1 Corinthians 4 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
~AD 53-55
Location
Written to Corinth, a major Roman port city in Greece (Achaia province)
Audience
The Christian church in Corinth, which Paul founded during his second missionary journey (~AD 50-52)
Situation
Paul addresses factionalism in the Corinthian church, where members were forming competing loyalties around different Christian leaders (Paul, Apollos, Cephas). In chapter 4, he defends apostolic authority and confronts their arrogant attitudes about spiritual leadership.
Key Background
Corinth was a wealthy, cosmopolitan city known for both commerce and immorality, with a culture that prized rhetoric, status, and worldly wisdom. The Corinthian Christians were influenced by Greco-Roman patronage systems where people boasted about their associations with prestigious teachers. Paul corrects this by presenting apostles as humble servants and stewards of God's mysteries, not celebrities to gather around, and warns against judging before Christ's return.
So here's how you should think of us: as of The and people with God's
Now, the one thing required of someone who's been entrusted with something is that they prove
But for me, it matters very little if I'm by you or by any I don't even evaluate myself.
My is clear, but that doesn't mean I've been The one who evaluates me is the Lord.
So don't on anything before the right time — wait until the Lord comes. He'll bring what's hidden in the dark into the light and expose what people really in their And then each person will receive their from God.
Now, brothers and sisters, I've applied all of this to myself and for your benefit, so you can learn from us the meaning of go That way, none of you will be up in favor of one leader against another.
Who says you're better than anyone else? What do you have that you didn't receive as a And if you it, why do you brag as though you earned it yourself?
Already you have everything you want! Already you've become rich! You've started as — and without us! I really wish you had started so we could rule alongside you.
Because it seems to me that God has put us on display at the very of the — like prisoners sentenced to death in the arena. We've become a for the whole universe to watch, both angels and humans.
We are for The One, but you are so wise in The One. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are looked down on.
Right up to this very moment we go hungry and thirsty. We're poorly clothed, and have no to
We out with own When people curse us, we with for them. When we're persecuted, we endure it.
When we're slandered, we respond gently. We've been treated like the of the the of the — and it's still that way right now.
I'm not writing this to make you feel ashamed. I'm writing as a father would — to lovingly set his straight.
Because even if you had ten thousand in The One, you don't have many fathers. I became your father through The One Jesus when I brought you the
So I'm urging you: my
That's exactly why I've sent to you. He's my child in the Lord — someone I love and trust completely. He'll remind you of how I live my life in The One Jesus, the same way I teach everywhere in every
Some of you have gotten as if I wasn't actually coming to see you.
But I will come to you soon — if the Lord is willing — and then I'll find out not just what these arrogant people are saying, but what kind of they actually have.
Because the of isn't about talk — it's about power.
What do you want? Should I come to you with a of or with love and a