Article from the East Main Messenger, dated 6/15/2025.
For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you!
1 Corinthians 4:7-8
The apostle had just expressed to the Corinthians his desire “that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another” (1 Cor. 4:6b). They had been dividing themselves into groups which declared allegiance to mere men like Paul, Apollos, or Peter, egotistically lording their own individual clique as superior to the others (1 Cor. 1:10ff). Now he asks them three questions designed to motivate them to banish pride from their hearts and replace it with humility.
Consider the first question, “For who sees anything different in you?” The phrase “sees anything different” (diakrinei) literally means “to distinguish.” Thus, the question is rhetorical: “Who has distinguished anything among you?” Answer: no one, in heaven at least. They had been making worldly distinctions between themselves by saying, “I follow Paul” or “I follow Apollos” (1 Cor. 3:3-4), but in reality they were all the same in the sight of God. They had all been outside of Christ and in need of salvation. They had all been saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9). They were all currently saints, members of the household of God (1 Cor. 1:2; cf. 1 Tim. 3:15). Paul’s point is that the distinctions they were making amongst themselves were meaningless.
Let’s look at the second question, “What do you have that you did not receive?” This also is rhetorical in that the answer is, “Nothing, because everything we have, including our lives and our salvation, is a gift from God (James 1:17; 1 Tim. 6:7; Rom. 6:23b). This basic fact of life gives weight to the point of the third question, “If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” “Since everything you are and everything you have is a gift from God, why do you try to one-up each other by claiming to be followers of mere men when you should be giving your allegiance solely to the One to whom you owe everything?!?!”
Now Paul starts to get a bit sarcastic to bring home the point that they need to change their attitude from one of pride to one of humility: “Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings!” (1 Cor. 4:8a). By giving their loyalty to the humans who had taught and baptized them instead of Christ, and in doing so attempting to make themselves out individually to be better than each other, they were ignoring the fact that they were nothing without God. So by ironically talking about them as if they themselves were the source of all their blessings, Paul wants to drive home the fact that they need to repent of their egos.
In the midst of his biting wit (“Without us you have become kings!”), Paul inserts a bit of serious exhortation into his rebuke: “And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you!” (1 Cor. 4:8b). Scripture correlates the traits of spiritual maturity – such as humility and a willingness to enduringly suffer for Christianity – with the concept of reigning from a spiritual perspective (Matt. 5:3, 5, 10; 20:27; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 5:10; 20:4; 22:5; cf. Dan. 7:18). The Corinthians likely thought they were spiritually mature, but Paul recognized that they, like all of us, had a way to go (Phil. 3:12-15a). He is expressing to them his sincere wish that they were in fact as spiritually mature as himself and his fellow apostles, so that they could all rule spiritually together.
There’s a needed lesson in this for us today. It’s easy for us to “think of (ourselves) more highly than (we) ought to think” (Rom. 12:3). We might do this by emphasizing who taught us, where we went to school, what our jobs or incomes are, what office we hold or work we do in the church, to whom we’re related, what VIP we know, or where we live. We must realize that we are all the same in God’s eyes, and view ourselves and each other with humility.
— Jon
To read Jon’s series on 1 Corinthians from the beginning and many other articles, visit https://predenominationalchristianity.com.