Lessons #113and 114
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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.
Recall the message of this section of 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 that we have been considering, 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. We indicated that our exposition of this message involves three responsibilities that you have as a believer. We have considered the first which is that you should correctly assess ministers of God’s word, being mindful of what is required of them. The second is that You should understand that the Lord is the true judge of the ministers of God’s word and of all others. To expound on this second responsibility, we indicated there are three facts that you should know about ministers of God’s word, which they also should know. A first fact is that they should not care about human judgments or evaluation to keep them from teaching the truth of God’s word because they teach to satisfy their congregation in the sense that they do not want any of them to criticize them or be offended by their teaching. A second fact is they may not judge themselves as others do. It is this second fact that we considered in our last study, so we consider the third fact.
A third fact that ministers of God’s word should understand is that there are at least three reasons they may not judge themselves in the sense of evaluating their ministry to cause them to think they are successful or that they are failures. Our use of the word “reasons” in stating the third fact is because of a Greek conjunction that begins verse 4 that is not translated in the NIV and in majority of our English versions. The Greek of verse 4 begins with a Greek conjunction (gar) that is used in different ways in the Greek. The Greek conjunction may be used as a marker of cause or reason so that it may be translated “for” or “because” in the English. It may be used as a marker of clarification or explanation so that it may be translated in the English with the word “for” or “you see.” Under this second usage, the Greek word may be used as a narrative marker to express continuation or connection in which case the Greek word may be left untranslated in the English translation. There are more nuances of the Greek conjunction under this second usage. The Greek conjunction may be used to signal an important point or transition to another topic leading to the translation “well, then, you see.” It can also be translated “yes, indeed, certainly, surely”, especially when the Greek conjunction is used in replies, confirming what has been asked. This is how the translators of the NIV rendered it in the answer to the question Apostle Paul raised regarding the Thessalonians being those who are his and his team’s joy or crown when Jesus Christ appears, as stated in 1 Thessalonians 2:20:
Indeed, you are our glory and joy.
The Greek conjunction is here in 1 Thessalonians 2:20 translated “indeed.” That aside, there is another usage of the Greek conjunction in question. It is as a marker of inference so that it may be translated “certainly, by all means, so, then.” In our passage of 1 Corinthians 4:4, it is used to provide reasons the apostle does not even judge himself or, as some interpret it, it is used for explanation of the apostle’s statement as to the effect that he does not judge himself. Anyway, we contend that the conjunction is used primarily to provide reasons since what follow in verse 4 are better understood as reasons for the apostle’s declaration in verse 3 of not judging himself.
Anyway, a first reason ministers of God’s word following Apostle Paul’s example, may not judge themselves is that their evaluation may be incorrect. In other words, they may not be aware of anything against them so that they may think they are doing well when in fact they may not be, or they may think they are failures because they evaluate something in their ministry as incorrect when in fact they may be correct. This reason is based on the apostle’s statement in the first clause of 1 Corinthians 4:4 My conscience is clear. Technically, the word “conscience” does not appear in the Greek since literally the Greek reads nothing I know with myself or I am aware of nothing (against) myself. This is because the literal sentence I know with myself is translated from a Greek phrase (synoida emautō) that consists of a verb and a reflexive pronoun. The Greek phrase appears once both in the Septuagint and in the NT. In the Septuagint, the translators of the NIV also rendered the phrase with the word conscience in Job 27:6:
I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it; my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.
The clause my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live of the NIV in the Septuagint reads for I am not conscious on my own part of having done wrong. The verb used in the Greek phrase is a Greek word (synoida) that in Secular Greek, according to Biblico-Theological Lexicon of New Testament Greek (fourth edition), means “to know together with, to know in common with another,” not just anything, but some specific thing, something that affects this other, or affecting both. When the word is combined with the reflexive pronoun, as in our passage, it makes the self the thing that one has knowledge of. Consequently, in Greek philosophy, the combination of the verb and reflexive pronoun became associated with self-evaluation or self-reflection and so became linked with a bad conscience, which is one of the two reasons the word “conscience” is used in the NIV to translate the Greek phrase. The other being that the Greek verb is related to the Greek noun (suneidēsis) that means “conscience.” Even so, the Greek verb used in 1 Corinthians 4:4 appears twice in the Greek NT; in its first usage it means “to be privy to, to know with” that is, to share information or knowledge with someone else as it is used to describe the knowing something together of Ananias and the wife Sapphira in Acts 5:2:
With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.
The phrase with his wife’s full knowledge is literally his wife also knowing. In the second usage, the word means “to be aware, to be conscious” as that is the sense in which the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 4:4 that reads in the NIV as My conscience is clear. But what does the apostle mean? To answer this question, we need to review briefly what we studied in the past regarding the conscience.
Conscience is that inherent mental ability God has given everyone to discern the difference between right and wrong. Its nature is such that it encourages an individual to do that which the person recognizes to be right while restraining the individual from doing that which the person recognizes to be wrong. Thus, it can pass judgment of guilt or give reassurance in case of innocence. Because of the nature of the function of the conscience, it is worthwhile our effort to describe it in a little more detailed.
Understanding of the function of the conscience should be related to the type of action under consideration. The conscience may be sequent to an action (that is, after the action has taken place) or it may be antecedent (that is, before the action takes place). If the conscience acts in a sequent mode, its primary function is judicial which can result in acquittal or in punishment. As soon as an action takes place the conscience goes into action to render a judgment favorable or adverse, a sentence of guilty or not guilty. It is because of this that some have compared the conscience to a court of law, in which there are culprit, judge, witnesses and jury; but only in this case the individual himself is all these. You are the one charged; you are the trial lawyer, the jury, and the judge. These play out inside of you where no one sees it. If you are innocent your conscience acquits you and you have a sense of satisfaction of approval from your conscience. But if you are guilty then the punishment phase sets in so that pain and suffering follow since the conscience is now an executioner. The terror of conscience is beyond description. The torture can go on for a long time without relief. This is the reason people confess hidden crimes after so long a time to try to free themselves from the pain inflicted on them by their conscience. It is true that some people seem to be able to hide the verdict from the conscience, but in general the satisfaction of a good conscience may stamp itself on the habitual serenity of one’s face, and the accusations of an evil conscience may impart a hunted and sinister expression to another. This means that facial expression can, most time, indicate one’s state on guilt or innocence. Anyway, a good illustration of the conscience at work given in the Scripture is with Joseph’s brothers when they first got to Egypt to purchase grain. They did not recognize Joseph as the one before them, who ordered them to be put in custody for three days. During this period, their conscience began to condemn them so that they associated their plight with their treatment of Joseph about 20 years from the time of their going to Egypt to purchase grain. It is because their consciences condemned them and or inflicted punishment on them that they declared what is recorded in Genesis 42:21:
They said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come upon us.”
It is true that the word “conscience” did not appear in this passage or in any other passage in the Hebrew Scripture, but Joseph’s brothers were punished by their consciences for the wrong they did to Joseph. By the way, we stated the word “conscience” does not appear in the Hebrew Scripture, that is, the OT and you may dispute this assertion because the English versions have the word “conscience” in certain OT passages but that is not really the case in the Hebrew text. A good example of this, ‘sis the use of the word “conscience” after David’s action regarding the cutting off a portion of Saul’s robe as described in 1 Samuel 24:5:
Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe.
We see that the word “conscience” is used in this passage, but the truth is there is no Hebrew word for conscience, but its function is assigned to the heart, so the sentence David was conscience-stricken is more literally the heart of David struck him. In the cases of Joseph’s brothers and that of David, the conscience pronounced a negative verdict of being guilty. But the conscience can also render a verdict that commends someone, as Apostle Paul indicated with respect to his conscience and that of his team regarding their conduct as they related to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 1:12:
Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God’s grace.
The apostle boasts that his conscience assures him that his life has been ruled by God’s grace, which is a good verdict of the conscience with respect to the past activities of the apostle. Anyway, on the one hand, if the conscience functions after an action then its function is that of rendering judgment either favorably or adversely, that is, it renders the subject as either guilty or not guilty.
On the other hand, if the action is still contemplated, the conscience functions in a different manner. It would still function in a judicial manner rendering decision on the right action or decision. But once it does that, another function kicks in. It becomes obligatory. In other words, when the will stands at the cross road of decisions or actions, seeing clearly before it the right course and the wrong, conscience commands to proceed in the one and forbids the other. And as one writer puts it “What conscience commands may be apparently against our interests, and it may be completely contrary to our inclinations; it may be opposed to the advice of friends or to the solicitations of companions; it may contradict the decrees of principalities and powers or the voices of the multitude; yet conscience in no way withdraws or modifies its claim. We may fail to obey, giving way to passion or being overborne by the allurements of temptation; but we know that we ought to obey; it is our duty; and this is a sublime and sacred word. The great crises of life arise when conscience is issuing one command and self-interest or passion or authority another, and the question has to be decided which of the two is to be obeyed.”[1] The implication is that one may have to set aside prejudice, denounce self-interest, or even disobey an authority that is in conflict with the truth from God and, of course, suffer the consequences of such disobedience of a human authority. Many martyrs in the past have done so. They have been given opportunities to live while denying that Jesus Christ is Lord, but their conscience would not permit them to do so; consequently, they suffered death.
Our discussion so far implies that we can use pain inflicted on us by our conscience to check the correctness of our actions, but we must always be cautious of our conscience. This is because conscience is not an infallible guide to the correct action to take since it is a function of the truth in the soul. Another reason that we must be wary of our conscience is because it can produce dead works as the writer of Hebrews informs us in Hebrews 9:14:
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
The clause acts that lead to death is literally from the Greek dead works that refers to works that cannot give eternal life or works that lead to death. The interpretation of the literal phrase dead works depends on whether it is concerned with believers or unbelievers. On the one hand, if unbelievers are in view then the phrase refers to those activities that the individual undertakes with the purpose of pleasing God or being in the right relationship with Him. On the other hand, if believers are in view then the phrase refers to those activities that a believer does when not under the control of the Spirit. Here in Hebrews 9:14 believers are in view because of the use of “our” in this verse so the focus of the phrase is sin since sin is that which will cause problem for the conscience of a believer that will make it difficult to have fellowship with God. The implication is that conscience may not always be relied to keep a person from doing what is wrong although in the context of Hebrews 9:14, the concern is to state that the death of Christ on the cross has the effect of freeing our consciences from the condemnation we experience due to sin. Nonetheless, the truth is that our conscience may not keep us from doing what is wrong and so we should be careful with what our consciences allow.
With this review, we return to consider what the apostle meant in the sentence of the NIV of 1 Corinthians 4:4 My conscience is clear or literally I am aware of nothing (against) myself. Let me begin by stating what the apostle does not mean. He did not mean that he was perfect. In fact, he was not concerned with sin at this point since the context is the ministry of God’s word. Hence, the apostle means that he was not aware or conscious of anything against himself that implies failure in his apostolic ministry or unfaithfulness to his apostolic ministry. The implication is that without consciousness of anything against himself then there is nothing that the apostle could pass on to his conscience to tell him he is wrong in his thinking concerning not judging himself regarding his ministry of the word of God. Thus, if those who are ministers of God’s word have limited knowledge even of themselves or their actions, they may wrongly evaluate themselves. In any event, a first reason ministers of God’s word may not judge themselves is incorrect evaluation of self in that they may not be aware of anything against them so that they may think they are doing well when in fact they may not be, or they may think they are failures because of incorrect evaluation of something in their ministry that may in fact be correct.
A second reason ministers of the word of God may not judge themselves in the sense of evaluating their ministry to cause them to think they are successful or that they are failures is imperfect knowledge. This means that their lack of knowledge of anything that would indicate they have failed in their ministry does not vindicate them as being successful. In other words, just because there is nothing that a minister of the word of God may be aware to indicate failure in the ministry does not mean that he is successful or faithful in the ministry. This reason is derived from what Apostle Paul said of himself in the second clause of 1 Corinthians 4:4 but that does not make me innocent. Literally the Greek reads but not by this have I been acquitted. This is because the expression “does...make me innocent” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (dikaioō) that is used in the Septuagint with the meaning of “to do justice, take up a cause.” It is in the sense of “to do justice” that the word is used in Psalm 82:3:
Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
The expression maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed in the Septuagint reads do justice to the low and needy. It is in the sense of “to take up the cause of someone” that the Greek word is used in the Septuagint of Isaiah 1:17:
learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.
The instruction plead the case of the widow in the Septuagint may be translated take up the cause of the widow. In the NT, the word may mean “to vindicate, justify, treat as just.” It is in the sense of self-justification that the word is used to describe the teacher of the law who listened to Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:29:
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Under this meaning, it is used of God in the sense of “to be found in the right, be free of charges” so that it is used with the meaning “to be acquitted, be pronounced and treated as righteous,” as in Romans 3:20:
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
Here in Romans 3:20, the word is used in the sense of being put right with God or in the sense of justification. The word may mean “to prove to be right” as in Romans 3:4:
Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.”
The expression Let God be true may be translated let God be proven true or God is proved to be right. The word may mean to cause someone to be released from personal or institutional claims that are no longer to be considered pertinent or valid, hence means “to make free/pure” as the word is used in Romans 6:7:
because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 4:4, the word is used in the sense of “to be found in the right, be free of charges, acquit, absolve” or “to be vindicated”, that is, to be or become shown to be right by providing justification or proof.
The meaning of the Greek word “to be found in the right, be free of charges, acquit, absolve” or “to be vindicated” the apostle used helps us to interpret what he meant in the clause of the NIV of 1 Corinthians 4:4 but that does not make me innocent or literally but not by this have I been acquitted. He meant that he is not the perfect judge of his ministry activities. By this the apostle meant to convey that although he may not have any reason to evaluate himself as to any failure in his ministry activities but that does not mean he had not failed in some fashion in his ministry since he does not have perfect knowledge. Nor can he say that God has found him faithful in all that he has done as it relates to the ministry of the word of God. Of course, the clause does not contain the word “God” but the fact the apostle used a passive voice in the Greek for the word he used implies that God is the one that vindicates him and not humans. For after all, he had already indicated that he is not concerned with people’s evaluation of him so the only person he would be concerned with His vindication is God. Furthermore, that God is the One the apostle had in mind in terms of his vindication of satisfactory ministry of the word of God is supported by the third reason we will get to later. That aside, the apostle’s statement regarding his inability to assert that he has carried out his ministry activities without any failure should caution us of being careful to think we are right when other people indicate we are wrong. The Scripture indicates that we may not always know our failures as indicated in Psalm 19:12:
Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.
The rhetorical question Who can discern his errors? is a way of making a strong statement of fact. In effect, the psalmist’s rhetorical question is a way of declaring that when we act a wrong way, we do not always know that we are doing so. It is for this reason the psalmist prayed to the Lord to forgive, that is, to deliver him from faults unknown to him. Therefore, we should be mindful of self-justification since we are informed that we all have the tendency to think we are right about anything, as implied in Proverbs 16:2:
All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord.
The verbal phrase seem innocent to him is more literally pure in his own eyes. We have the tendency to think we are right because we find nothing wrong with our conduct or actions based on our self-evaluation. This means that a minister could think that he has faithfully discharged his duty without failure but that is not his prerogative to determine. That is God’s prerogative. In any event, the second reason ministers of the word of God may not judge themselves in the sense of evaluating their ministry to cause them to think they are successful or that they are failures is their imperfect knowledge. This means that their lack of knowledge of anything that would indicate they have failed in their ministry does not vindicate them as being successful or faithful. This brings us to the third reason.
The third reason ministers of the word of God may not judge themselves in the sense of evaluating their ministry to cause them to think they are successful or that they are failures is that the Lord Jesus is their true judge regarding their ministry. It is this reason Apostle Paul gave in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 4:4 It is the Lord who judges me.
It is our assertion that the apostle indicated that the Lord Jesus is his judge but the word “Jesus” does not appear in the passage and so you may wonder how we could assert this. There are three ways to support our interpretation. First, the Lord Jesus Himself had indicated that He is responsible for all judgment, as we can gather from John 5:22–23:
22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
Second, the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul conveys the same truth that Jesus is responsible for judgment when he indicated that believers will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ to be judged, as we read in 2 Corinthians 5:10:
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
The apostle used it to describe Jesus as the Lord that must be confessed in salvation, as we read in Romans 10:9:
That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
It is evident that it is to Jesus Christ that the apostle applied the word in Galatians 1:19:
I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother.
He used it to describe Jesus Christ in Ephesians 1:15:
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
It is true that the Greek word may refer to someone in authority and so means “master, lord” or “sir” as it is used by the Philippian jailer when he addressed Paul and Silas in Acts 16:30:
He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
However, we do not find such a usage in Apostle Paul’s epistles. Instead, we find the apostle use the word to describe God, as in 1 Timothy 6:15:
which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
The phrase Lord of lords is one that also applies to Jesus Christ proving His deity, as we may gather from Revelation 17:14:
They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”
The point is that the Lord Jesus Christ is the One the apostle had in mind in the sentence It is the Lord who judges me of 1 Corinthians 4:4.
In any case, Apostle Paul indicates that the One who is his true judge is the Lord Jesus. By this the apostle meant that Jesus Christ is the One who can truly evaluate his faithfulness in the ministry since He has all the facts and knows the apostle’s thoughts or motives. The implication is that all ministers of the word of God should understand that they are accountable to the Lord Jesus who is the member of the Godhead responsible for all judgments and not to their congregations or any other groups of believers. Hence, your second responsibility as a believer regarding ministers of the word of God in our passage is: You should understand that the Lord is the true judge of ministers of God’s word and of all others. This brings us to the third responsibility you have regarding the ministers of God’s word based on the passage we are considering.
A third responsibility you have towards ministers of God’s word is that you should not judge them prematurely. This responsible stems from the fact that the Lord Jesus is their judge. We say this because the very first word of 1 Corinthians 4:5 is, therefore. The word “therefore” is translated from a Greek word (hōste) that may mean “so that” to indicate result or it may mean “for this reason, therefore” so that it serves as an inferential conjunction, that is, it conveys a deduction, conclusion, summary, or inference to a preceding discussion. In our passage, it is used to draw an inference or deduction based on what is stated previously. In effect, the word “therefore” or the phrase “for this reason” refers to the fact that the Lord Jesus is the true judge of the apostle and others as we considered in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 4:4.
The inference drawn from the fact that the Lord Jesus is the true judge not only of the ministers of God’s word, but all others is that you should not pronounce ultimate verdict on anything prematurely as given in the command of 1 Corinthians 4:5 judge nothing before the appointed time. The word “judge” is translated from a different but related Greek word than used in verses 3 and 4. The Greek word (krinō) used may mean “to judge, pass judgment upon, express an opinion about” as it is used in the Lord’s instruction concerning looking down on others in a condemning way in Luke 6:37:
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
The word may mean “to judge as guilty, condemn” as in Nicodemus’ question to Jewish leaders in John 7:51:
“Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?”
The word may mean “to punish” as in Stephen’s sermon as he referred to God’s promise toAbraham of punishing those who would enslave his descendants in Acts 7:7:
But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’
The word may mean to make a judgment based on taking various factors into account, hence means “to judge, think, consider, look upon,” as in Apostle Paul’s statement to the Jews who rejected the gospel message, as stated in Acts 13:46:
Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.
The word may mean “to criticize, find fault with, condemn” as in the instruction of proper attitude of a believer towards the matter of food in Romans 14:3:
The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.
The word may mean “to prefer, select” as it is used to describe the preference of believers regarding day of worship in Romans 14:5:
One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
The word may mean to come to a conclusion after a cognitive process and so means “to reach a decision, decide, propose, intend,” as it is used in Apostle Paul’s instruction to Titus because of his decision, as stated in Titus 3:12:
As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 4:5, the sense of the word is to pronounce judgment in an unfavorable way or to form a critical opinion (negatively or positively) about something by examination or scrutiny so that the word may mean “to evaluate.” Thus, a believer should not prematurely pronounce judgment or verdict in an unfavorable way either on the ministers of God’s word or even on others. The Greek reveals that the Corinthians were involved in the kind of evaluation the apostle forbids because the command used is in what is known as a present tense in the Greek that in this case reveals an ongoing action on the part of the Corinthians. They were involved in ongoing evaluation of Apostle Paul’s ministry. We know this to be true because they have been involved in evaluating Paul, Apollos, and probably Peter. Thus, the apostle instructs them to stop such an evaluation.
We use the word “premature” because of the phrase in the NIV of 1 Corinthians 4:5 before the appointed time or literally before time. The expression “appointed time” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (kairos) that may mean “time, period” or a defined period for an event hence means “fixed time.” It is in this sense that the word is used in our passage. There is a fixed time in God’s plan for ultimate judgment of people, as indicated in Acts 17:31:
For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”
The judgment of the world is for condemnation of those who are unbelievers to the lake of fire but there is also the judgment of believers that is intended for rewards that the apostle referenced in the passage we cited previously, that is, 2 Corinthians 5:10:
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Anyway, our concern is that believers should not prematurely condemn ministers of the word of God or any other person for that matter. This statement should not be understood that a believer should not critically evaluate anyone or ministers of the word of God based on the Scripture but that we should not look down on people and condemn them on a subjective basis. If Apostle Paul meant that believers should not evaluate others critically based on facts, then we would have conflict in in the Scripture where we are expected to act based on evaluation of facts. Take for example, the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul tells us not to fellowship with certain believers. How can that happen if we are not to judge based on facts. In fact, the apostle later in this epistle implies that believers are to judge others in 1 Corinthians 5:12:
What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?
Thus, the judging we are forbidden is that in which we look down on people and condemn them as that kind of judging is what our Lord forbade in the passage, we cited previously in Luke 6:37:
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Not judging others does not mean that we could not point out sins in lives of people under certain conditions but that we should do so not in condescending manner.
In any case, we are not to pronounce a final verdict or make a final determination on anything or any person as that belongs to the Lord. The Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul reminds us of this truth that final judgment is the Lord’s prerogative in that we are informed that ultimate judgment would take place when the Lord returns as in the next instruction of 1 Corinthians 4:5 wait till the Lord comes. When we are instructed to wait until the Lord returns, that does not mean that we will at His return judge other believers or evaluate the activities of ministers of God’s word. Instead, it is a reminder that the Lord has the final determination regarding anyone’s activities. Of course, believers in general will be involved in judging angels but we do not know how that will occur or its nature. That aside, we would not be involved in final judgment of any believer.
There are two reasons contained in the verse that we are considering that indicates we would not be involved in pronouncing a final judgment or verdict on any believer, especially ministers of God’s word. A first reason is that we do not have all the facts. It is this reason that is given in the second sentence in the NIV of 1 Corinthians 4:5 He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. The expression “bring to light” is translated from a Greek word (phōtizō) that may mean “to shine, give light, illuminate” but in our passage it means “to reveal, to bring to light.” A target of revelation when the Lord returns is given in the NIV as what is hidden in darkness but literally it reads the hidden things of the darkness. The literal phrase the hidden things of the darkness may be fully unpacked to read “the hidden things that are part of the unknown.” This is because the word “darkness” is translated from a Greek word (skotos) that literally means “darkness” in the sense of absence of light. Figuratively, the word may refer to “evil world” as a realm of sin and evil or to sin itself as that is the sense of the word in John 3:19:
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
The sense of sin associated with our Greek word is conveyed in Romans 13:12:
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
The phrase the deeds of darkness may be understood as “sinful deeds” that are done at nighttime or out of the view of people. This aside, the standard Greek English lexicon of BDAG gives the meaning of our Greek word in 1 Corinthians 4:5 as “the state of being unknown.” This being the case, the literal phrase the hidden things of the darkness should be understood as we have unpacked it, that is, “the hidden things that are part of the unknown.”
What then does the apostle mean in the clause of the NIV what is hidden in darkness or as we unpacked the Greek “the hidden things that are part of the unknown.”? The Holy Spirit through the apostle supplied the answer in the next verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 4:5 and will expose the motives of men’s hearts or literally and He will reveal the purposes of the heart. This expression is indeed an explanation of what is meant in the clause of the NIV what is hidden in darkness. This is because the conjunction “and” is translated from a Greek word (kai) that although is often translated “and” in the English versions has other usages. In our passage, it is used for explaining what preceded the clause we are considering. In other words, the word “and” should be replaced with “that is” to indicate that what follows is an explanation of the hidden things that are part of the unknown which are purposes or intentions of others or in the word of the NIV “motives.”
The word “motives” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (boulē) that may mean that which one decides, hence “resolution, decision” as it is used in the description of Joseph of Arimathea that did not consent to the decision to crucify Christ, as we read in Luke 23:51:
who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God.
It is with the meaning “divine will” that the word is used in Paul’s address to the elders of the Ephesian church in Acts 20:27:
For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.
The Greek word may mean that which one thinks about as possibility for action and so means “plan, purpose, intention.” It is in this second meaning of “plan, purpose, intention” that the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 4:5. So, the unknown consists of people’s intentions or plans in their minds. We use the word “mind” because the word “heart” is translated from a Greek word (kardia) that in our passage refers to the mind or the seat of will and decisions. The point is that we should not evaluate the ministers of God’s word regarding their activities related to the word of God because we do not have all the facts. We do not know their intentions or their thoughts as they do certain things. The same is applicable to other believers when the issue is not sin but an activity that is carried out in the name of Christ.
Another reason we should not judge the ministers of God’s word prematurely is that our commendation or lack of it is not as important as the ultimate approval of God. It is this reason that is given in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 4:5 At that time each will receive his praise from God. The apostle indicates that it is when Christ returns that believers would receive their commendation. The word “praise” is translated from a Greek word (epainos) that has two meanings. It can refer to the act of expressing admiration or approval hence means “praise, approval, recognition” or “a thing worthy of praise.” In our passage, it means “approval”, that is, praise or commendation. For those who are overseers or pastors, the approval would be in form of reward described as “crown of glory” in 1 Peter 5:4:
And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
Of course, all believers would receive their praise or lack of it in the form of reward also at the Judgment Seat of Christ, as conveyed also by Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1:7:
These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
The point is that because our commendations of ministers of the word of God or any believer, for that matter, is of little value, we should be careful how we scrutinize ministers of God’s word. Hence, we end by reminding you of the message of 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 that we have considered which is: Be careful of how you prematurely evaluate the ministers of God’s word since that is the Lord’s function when He returns.
[1] Stalker, J. (1915). Conscience. In J. Orr, J. L. Nuelsen, E. Y. Mullins, & M. O. Evans (Eds.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (Vol. 1–5, p. 702). Chicago: The Howard-Severance Company.