Lessons #115and 116
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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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No feeling superior to others (1 Cor 4:6-7)
6 Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. 7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
A consequence of the fall is that we humans are prone to two extremes of feelings regarding ourselves in comparison to others: a feeling of superiority over others or a feeling of inferiority. Both create problems in our interactions with others. On the one hand, a feeling of superiority could lead to mistreating of others or in oppressing others. On the other hand, a feeling of inferiority could lead to jealousy and even violence. The first murder in human history could be traced to the fact that Cain felt inferior to Abel regarding their offerings to God; consequently, that led him to kill his brother.
Both feelings of superiority and inferiority are due to two facts that we are often unaware or have not considered. A first fact is that we do not truly understand that we do not deserve anything from God being sinful people. A second fact is that we do not understand that we are on this planet because of the grace of God. We enjoy things of this life because God in His goodness has made available His blessings that we enjoy. He makes no distinction in the enjoyment of the blessings that humans need to survive on this planet. Thus, He gives rain and food to all regardless of their spiritual relationship with Him as Apostle Paul declared when he preached the gospel to those in Lystra, as we read in Acts 14:17:
Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”
It is God’s goodness that is reflected in His provisions of food to all, not because we deserve them. Even when a person has a unique blessing from the Lord in whatever form that blessing exists, it is because of the grace of God. You see, when we become jealous of a person’s success or blessing, we prove that we do not know or believe that every blessing one has is from God. This truth that every unique blessing we enjoy or every unique ability we have is from God is one the Holy Spirit conveyed through Apostle John when he recorded John the Baptist’s response to those who came to him to make him feel jealous of Jesus Christ because people were responding to His ministry more than they did to his. John the Baptist gave them the true perspective of the success of Jesus’ ministry in the explanation given in John 3:27:
To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.
You see, John understood what most people on this planet do not, that is, that every unique blessing or position one occupies on this planet is from God. Thus, when you look down on others because of your success you have not understood God’s grace, besides such an attitude is a sin as stated in Proverbs 14:21:
He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.
The word “despises” is translated from a Hebrew word that means “to show contempt for,” “to look down on.” Hence, if you look down on your neighbor for whatever reason, you sin. My point is that it is because we fail to understand this truth that our blessings are due to God’s grace and because we do not understand that we deserve nothing from Him that we find ourselves either feeling superior or inferior to others. Both feelings are wrong, but they could be corrected by having the correct perspective that enables us to recognize that every blessing is from God because of His goodness and not because we are deserving.
The passage before us is concerned with the feeling of superiority over others and how to avoid it. On a surface reading of the passage, it may appear that the concept of superiority is not the concern of our passage because we do not find in the NIV of this passage the word “superiority” but that is implied as we would note at the proper time. Anyway, because the assertions of Apostle Paul in our passage and because of the three questions he posed in our passage we derive the message we believe the Holy Spirit wants us to hear from the two verses before us. The message is this: You have no reason to feel superior to others since everything that distinguishes you from others is from God’s goodness to you. Our concern in expounding this message is to focus on what one must do to ensure the individual avoids any feeling of superiority to others. Because of this, we will expound on this passage as consisting of two major responsibilities that you have that if carried out would ensure that you would not have a feeling of superiority over others. But before we consider these responsibilities, we should note the relationship of this section of 1 Corinthians 4:6-7 to the preceding one, that is, 1 Corinthians 4:1-5.
The section we are considering is related to the previous one in that it resumes and concludes the concept introduced in the previous section as we will explain. Verse 6 begins with the word “now” that is translated from a Greek word (de) that has the most common meaning of “but” when used to connect clauses in which it is felt that there is some contrast between them although often the contrast may not be easily discerned. The word may be translated “and” when two clauses are connected without a clear implication of contrast between them although in certain occurrences the word may be left untranslated. The word may be translated “that is” when it is used to provide an explanation. It may be translated “now” as a marker that links narrative segments or to resume a discourse that has been interrupted. In our passage, it is probably used by the apostle to resume his discourse that he stated in 1 Corinthians 4:1 as how the Corinthians should view him and the other ministers of the word of God. Once the apostle made the statement in verse 1, he in effect vied off to elaborate on that statement in verses 2 to 5. As he ended verse 5, he returned and concludes the matter of having correct perspective regarding those who are ministers of God’s word in the sense of not thinking that one minister is superior to the other as that is a matter for the Lord Jesus to indicate when all believers appear before Him for their final evaluation in eternity to determine rewards or loss of them. The apostle’s conclusion in the two verses we are about to consider leads to the two major responsibilities that we indicated that if carried out would ensure that you do not have a feeling of superiority over others as the natural person is prone to do.
A first major responsibility that you have is that you should avoid the feeling of superiority by considering and applying Paul’s example and its purposes as stated in the passage we are studying. When we believers are not controlled by the Holy Spirit we are not exempted from this feeling of superiority over others. This we can deduce from the fact that the passage we are studying is addressed to believers in Christ because of the word brothers in 1 Corinthians 4:6.
The word “brothers” is translated from a Greek word (adelphos) that has several meanings in the Greek. The word may mean “a neighbor” as that is the sense of the Greek word in Jesus’ statement during His sermon on the mount, as given in Matthew 7:3:
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
The word “brother” as used in this passage could refer to a neighbor or a fellow believer. The Greek word may refer to a fellow country man or a compatriot as the apostle used it to refer to fellow Jews in Romans 9:3:
For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race,
The word “brothers” here is used for Jews, male and female. By the way, the phrase those of my own race can be misleading since there is no Greek word that is equivalent to the word “race” as it is used by many people to differentiate one group from another. Truly, the word “race” is a meaningless term in differentiating one human being from another since it is a word that may be used to differentiate humans from animals as belonging to a different species. Thus, the phrase is better translated “kinsmen” as in the NASB or “my people” as in the NCV since it is translated from a Greek word (syngenēs) that may mean “a relative” or “a fellow countryman,” in the sense of belonging to the same people group. The word may mean “brother” in the sense of a male from the same womb as the referenced person as Apostle Paul used it to describe James, the half-brother of the Lord Jesus, in Galatians 1:19:
I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother.
It is not only one from the same womb that the word “brother” will apply but also one from the same ancestors as that is the sense Apostle Paul used it to address his fellow Jews in his defense began in Acts 22:1:
“Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.”
The Greek word translated “brother” may refer to one who shares beliefs with another. Thus, Jesus calls those who are devoted to Him His brothers in Matthew 12:50:
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Similarly, those who believe in Christ, regardless of gender, are described as “brothers” in their relationship to each other, as the apostle used it to describe fellow believers in Rome in Romans 1:13:
I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
It is in this sense of one who shares the same faith and so belong to the Christian community that the apostle used the word to describe Timothy to the Thessalonians, who was clearly a Gentile because his father was a Greek, in 1 Thessalonians 3:2:
We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith,
It is in this sense of those who belong to the family of God in Christ, that is, fellow Christians – male and female – that the apostle used it in our passage of 1 Corinthians 4:6. This being the case, we are certain that believers are capable of having a feeling of superiority otherwise the apostle would not have addressed the Corinthians as those who should understand and apply what he stated in the passage we are considering. Anyway, a first major responsibility that you have is that you should avoid the feeling of superiority by considering and applying Paul’s example and its purposes as stated in the passage we are studying. What is Paul’s example, you may ask?
Paul’s example that you should understand and apply to yourself is his application of specific truths to himself and Apollos as stated in the next clause of 1 Corinthians 4:6 I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit. The word “applied” is translated from a Greek word (metaschēmatizō) that may mean “to change the form of something,” that is, “to transform, change” as the word is used by Apostle Paul to convey that the Lord Jesus would change or transform our bodies to be like His glorious body in Philippians 3:21:
who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
The Greek word may mean “to disguise oneself, masquerade” as Apostle Paul used it to describe Satan as one who disguises himself as if he were a true angel of God instead of the fallen angel he is, as described in 2 Corinthians 11:14:
And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
The word may mean “to apply,” that is, to show a connection or bearing of one thing on another. It is in this sense that the word is used in 1 Corinthians 4:6 although some argue that it is the meaning “to transform” that is applicable in our passage. However, the meaning “to apply” is more fitting since Apostle Paul was concerned to show what the attitude of believers should be from his example as it relates himself and Apollos as in the clause of 1 Corinthians 4:6 I have applied these things to myself and Apollos.
Who is Apollos? We have considered this question previously but for completeness, let me review what we said previously. Apollos was a Jewish Christian born and educated in Alexandria with excellent knowledge of the OT Scripture but at first was deficient in his knowledge of the Christian teaching so that he was helped by Aquila and Priscilla when he was in Ephesus, as we read in Acts 18:24–26:
24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.
He worked in Corinth as evident first in the narrative of Acts 19:1:
While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples
Of course, his work in Corinth is attested from the fact that he was one of the personalities that some of the Corinthians associated with in 1 Corinthians 1:12. It seems also that Apollos was in Crete that warrants the apostle requesting Titus to assist him as in Titus 3:13:
Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way and see that they have everything they need.
Thus, we understand that he was one that ministered the word of God in Corinth so that the Corinthians would understand when the apostle said he applied his example to himself and Apollos.
The example the apostle wants the Corinthians and so all believers to understand and apply to themselves is given in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 4:6 these things. What does the apostle mean in the phrase these things that were applied to himself and Apollos? The phrase refers to the things the apostle had stated about himself and Apollos beginning in verse 5 of the third chapter of this epistle we are considering. This being the case, there are four things we believe the apostle would have had in mind in the phrase these things. The first thing included in the phrase these things is his communication to the Corinthians that he and Apollos are ministers of God’s word, each with specific assignment from the Lord, as he stated in 1 Corinthians 3:5–9:
5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
The second thing included in the phrase these things is that there should be no boasting about Paul and Apollos because they belong to Christ, as the apostle implied in 1 Corinthians 3:21–23:
21 So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
The third thing included in the phrase these things is how the Corinthians should regard him and Apollos as servants of Christ that have been entrusted with a message to proclaim to others, as he stated in 1 Corinthians 4:1:
So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.
The fourth thing included in the phrase these things is the apostle’s practice of not evaluating himself regarding how successful he has been in the ministry or how he might have failed since that belongs to the Lord, as stated in 1 Corinthians 4:3:
I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.
These four things we have considered reduce to a simple fact that the apostle refused to focus on himself or Apollos as to lead to pride in his achievement. A believer who understands this simple fact would not be involved in feeling of superiority because it is only when we focus on ourselves either in terms of our self-importance or achievement that we have a feeling of superiority.
In any case, the apostle had both a reason and purposes for the things he indicated he applied to himself and Apollos. The reason is because these things would be beneficial to the Corinthians as in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 4:6 for your benefit. Literally, the Greek reads for the sake of you. This is because the apostle used a Greek preposition (dia) that has several usages. For example, it could be used as a marker of agency and so may be translated “by, through.” However, when the preposition is used with a case in the Greek that marks a direct object, as it is used in our passage, with the word “you” then it is used as a marker of benefaction with the translation “for the sake of, on behalf of” or as marker of reason why something happens. Both usages are applicable in our passage. The apostle applied the things he indicated because he wanted to benefit the Corinthians. The apostle did what every pastor or teacher of God’s word should do, which is, to seek a way to apply the truth taught in a way that the audience may relate. Of course, no pastor or teacher could provide all possible applications of the truthful principles expounded but they should endeavor to make application to help those who listen have an idea of how the principle may be applied.
We indicated the apostle had both reason and purposes for applying the things he said to himself and Apollos. We have already considered his reason of wanting to benefit the Corinthians, so we move to consider his purposes. The apostle indicate there are two purposes for applying the things he did to himself and Apollos. The first purpose is to guard against operating beyond what the Scripture allows. This purpose is given in the clause of 1 Corinthians 4:6 so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written. It is possible to interpret this clause as providing result or stating purpose because the phrase so that is translated from a Greek conjunction (hina) that has several usages. It may be used as a marker of result in which case it may be translated “so that.” The Greek conjunction may be used as a marker of purpose and so may be translated “in order that, that.” It may be used as a marker of the content of a discourse with purpose implied hence means “that.” It may also be used as a marker of explanation with the meaning “namely, that is.” In many cases, it is difficult to differentiate purpose from result so that the Greek conjunction is used for result that follows according to the purpose of the subject. What this means is that our clause may be understood as stating a result that is in accordance with the purpose of the apostle. Anyway, it is probably that the apostle stated his purpose of applying the things he alluded to himself and Apollos with the intent that the result stated would be true to the Corinthians, that is, the Corinthians will learn something as in the clause of 1 Corinthians 4:6 so that you may learn from us.
The word “learn” is translated from a Greek word (manthanō) with several meanings. The word may mean “to learn” in the sense of “to find out, to ascertain” as that was the sense Apostle Paul used it when he wanted to find out from the Galatians whether they received the Holy Spirit by faith or by works in Galatians 3:2:
I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?
The word may mean “to learn,” that is, to gain knowledge or skill by instruction as Apostle Paul used it to refer to the instructions the Philippians received from him in Philippians 4:9:
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
The word may mean to come to a realization, with implication of that taking place less through instruction than through experience or practice hence means “to learn, to appropriate to oneself” as that is the sense in which Apostle Paul used it to describe how he came to be content with whatever his circumstance happened to be in Philippians 4:11:
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
The word may even mean “to understand” as this meaning is applicable in Jesus’s exhortation to His disciples to understand the lesson from a fig tree in Matthew 24:32:
“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 4:6, the word means “to learn” in the sense of gaining knowledge from or through someone.
We used the phrase “from or through someone” because the phrase of 1 Corinthians 4:6 from us may also be translated through us. This is because the word “from” in the NIV is translated from a Greek preposition (en) that has several usages. For example, it may be used as a marker of cause or reason so that it may be translated “because of.” It may be used as a marker of means with the meaning “through, by.” It may be used as a marker of an agent hence may be translated “by, from.” In our passage, the Greek preposition is used to denote the agent through which the learning takes place although it is equally possible to consider it as conveying the means of learning.
In any case, what the apostle conveyed the Corinthians, and so all believers, should learn from or through his example is to operate within the limits of the Scripture. It is this requirement that is given in the clause of 1 Corinthian 4:6 you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.”. The translation of the NIV and many of our English versions is interpretative and in fact may imply that the apostle quoted a passage of the OT Scripture. This is because the clause is literally from the Greek through us you may learn the not beyond what has been written.
The literal clause is difficult to interpret as evident in the several ways scholars have tried to interpret it. Some scholars indicate that it is impossible to understand what the apostle meant in the clause although they state that he and his original recipients understood what he meant. The difficulty of interpreting the literal Greek has led some scholars to state that the clause was not part of the original text although there is no manuscript evidence to substantiate such a claim. Admittedly, the clause is difficult to interpret but that does not mean that we should wash our hands and declare it hopeless to attempt an understanding of what the apostle meant. Hence, we will interpret the clause using the literal clause and we will point out some of the problems of the clause in the process of our interpretation.
The literal phrase the not beyond is clearly elliptical in the sense that some words are missing so that it is difficult to understand what the phrase is about. There are three problems of the phrase that we will consider. The first is to interpret what the apostle meant in the use of the definite article “the” and the second is to determine the verb to insert to make the phrase intelligible. The third involves its interpretation. To the first problem we should note that the Greek definite article has several usages depending on the context. For example, when the definite article is used in a sentence that involves a genitive in the Greek it may convey relationship of some form as in Galatians 5:24:
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
The clause Those who belong to Christ Jesus is literally from the Greek the of the Christ which is understood to mean those who are believers and so belong to Christ as those to whom what Apostle Paul said is true. The definite article could also be used in elliptical phrase in which part of a sentence accompanied by the article is to be completed from the context. Apostle Paul used this in his quotation from the Scripture in 2 Corinthians 8:15:
as it is written: “He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little.”
Here the translators of the NIV inserted many words to explain the Greek phrase based on the context of the Scripture where the apostle quoted. We say this because the clause He who gathered much did not have too much is literally from the Greek the much not have too much. But by referring to the passage the apostle quoted (that is, Exodus 16:18) it is clear the definite article should be understood as referring to the one who gathered much. Thus, the apostle used the definite article in a way that leaves the reader to fill in the gap. The problem in our passage of 1 Corinthians 4:6 is that there is no passage that the apostle cited. Hence, we are left to interpret the definite article to make sense in the context. There are two general approaches that have been adopted by the English versions. A first approach is simply to ignore the translation of the definite article probably implying that its function is to point to what follows in the sentence. Some of the English versions that follow this approach are the ESV, the NASB and the NET among others. A second approach is to take the definite article as introducing a quotation or a familiar saying known by the apostle and the Corinthians. This leads to giving a full interpretation of the definite article as we find in the NIV with the clause the meaning of the saying or in the TEV what the saying means. It is for this reason that the translators of the NIV put what follows in a quotation. The problem of the second approach is that it gives the impression that the apostle was quoting a specific passage in the OT which is not the case since there is no passage in the OT Scripture that contains what follows or any indication that he quoted a saying that we have no way of knowing. Therefore, to avoid this problem it is probably better not to translate the definite article but to interpret it as used by the apostle to focus the attention of the reader to what follows.
The second problem of the literal translation of the expression in 1 Corinthian 4:6 the not beyond what has been written is what verb is to be inserted before the word “beyond” to make sense in the context. Some English versions such as the NIV inserted the word “go” but others use such words as “think” of the NKJV or “follow” of the NCV or even “observe” of the TEV. Here it is difficult to be dogmatic about what word to use. The point is that whatever word is used there is an action that the apostle is concerned to show should not take place.
The action the apostle prohibits concerns the clause of 1 Corinthians 4:6 what has been written. This clause introduced the third problem of the clause of the Greek text, which is what the apostle meant in this clause. There are several interpretations that scholars advance. For example, there are those who take it as reference to “an unspecified rule” as reflected in the translation of the TEV. Another interpretation takes the clause as a reference to terms of contract between a teacher and those he teaches. Another interpretation takes the clause as a reference to “a familiar or accepted maxim or saying.” All these interpretations have their difficulties that we would not get into, but we would interpret the clause by considering the clear verb used in it which is written.
The word “written” is translated from a Greek word (graphō) that may mean “to write” in the sense of “to inscribe characters on a surface.” This is the sense in which Apostle Paul used it to describe what is tantamount to appending his signature to his epistle to authenticate that a secretary he used wrote exactly what he wanted in 2 Thessalonians 3:17:
I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write.
The word may mean “to express thought in writing.” Thus, it may mean “to write” of brief statements as in the brief statement of Pilate about the charge against Jesus that the Jewish leaders protested in John 19:21:
The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”
The word may mean “to record, write down” of pronouncements and solemn proceedings as Apostle John used it to indicate that he did not write down many of the miracles of Jesus Christ in John 20:30:
Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.
The word may mean “to compose, write” as in a literary composition as that is the sense Apostle Peter used it to reference his epistles in 2 Peter 3:1:
Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking.
The Greek word when it is used in perfect tense, as in our passage of 1 Corinthians 4:16, is often used to introduce quotation from OT. It is in this sense that the word is used to report the Lord Jesus’s citation of a passage from the OT Scripture when He drove out those selling in the temple area, as stated in Luke 19:46:
“It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
It is in the same sense of citing a passage from the OT Scripture that Apostle Paul used it in support of his doctrine of election in Romans 9:13:
Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
In our passage, the word has the sense of “to be written” or “become set down in writing.” This leaves us with a further question as to what the apostle meant in what is written down. The most logical answer based on the context of the Scripture is that the clause of 1 Corinthians 4:6 what is written refers to the Scripture.
There is no gainsaying that a plausible interpretation of the clause what is written refers to the Scripture but there is disputation as to what Scripture it refers. There are those who take the Scripture as a reference to what the apostle had written so far in this epistle to the Corinthians while others take it as a reference to existing OT Scripture. While it is possible that the Scripture refers to what apostle had written so far in this epistle since his writings are considered Scripture as per the testimony of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 3:15–16:
15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
The clause as they do the other Scriptures of verse 16 implies that the letters of Apostle Paul were considered Scripture by Apostle Peter. Hence, there is no doubt that what Apostle Paul had so far written in 1 Corinthians up to 1 Corinthians 4:6 is Scripture. However, while what he wrote thus far in 1 Corinthians may be included in the clause what is written but it is probably that the apostle was thinking more of the OT Scripture. This is because the apostle had repeatedly quoted the OT Scripture so far in this epistle. He prohibited human boasting by appealing to the Scripture, as he stated in 1 Corinthians 1:31:
Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
In showing that human wisdom is useless in spiritual matters, the apostle also quoted from the OT Scripture as in 1 Corinthians 3:19:
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”;
Thus, it is more likely that when he penned down the clause of 1 Corinthians 4:6 Do not go beyond what is written he would be thinking of OT Scripture.
We indicated that Apostle Paul was certainly thinking of the OT Scripture as he wrote down the instruction Do not go beyond what is written. His concern was to ensure that the Corinthians did not wrongly evaluate him and Apollos or assign undue respect to them in such a way that they forget that they are ministers of the word of God. This being the case, there are several passages of the Scripture that would have been in the mind of the apostle. He could have thought of the passage in the Scripture that indicates that humans are limited in their capabilities or that they are weak as that was the implication of what the psalmist had in mind when he expressed the surprise of God caring for us in Psalm 8:4:
what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
The apostle could be thinking of those passages of the OT Scripture that indicate it is wrong to put trust in humans. The psalmist expressed this concept when he prohibited putting trust on humans on the ground that they are unable to do much for a person, as we read in Psalm 146:3–4:
3Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. 4When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.
Prophet Isaiah stated this concept in Isaiah 2:22:
Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
Prophet Jeremiah expressed the same prohibition in Jeremiah 17:5–7:
5 This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. 6 He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. 7 “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.
These passages we have cited, we contend would have been in the mind of the apostle as he issued the instruction given in 1 Corinthians 4:6 Do not go beyond what is written. You see, a person who understood the concepts given in these passages would be wrong to have a feeling of superiority either of self over others or of one human over another. To do so would be to violate the Scripture. Thus, the apostle was concerned that the Corinthians should not act in a manner that contradicts the instructions of the Scripture.
Be that as it may, the instruction Do not go beyond what is written is one that we believers in Christ need to pay close attention. To begin with, we should continuously check our thoughts to ensure that we do not entertain questions that are outside the Scripture as we think of God. There are many thoughts that come into a person’s mind about God and life on this planet primarily though Satan. Consequently, we should endeavor not to permit any question that cannot be confirmed to the Scripture to be entertained. In effect, we should subject our thoughts under the Scripture as that is implied in the demand of bringing every thought in obedience to Christ in 2 Corinthians 10:5:
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
We first mentioned the idea of subjecting our thoughts under the Scripture because our thoughts affect our actions. However, as believers we should develop the attitude that whatever we do or practice in the spiritual life should be in accordance with the Scripture. For example, there are many customs or traditions where we live, we should ensure that we do not follow them without carefully examining how they agree with the Scripture. It is because the customs of the world are usually not compatible with the Scripture that God instructed the Israelites when they were entering Canaan to ensure that they do not follow their practices as stated, for example, in Leviticus 20:23:
You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.
We should be careful of the customs that we follow because it is possible that some of them could lead to nullifying God’s instruction as the Lord chastised the Israelites of His time of doing, as we read in Mark 7:13:
Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”
It is not only in customs should we be careful of not going beyond the Scripture but also in the matter of salvation. We should confine what we preach to the Scripture and not to other things that many add to salvation such as works. Furthermore, there are those who have a sense of morality that is not in keeping with the Scripture and so we should reject such. Anyway, the point we are stressing is that we should have the mentality that whatever we do should be in keeping with the Scripture. We are not to be innovative in such a way that we function by doing things not specified in the Scripture. In any event, the first purpose the apostle applied truths he had addressed so far in this epistle to himself and Apollos is to guard against operating beyond what Scripture allows.
02/01/19