Articles
Responsible But Not Able
“For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you that you did not receive? And if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7)
I was generally taught to believe that if you were steady in your work you would usually achieve your goals. There was a sense of pride associated with working and not having to be provided for by others. I do believe that this is still generally true because Paul said that those who will not work do not deserve to eat (2 Thessalonians 3:7-10). God has placed us in a sowing and reaping world. Work almost always produces some kind of increase and we are told by God to work in order to have what we need.
This brings us back to the verse under consideration: “What do you have that you did not receive?” This seems to be a rhetorical question. There is a sense in which nothing that we have is completely earned. Paul was talking about the spiritual standing of the Corinthians and the gifts in which they were boasting. However, isn’t it also true that we cannot prosper materially apart from God’s gifts? God gives us sunshine, rain, good health, and the increase of our labors. What would our material efforts mean without these things?
The Bible is full of statements which make disciples responsible to live faithfully before God: “Keep the faith,” — or — “Be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life,” — or — “if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” Any position that denies human responsibility will render these passages meaningless. Is it possible that we could understand something about our responsibilities before God when it comes to salvation by thinking about our responsibilities to work for food?
We are not really able to feed ourselves. Yet, we are responsible to work for our food. This is why Paul teaches us to work and to be thankful. In the same way, we cannot save ourselves from sin. Our good deeds cannot pay the price for our bad deeds. Only the blood of Jesus can cleanse us from our sins. Yet, we are responsible to believe God, to do what He says, and to confess our sins to Him, even after we have become Christians. This is why Jesus said that when we have done all the things we are commanded to do we ought to say that we are unprofitable servants (Luke 17:7-10). You see, we only did what we should have been doing as creatures who are made in the image of God and subject to Him. We glorify Him by our obedience, but we are only saved because He has provided redemption through the blood of His Son.
Let’s work for our food and give thanks to God for what we receive. Let’s also believe in God and commit ourselves to doing whatever He says. He made us new creatures in Christ for this very purpose (Ephesians 2:10). However, we must never begin to think that we have earned salvation or forget to be thankful. We were dead in sin and God has made us alive in Christ. How could we possibly boast in ourselves?
