrase the deep truths of the faith is literally the mystery of the faith.
Our examination of the Greek word translated “secret” in the NIV has revealed that it is in the sense of “secret truth” or “secret teaching” that Apostle Paul uses it in his epistles. Hence, the apostle used the Greek word in the plural in 1 Corinthians 4:1 as a reference to Christian truths or simply as a reference to revealed truths in the NT Scripture with emphasis on truths about Christ. Thus, the apostle indicates that ministers of God’s word are administrators of the secret teaching of God as in the clause of 1 Corinthians 4:1 those entrusted with the secret things of God or literally administrators of mysteries of God. The Greek suggests that the literal phrase mysteries of God could be interpreted as “divine secret teaching” so that the secret truths are known only by God and those He chooses to reveal them as, for example, with the disciplines as the Lord Jesus conveyed to them regarding His use of parables in the passage we cited previously, Luke 8:10:
He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’
Be that as it may, when Apostle Paul describe himself and others involved in the ministry of the word in the words of the NIV those entrusted with the secret things of God, what does he mean? He means that ministers of God’s word are those who oversee the teaching of God’s revealed truth. In other words, they are responsible for the communication of divine secret truths to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle himself, of course, had the unique privilege of receiving directly from God the secret truths that he communicated in his epistles, as he stated in Ephesians 3:3:
that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.
This notwithstanding, the ministers of God’s word have the responsibility of teaching revealed truths to believers.
It is our assertion that ministers of God’s word have the primary function of teaching revealed truths of God to believers. This means that they have the responsibility of ensuring that believers are taught the truths revealed in the Scripture that would otherwise be unknown. If ministers of God’s word systematically teach the Scripture, they would eventually teach secret truths to believers that unbelievers are not privileged to know. Although they would, following this approach, eventually teach the whole realm of the truth of God’s word but there are certain divine secret truths they should ensure that they teach believers. They should endeavor to teach believers regarding their future state as revealed in the Scripture. For example, Apostle Paul disclosed the fact that not all believers would die but that all believers would be transformed into the form suitable for all believers to be in heaven with God, as implied in the passage we cited previously, that is, 1 Corinthians 15:51:
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
The apostle indicated that what he stated in this verse of the fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians is a secret teaching that would otherwise be unknown. When believers are taught that not all would die but that all would be transformed into a glorious form that is suitable to be with God in heaven, that is a teaching that would otherwise be unknown if it has not been revealed in the Scripture. In fact, unbelievers have the understanding that everyone will die but here we have a secret teaching that says that not all believers would experience death.
Another secret truth that ministers of God’s word should communicate is the relation of Gentile Christians to Jewish Christians that has general application in the world of today when it comes with various ethnic groups dealing with each other. Unbelievers are caught up with ethnic tensions because they do not know the secret truth that humans who believe in Christ form one body of Christ as a new humanity and so that all believers are heirs of God in Christ. This truth is one that Apostle Paul conveyed in the midst of ethnic tension between Jews and Gentiles at the time of his ministry, as implied in what he taught in Ephesians 3:6:
This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
The implication of the secret teaching of the relationship between Jewish believers and Gentile believers is one that many Christians are ignorant because they have not heard this secret teaching of the relationship between believers of different ethnic backgrounds. Consequently, they act like unbelievers in interacting with their fellow believers in that they make distinctions between believers, contrary to the teaching of the Scripture.
Another secret truth that ministers of God’s word should communicate to believers that unbelievers know nothing about is that Christ who Himself is God reveals God’s secret truth. The world does not know this truth. It is for this reason that enlightened unbelievers or religious unbelievers view Jesus Christ as a prophet or a good man who taught about morality. No! He is more than a prophet. He is God who communicated to us the secret truths of God. Unbelievers have no way of knowing this truth. However, it is the fact that Jesus Christ who Himself is God reveals divine secret truth that Apostle Paul communicated in Colossians 2:2–3:
2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
The phase the mystery of God, namely, Christ implies that the apostle is saying that Christ reveals what is hidden of God. In effect, that Christ is the revelation of God or that He is the sum total of God. Furthermore, the apostle conveyed that Christ Himself was not revealed previously. We have various pre-incarnate appearances of the Lord Jesus Christ in the OT times such as His appearance to Abraham in company of two angels but there was no way of knowing clearly who He was. But with the incarnation, He is now revealed. Thus, God kept Jesus Christ from being known until He was revealed when He came to the earth via virgin birth. Of course, the apostle wrote in Colossians 2:2 in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ. To have the knowledge of mystery of God means that a believer would have a better understanding of God when the individual has a better understanding of the person and works of Christ. Such understanding is only possible when ministers of God’s word communicate to believers the secret teaching or truths contained in the Scripture. In any event, your correct assessment of the ministers of God should involve regarding them as the servants of Christ, who belong to Him and those who dispense God’s truth revealed in the Scripture.
We have been considering the first major responsibility you have regarding the message of this section regarding ministers of God’s word, which is that you should correctly assess ministers of God’s word, being mindful of what is required of them. We have indicated that your correct assessment of ministers of God’s word involves firstly regarding them as servants of Christ and secondly regarding them as those who dispense God’s truth revealed in the Scripture. There is another fact you need to understand in your assessment of ministers of God’s word. It is that they are required to be faithful as stated in 1 Corinthians 4:2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.
The Greek indicates the apostle states in verse 2 an additional fact concerning those who are ministers of God’s word as administrators of God’s revealed truth. This is because of two Greek adverbs used at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 4:2 that the translators of the NIV and many of our English versions seem to have combined by beginning the verse with the word now. Literally, the Greek of verse 2 begins with the phrase in this case, furthermore. This is, again, because of the two Greek adverbs that begin the verse. The first is a Greek word (hōde) that may mean a position or point that is relatively near hence means “here.” It may also mean a reference to a present event, object, or circumstance and so means “in this case, at this point, on this occasion, under these circumstances.” It is in the sense of “in this case” that it is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 4:2. Subsequently, the word is used to acknowledge what the apostle states regarding his primary concern of proper evaluation of those who are ministers of God’s word. The second is a Greek word (loipon) that may mean “left” as it pertains to that which remains over, especially after action has been taken. It may mean “other, rest of” as it pertains to being one not previously cited or included. The word may also mean “from now on, in the future, henceforth” or “furthermore,” as a marker of further comment. It is the meaning “furthermore” that the word is used in 1 Corinthians 4:2. Thus, the two Greek words are concerned with conveying that an additional comment is being added to what was stated in verse 1.
The additional comment concerns what is expected of those who are administrators of God’s word as in the clause it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. Literally, the Greek reads it is required in the administrators that one be found faithful. The word “required” is translated from a Greek verb (zēteō) that may mean “to seek, look for” in order to find. It may mean “to strive for, aim (at), try to obtain, desire, wish (for).” The word may mean “to request, demand, ask for” as it is used by Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 13:3:
since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 4:2, it is used in the sense of “to require.” The word “prove” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (heuriskō) that means “to find” or “to discover” or “to obtain.” In 1 Corinthians 4:2, the meaning of the word is “to be discovered, be found.”
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
It is in the sense of “dependable, trustworthy” that the apostle used it to describe the attitude towards the word of God of the one to be appointed a spiritual leader in Titus 1:9:
He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 4:2, it is in the sense of “dependability or trustworthiness” that it is used. The implication is that ministers of God’s word should be trustworthy, dependable in carrying out their responsibility of assignment as those who dispense God’s revealed truth. Their dependability or responsibility is to their master the Lord Jesus Christ. This means that they should faithfully communicate God’s truth without mixing them with human wisdom or watering it down so that it would be acceptable to believers. They should expound the truth as those who must give account to the Lord and those who would be judged by Him. Hence, they are not responsible to you but to the Lord, implying that you should be careful in your assessment of such individuals. In any event, your first responsibility in the message of the section of 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 that we are considering regarding administrators of God’s revealed truth or ministers of God’s word is that you should correctly assess ministers of God’s word, being mindful of what is required of them.