Useful Bible Studies > 1 Corinthians Commentary > chapter 4
In 1 Corinthians 4:6, Paul urged the Christians in Corinth not to have proud attitudes. Here, in 1 Corinthians 4:18-19, he says clearly that some of them were already proud. He also explains the reason why they had that attitude. It was because Paul was not there in Corinth to oppose them. Nobody in Corinth could act in the power of God’s Holy Spirit to stop them.
Paul insisted that he would come to Corinth soon. Of course, he would only come if God wanted him to come. Sometimes God had guided Paul to places that Paul did not expect (Acts 16:6-10). Paul always had to obey God. But Paul expected God to send him to Corinth.
When Paul arrived at Corinth, he would deal with those proud people. Paul preferred to speak to people in a humble, gentle manner that showed real love. But such gentle words will not usually convince proud people to change their attitudes. It was usual for a father to take a stick and to hit a proud child with it (Proverbs 22:15).
Paul had something much more powerful than a stick to deal with the proud people in Corinth. And he certainly would not depend on his own words, as the proud people did. Instead, Paul would ask God to give him the power of the Holy Spirit to deal with this situation.
Paul was confident that God would do that. He had seen how powerfully God had acted by his Spirit during his previous visit to Corinth (2:4-5). God would do that again, because he was establishing his kingdom (his rule) in his people’s lives. God would certainly complete the work that he had begun in their lives (Philippians 1:6).
Next part: A church member who married his father’s wife (1 Corinthians 5:1-2)
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© 2014, Keith Simons.