1 Corinthians 4:5

Wherefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall each man have his praise from God.

'Wherefore judge nothing before the time' -'do not go on passing judgement before the time.' (NASV) 'The moral of this is that we should make no hasty or premature judgements..' (Phi) 'So, don't judge anything too early.' (Beck)

Christians are commanded to make some judgements before the judgement day (John 7:24; Ephesians 5:11; Hebrews 5:14).

'The prohibition of this verse must not be understood to forbid all judgements. If so, Paul only condemned his own judgement of the Corinthian fornicator. (1 Corinthians 5:3-13).' (Willis p. 133) (1 Corinthians 6:5)

But the "judging" that the Corinthians had been involved in wasn't "righteous". They had been judging the "worth" and "value" of one apostle or inspired man compared to another. Therefore "I am of Paul", had meant, "Paul is better than Peter and Apollos." This wasn't. judgement of whether someone taught the truth or not, for Paul, Peter and Apollos all taught the truth. It was. judgement being passed on the "worth" of these individuals.

'These are words of wise counsel. Let us be slow and humble in judging our fellowman (James 1:19)...Let us not be too much teased and tormented by the opinions and judgements of others.' (Erdman p. 56)

'the time' -defined as 'until the Lord come'. Note: This doesn't imply that we can complain all we want after He comes!

Note: Paul viewed the final judgement as. very serious event, and he preached it as such. (Acts 24:25; 2 Corinthians 1:14; 2 Corinthians 5:9; 1 Peter 2:16; 1 Thessalonians 2:9 ff). Considering this passages, Paul didn't believe that "second chances" would be given in the final day.

'bring to light' -throw light on, i.e. expose. Nothing can be hidden from God. (Hebrews 4:13)

'the hidden things of darkness' -'all that at present is hidden in darkness' (Phi). This is what makes God's judgement so different from man's. God has EVERY FACT at his disposal. (1 Timothy 5:24) And we have already been given. demonstration of that skill in exposing those who try to hide their sins. (Acts 5:1)

'and make manifest' -'disclose' (NASV); 'this is the effect of..pouring light upon them.' (Lenski p. 173)

'the counsels of the hearts' -'motives of men's hearts' (NASV); 'he will expose the secret motives of men's hearts' (Phi); 'and to reveal life's inner aims and motives' (Mof)

Points to Note:

1. Wake up call: All religious people are not sincere. (1 Peter 1:17; Matthew 6:1 ff; Matthew 23:5)

2. God will examine our "motives" for serving Him too! And if we're not serving God right now because we love Him, then we better cry out for help! (Mark 9:24) Because wrong motives aren't going to fly at the judgement!

3. Paul isn't saying, that he would have to wait until the judgement to find out if he was saved. Paul lived with such integrity, that he didn't have anything to hide. There could be. 'spur' in this verse for the Corinthians to "come clean", 'He's going to judge your motives too!'

'and then shall each man have his praise from God' -Paul doesn't consider the wicked here (2 Thessalonians 1:7). At the judgement Peter, Apollos and himself would all receive praise from God. And Paul is content to wait for that kind of "praise". He doesn't need the Corinthians to give him the wrong kind of praise expressed in "I am of Paul"; but neither will he roll over and die in the face of criticism.

'The application of this paragraph to the contemporary church seems self-evident. On the one hand, it is. word to those in the church who are forever "examining" their ministers, and who in any case tend to do so on the wrong grounds. Corinth is not the only church that ever became disillusioned with its minister because he lacked enough "charismatic" qualities...on the other hand..to those who preach and teach, that they recognize themselves as "under trust". Their "trustworthiness" is finally going to be judged by the Lord himself..In that hour none of our self-evaluations as to our worth in the kingdom is going to count for. thing, only our faithfulness to the gospel itself.' [Note:. Fee p. 164]

PRIDE, THE SOURCE OF FACTION, REPROVED: 1 Corinthians 4:6-13