Chapter IV.
(Vers. 1.)
(Verse 1.) So let a man regard us, as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. This is what some of the Corinthians did not understand about him; but let a man understand this about him, that he is also God, who chose him. Therefore, he says that we are ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. For when he did not rely on the noise of words or human wisdom to be understood, he had to administer the sacrament of Christ, in which not words, but power was shining forth: not so that the man may appear glorious, but that God may. For he preached Christ as a colleague of the fishermen, just as they did. Therefore, when he proves himself to be a minister of Christ and the sacraments of God, he criticizes false apostles and denies that what they hand down is from Christ, through the fact that they differ from the apostolic tradition.
(Vers. 2.)
(Version 2.) Now the question arises among the stewards, to find out who is faithful. What he says applies not only to the persona of the pseudo-apostles, but also to the others, who, having received a dispensation, would constantly accuse with hesitation, either due to shame, fear, or certainly for the sake of their own commendation, either bad thoughts or behavior. For he was so steadfast here, that he would not even spare his own life, as long as he faithfully fulfilled everything.
(Vers. 3.)
(Vers. 3.) However, it is of little importance to me, whether I am judged by you or by a human day. He says that it is unfortunate to be judged by those whom he criticizes for such great vices, since he didn't even know how to judge himself according to just standards. Or by a human day, that is, because he was not to be judged even by the laws of the world, since you trust to be judged by those laws. For he surpassed human justice and aspired to celestial justice, as the Lord says: Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of God. (Matthew 5:20) Therefore, when he speaks of a human day, he also signifies a divine day; in which Christ will judge, because just as legal experts or pontiffs, who are called priests, have decreed certain days on which judgment is passed; so the day of the Lord has been defined, on which he will judge the world.
(Vers. 4.)
(Verse 4.) But I do not judge myself; indeed, I am not conscious of anything against myself. It is evident that he who had a pure conscience was not anxious about himself. But I am not justified by this. Now he humbles himself and speaks as a man who can unknowingly incur blame. But the one who judges me is the Lord. He speaks rightly; for although he humbled himself, he gave the most to the Lord Christ; because he can reveal what is hidden from man while he judges the secret things, not to make him guilty but wise. Although he may be holy, he is still a human, who cannot help but have something hidden. Sometimes we think something is useful when it is not; for not all parts or sides of human conversation are described: but we are openly forbidden from those things which are serious. For certain causes tend to deceive us, arising from certain causes; so that we may think something is useful when it is not: which is indeed a trivial thing; since it is a free choice.
(Vers. 5.)
(Vers. 5.) So do not judge before the time, until the Lord comes. He warns them not to judge, since they are to be judged, and they may have double sin, as the Lord says: Do not judge, so that you may not be judged (Matt. VII, 1); but wait for the day of God's judgement, as if they were faithful and good. For it is an injustice of the judge if judgement or sentence comes from a servant before his knowledge.
He will also illuminate the hidden things of darkness and will reveal the counsels of hearts; and then praise will be given to each one by God. This is said, because on the day of judgment nothing will be hidden of those things that have been done or thought; and simplicity and hypocrisy will be revealed there; so that he who was despised may perhaps appear worthy, and he who was thought to be something may be found to be reprobate. For all things will be laid bare on the day of judgment, and then praise will be given to those who have acted or thought well. For indeed, the one who is praised, it is unlikely that he is worthy, as it is said in another place: For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom God commends (II Cor. X, 17), whom certainly nothing is hidden.
(Vers. 6.)
(Verse 6.) But I have transfigured these things, brothers, and Apollo on your behalf; so that you may learn in us not to go beyond what is written, that one should not be puffed up against another. Apollo and I have transfigured these things, while denying the false apostles' glories and perverse traditions under our own authority, mainly referring to them as a group rather than individually; in order to prevent a greater discord among the people. For no one is willing to remain silent when their name or the name of someone they support is criticized: but if someone hears their name mentioned in a veiled manner, even if they understand that it is referring to themselves, they pretend not to notice. Therefore, he has dismissed their importance with this statement, when he says: I planted, Apollo watered, etc. (1 Corinthians 3:6), in order to teach them that nothing should be attributed to human beings in these matters.
(Vers. 7.)
(Verse 7) For who distinguishes you? That is, there are some who, receiving more in baptism or in doctrine, claim that others have received less. This is what he is saying to those who thought that those baptized by others were considered to be something more: they were seduced by the eloquence of these people, so that they thought upside-down things were straight. For there was such discord among the people, that there were many factions: and thus the Apostle adapted his words without mentioning specific names to all parties; so that when the letter was read, each party could understand that their cause was being addressed.
For what do you have that you did not receive? He says that he has gained nothing good beyond what he had received from others, so he complains in vain; for what they had, they had received from the Apostle. But it seems that he is speaking to a part of the people.
But if you have received it, why do you boast as though you have not received it? This is how the apostles were acting as if provoked by the untrained; so that, hearing the same things they had already learned from the Apostle, they might belittle him and boast about their own teaching. They turned the glory of preaching onto themselves, commending their eloquence. But the Apostle wanted to appear contemptible, as long as it made the glory of God acceptable.
(Vers. 8.)
(Ver. 8.) Now you are satisfied, now you have become rich, you reign without us. It is irony, they say; for the words are of one who is angry, not of one who confirms. For in them he both accuses them of great vices and says that they reign; for this is what they thought, boasting of those things which were taught by pseudo-apostles.
And would that you would reign, so that we may also reign with you. Like a loving father wishes well for ungrateful children. For how could it be possible for them to reign without the apostles? For whatever is not handed down by the apostles is full of wickedness. Thus, however, the order had to be stated: So that you may reign with us; but because it was preceded by: And would that you would reign, it could not be stated in any other way than: So that we may also reign with you. To reign, however, is to be secure in the hope and promises of Christ, and to rejoice in the adversities that happen for the sake of his name; for they bring gain, not detriment. Where in another place he says: When I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:10).
(Vers. 9)
(V. 9) I consider that God has shown us, the last apostles, as if destined for death. He has appointed us to this role because he has always been in need, having suffered persecutions and hardships beyond others, just as Enoch and Elijah will suffer in the future as apostles. They will be sent before Christ to prepare the people of God and to fortify all the churches in order to resist antichrist, as the reading of the Apocalypse testifies, which says they will also suffer persecutions and be killed. Therefore, the Apostle compared their time to its proper time, saying: 'As if destined for death' (Apoc. XI, 8 et seq.), for they are about to come to kill.
Because we have become a spectacle to this world, to angels and to human beings. For even Enoch and Elijah will be a spectacle, to the extent that their bodies will be thrown onto the street in the sight of the whole unbelieving people. So too the apostles have become a spectacle; they were publicly ridiculed, treated with contempt, and suffered the death they endured. But when it says 'the world,' it means both evil angels and evil human beings. As David says in the seventy-seventh psalm: 'He tormented them with evil angels and evil human beings.' The mistreatment of the apostles is a source of entertainment to these evil angels and evil human beings. However, the world is called unfaithfulness, because it follows visible things.
(Vers. 10.)
(Verse 10) We are fools for the sake of Christ. Indeed, it is true that those who love Christ are foolish in the eyes of the world. But you are wise in Christ. The one who is wise in Christ is judged by the unbelievers, declaring Christ wrongly. In conclusion, because Marcion denies the Son of God and the possibility of God becoming incarnate, he is considered wise by the world, and Photinus, because he does not confess that Christ, through his birth, is God, appears wise to worldly people.
We are weak. We are weak, because without flattery and with foolishness, as it seems to the world, we were subjected to insults while preaching Christ. But you are strong. You are strong, because you profess Christ in a way that avoids offending others, so that you may be secure.
You noble ones. For whoever does not confess Christ, because he was promised to Abraham and preached from the beginning, is against Christ; because he attributes the antiquity of the promised Christ to others. But we are ignoble. The world considers ignoble one who confesses Christ, which the world denies, from the beginning. Therefore, it confirms all the aforementioned things that it seems to deny, and denies what it seems to confirm. For the words of one who confesses by denying and denies by confessing are that of an angry person.
(Vers. 11, 12.)
(Vers. 11, 12.) Until this hour we are hungry, and thirsty, and naked, and beaten, and unstable, and we labor working with our own hands. For freely and according to true faith, without any flattery, we preach Christ, and we expose the actions of a wicked life, they did not have favor among men, and they were beaten, that is, they were treated with insults, and they were unstable; because they were driven away, so as not to stay in one place for a long time, and teach many. Therefore they worked with their hands, because not only did they not have favor among men, but it was also unworthy to receive from those who were devoted to error, as it says in Psalm 140:5: But the oil of the sinner will not anoint my head. Because he also loses the freedom of argumentation and sins, who accepts from him who gives in order not to be reproved.
(Vers. 13.)
(Verse 13.) We are cursed and we bless: for those who mistreated us were urging them to do good. We endure persecution and we bear it; because they did not resist those who persecuted them. We are blasphemed and we implore: for those who blasphemed were asking to be held accountable.
We have become like the rubbish of this world, the scum of all things until now. By not resisting anyone, nor repaying evil with evil, but always subjecting oneself; so that through patience, the despised and rejected may be restored to goodness. Until now, that is, even now among the Corinthians, for whom he suffered these evils mentioned above. And since he saw that his humility did not profit anything in these things, he laments, moved by pain, that such submission and injustice have yielded no fruit; but worse, they have even worsened.
(Vers. 14.)
(Verse 14) Not to embarrass you, I write this: that is, not to make you blush, I write this, but to correct you. But as if I were admonishing my dearest children. He still presents himself as a supplicant, so that they would not reject his admonitions when they were rebuked and provoked to anger. He does this as a healing physician, who by removing the thorns, alleviates the pain inflicted, in the hope and through flattery, so that the sick person allows himself to be treated.
(Vers. 15.)
(Verse 15) For even if you should have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. With these words, he shows that no one can love them with the same affection with which he loved them. For who would prefer the children of others over his own in affection? And therefore, they should not despise his admonitions, who also suffered so many evils for them.
(Vers. 16.)
(Verse 16.) I beseech you, therefore, be imitators of me. Just as the holy Apostle beseeches his children to imitate him, that is, he willingly begs the sick to receive medicine! However, he wants them to be imitators of himself in this regard; just as he endured many dangers for their salvation from unbelievers and did not cease, as long as he preached the gift of divine grace to them day and night; so they, remaining in his faith and teaching, would not accept the wicked teachings of false apostles, but would resist, disregarding insults or slander, in order to preserve their spiritual affection for their father undamaged.
(Vers. 17.)
(Verse 17.) Therefore, I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord. He will encourage them in this same Timothy, whom he passionately and faithfully appeals to in the Lord, so that they may learn what they have done wrong; for when he testifies to them, he convicts them.
Who will remind you of my ways, which are in Christ Jesus, as I teach everywhere in every church. Through him, the faithful son in the Lord, he desires to bring them back to the rule of truth that he has handed down, so that, admonished by his words and examples of his works, they may repent, knowing that they were not incorrectly taught by the Apostle, when they learned to hold the same things that all the churches do.
(Vers. 18.)
(Verse 18) Just as if I were not going to come to you, some became arrogant. Certain Corinthians were indignant because he did not go to them, not out of desire, but out of pride, as if he considered them unworthy; whereas the Apostle's purpose was more to make the unworthy worthy.
(Vers. 19.)
(Verse 19.) But I will come to you quickly, if the Lord permits. After receiving this reminder, he promises to go to them, but if the Lord allows; because God knows more than man, if it were worthwhile, He would allow it. And if he does not go, it would show that the Lord did not allow it, as a sign of their unworthiness.
And I will not acknowledge the speech of those who are filled with pride, but their virtue. They are confused, for when they conversed deviously, they were indignant, as if they were worthy to be visited by an Apostle.
(Vers. 20.)
(Verse 20.) For the kingdom of God is not in words, but in power. Just as the kingdom of God is not commended by the splendor of words, but by the power of miracles, so too these individuals would show themselves worthy to be visited by the Apostle not with bare words, but with the power of spiritual works.
(Vers. 21.)
(Verse 21) What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness? He uses words of fear, so that those who were proud would be humbled, and if they truly desired the presence of an Apostle, they would prepare themselves to receive him, that is, cleanse themselves from every stain of sin, so that when he comes to them, he may have joy as if with beloved children.