I Know Nothing by Myself 1 Corinthians 4:4

Paul the apostle shared with the church members of Corinth that he and his companions were “stewards” and “servants” of the “gospel of Jesus Christ”, and he gave little value to “man's judgment” or even his own concerning the “examination and scrutinization” of himself, and in chapter four and verse four of First Corinthians, Paul told the Corinthians, “I know nothing by myself” where we read:

For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judges me is the Lord.

The verse begins, “For I know nothing by myself; ” Paul began with the word, “For which means “even as, indeed, no doubt, seeing then, verily and therefore” “I know” or “Paul saw, understood, perceived and comprehended” “nothing” which means “not one thing” “by myself” which refers to “Paul himself”. Paul would not judge himself because he knew his personal “knowledge” came not from“himself”, but from God, .

The verse continues, “yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judges me is the Lord.”. Paul added the words, “yet am I not” which means “nevertheless and notwithstanding Paul was not” “hereby“ or “with his knowledge” “justified” which means “rendered, shown to be, exhibited and evinced as righteous”: “but” which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be written takes precedence over what was just stated, “he that judges me” or “whoever examines, inquires into, scrutinizes, sifts and questions Paul” “is the Lord” who is “he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master and the title is given to God the Messiah”.

When we think through these words from Paul, we see how he did not take credit for the “knowledge” he obtained nor was he “justified” by it because he knew “the Lord” was his “judge”. Paul knew Jesus Christ came to bring the “good news” of God's salvation to people, and he knew God would be his ultimate “judge”. If we are wise, we shall follow Paul's example and know God gives us “knowledge” and shall be our “judge” as well.

Next time Paul tells the Corinthians to “judge nothing before the time”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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