Yes, Believers Will Still Face Judgment (1 Corinthians 4:1-5)

I. A Caricature of Salvation

Here's one definition of the word caricature: “exaggeration by means of often ludicrous distortion of parts or characteristics”. In light of books I've read, and teaching I've heard, and conversations in which I've been involved, my sense is that some believers hold to a caricature, a distortion of salvation in which the reality of our judgment has been totally removed. To justify this thinking, such Christians may appeal to a verse like John 5:24, in which Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” So in light of a verse like that one, how can I say that this idea of a 'judgment-less' salvation is a caricature? Let me suggest that the answer to that question is found in 1 Corinthians 4:1-5. If you haven't, turn or navigate to that passage.

II. The Passage: “It is the Lord Who Judges Me” (4:1-5)

Right away, I want you to see how Paul talks about himself in the opening verse, verse 1. Notice that Paul is not talking about himself before he met Jesus on that road to Damascus. He writes, “This is how one should regard us (right now)... as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.” Do you see how this affirmation about his present identity lines up beautifully with the very thing Paul wanted to clarify in the last chapter? Remember 3:5? “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.”

But in 4:1, Paul adds to this idea of servanthood the concept of stewardship. He and Apollos, and all the leaders who have contributed to the work in Corinth, are also “stewards of the mysteries of God”. And what does that idea of stewardship imply? It implies that, at some point, there will be an examination of the steward or manager's trustworthiness; trustworthiness with what was entrusted to him or her. That's exactly what Paul tells them next in verse 2: “Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.”

Is the title “steward” a term only applied to leaders like Paul? No. In Luke chapters 12 and 16, Jesus uses this same word to talk about a disciple's faithfulness, and later, Peter refers to his readers with this word, calling them “good stewards of God's manifold grace” (1 Peter 4:10).

So why are these opening lines of 1 Corinthians 4 so important? Because they prepare us for the ways in which genuine, born again believers still face and will face judgment as servants and stewards of God. So what we find in the remaining verses of our passage, verses 3-5, are three ways in which Paul touches on this topic of judgment and the believer. What I'd like to do for these three points is not only identify them, but for each, I'd like us to clarify three aspects, all related to the idea of meaning; that is, first, what is not meant here, second, what is meant here, and third, what does this mean for you.

Let do that very thing with Paul's first statement in verse 3. Look at it again. After talking about the fact that stewardship requires an accounting, he tells his readers, “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court.” So there's that first idea. Though we are servants and stewards of Jesus, we will still deal with being judged by others. But as I just indicated, let's take a minute to talk about what is not meant here by that idea.

What is not meant here is that Paul cares very little about healthy judgment within the church. How do I know that? Because in the very next chapter Paul describes how he has (5:3) “already pronounced judgment” on a member of their church who is involved in a sexually immoral relationship with his stepmother... and surprisingly (and sadly) the Corinthians are doing nothing about it. But as Paul asks them in 5:12, “Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?” And the letter goes on to present many more examples of how the Corinthians were failing to do this very thing. You see, though it may seem strange or disturbing to some, there really is a healthy and important way that Christians are to judge one another.

Okay, so if that's the case, what is meant here when Paul talks about being judged by the Corinthians? What Paul is addressing here is not their healthy judgment, but their unhealthy judgment of him and several other leaders. What made their judgment unhealthy? The fact that it was based on things they could not know, not things they should know. If Paul was preaching a false gospel or living in unrepentant sin, then healthy judgments could and should be made by other believers. They had been given the knowledge to make such judgments. But they were judging Paul's performance as an apostle using worldly metrics, using their own cultural values, and probably drawing unfair conclusions about these men, possibly even about their motives.

What does this idea mean for you and me? I hope we'll receive this as a good reminder that we have a God-given responsibility to spiritually watch out for one another. If I am struggling, if I am straying, if I am stubborn, then I need brothers and sisters to make judgments about my condition, not with a spirit of pride or condemnation, but with genuine care and concern. Amen?

But look again at how Paul continues in the second half of verse 3: “In fact, I do not even judge myself.” And that's the second judgment-related idea we encounter in this passage, the idea of judging ourselves. So what exactly is not meant here, that is, what is Paul not saying when he makes this statement? Again, he's not speaking here about judging ourselves with a right and a healthy judgment. Think about how Paul immediately qualifies his statement, “I do not even judge myself”, in the opening words of verse 4: “For I am not aware of anything against myself.” The only way Paul could add that he was not aware of any issue is if he did rightly judge himself; that is, if he did exactly what he encouraged his younger coworker to do in 1 Timothy 4:16... “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching.” So when Paul declares, “I do not even judge myself”, he's not endorsing the unexamined life. He's not claiming to have no need to consider his own actions and weigh his motives and be honest about his failures.

So what is he saying? What is meant here? Remember, Paul's point here is about his faith-fulness as an apostle; as a servant and a steward of Christ. So in light of that, Paul does not judge himself... simply because it's not his place to make that judgment. That's why he ends verse 4 with this statement: “It is the Lord who judges me.” Paul absolutely should have made judgments about his faithfulness as a steward. But like you and me, Paul had 'blind spots'; there were things he could not see about himself; there were things he got wrong; things that he missed or messed up. But there's nothing that Jesus misses or messes up, right? Therefore only Paul's Lord can have the final say about Paul's service and stewardship.

Okay. So what about us? What does this mean for you and me? It means that if you are not already doing so, you should also, through the power of God's Spirit, “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching.” It should be a regular habit to make word-informed judgments about your actions and attitudes; about your spiritual condition, as well as your spiritual beliefs. A healthy judgment of oneself is not about beating yourself up. Quite the opposite. It's about looking out for yourself spiritually by being humble and honest about unhealthiness in your life.

But at this point, it's so, so important to stress that these concepts of being judged by others and judging yourself, these must be inspired and informed by this final point. The final verse in our study passage, verse 5, is both an explanation and application of Paul's previous statement, at the end of verse 4: “It is the Lord who judges me.” So this passage about judgment ultimately leads us exactly where we need to go: considering what it means to be judged by Jesus.

Now, it is absolutely critical to be clear about what is not meant here. If we are talking about a genuine servant and steward of Christ, then we know that what is not meant here is any kind of judgment that will lead to our eternal condemnation; for as Paul told the disciples in Rome, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1) Paul stressed this in the last chapter when he talked about a servant who (3:15) “will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved”. We also see later in the letter how a number of these ideas come together in regard to issues surrounding the Lord's Supper. Paul writes in 11:31-32...

But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. [32] But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

This, of course, helps us understand what is meant here in our main passage. Think about what Paul wrote. He didn't simply say, “It is the Lord who will judge me”. He said, “It is the Lord who judges me.” Though Jesus will one day judge unbelievers as God the Son, as God the lawgiver, he will one day judge, and today, right now, judges us as our Master; as the One to whom we belong; as the One we gratefully and lovingly serve as stewards of God's manifold grace. There-fore, his judgments lead, not to punishment, but to discipline; to the purifying effects of a refiner's fire. That doesn't make such judgment any less serious or painful. But critically, this perspective helps us stay grounded in the glorious, gospel truths Paul has already declared in this letter, especially about the One “who will sustain [us] to the end, guiltless” because of “...Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption”. (1:8, 30)

As we consider what this means for us, let me remind you that, as I stated moments ago, verse 5 is both explanation and application. The latter is evident from Paul's opening words in verse 5: “Therefore [Corinthians] do not pronounce judgment before the time...” ('Stop picking your favorites and then talking badly about the rest.'). Though there is such a thing as right and good and necessary judgment in the church, though healthy judgment absolutely should be part of the Christian life, as we've talked about this morning, only Jesus can have the last word on your faithfulness, on my faithfulness as his servants and stewards. Why is that? Because only Jesus, when he comes, “...will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.” Remember what I said earlier, their unhealthy judgment of Paul was “based on things they could not know”. Specifically, they could not see the fullness (the full picture) of his ministry, and they could not see his into his heart. But Jesus can. That's why only Jesus can have the last word about our faithfulness.

Many of us desperately need to be reminded of that fact this morning. Why? Because either we are allowing others to have that last word, or we are trying to have that last word about our own spiritual condition. Receive correction. Receive warnings and criticisms that are based on Scripture, especially by those who genuinely care for you. We all need this. But do not let others have that last word, that ultimate word. When we do this, it skews our perspective away from service to Christ and towards slavery to the opinions of others. In the same way, don't allow your current struggles to have the last word about your overall, spiritual condition. Today's battles do not and cannot change the victory Christ has accomplished in your life. It's so easy for us/me to lose sight of the big picture, isn't it? But Jesus knows. That's why only he can have the last word.

III. Commendation, Not Condemnation

So as we finish this morning, think with me for a moment about Jesus' last word about your life. As I mentioned at the outset, there are presentations of the Good News and depictions of the Christian life that seem to do away with this idea of judgment. These tend to emphasize the important of 'getting saved' and the promise of 'going to heaven'. What they miss is the powerful reality Paul emphasizes here: “It is the Lord who judges me.” Is that a category, is that a concept, in which you walk every day? It was for Paul... and it should be for us. Yes, that reality should sober us. It should lead to conviction of sin and resolve in the face of temptation. But if you look at how verse 5 concludes, I think you'll see how Paul's focus here is fixed more on the positive, rather than the negative. Here's what I mean. Paul is not emphasizing here the loss he mentioned in 3:15. He's not addressing Christ's disappointment or displeasure with us as his servants. The eventual and ultimate revelation of what is hidden, and the disclosure of our hearts, leads where? It leads to this phrase, “Then each one will receive his commendation from God.”

Commendation. Approval. Praise. That's what a passage like this should ultimately bring into focus for us. In this context which also talks about stewardship, it's hard not to think that Paul had one of Jesus' parables in mind when he wrote these words. And in that parable about stewardship, the Master's commendation sounds like this: “'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.'” (Matthew 25:23) Brothers and sisters, the fact that Jesus is our judge, and that we will one day stand before him to give an accounting, should be less about looking to fix our failings and more about longing to hear those words. Please be honest with yourself this morning. Do you long to hear those words... from Jesus... as he speaks to you? If you do, then let those words, and let Paul's words here in 1 Corinthians 4, reorient you, and refine you, and reassure you, and renew you. Yes, be sober-minded about that glorious day. But let that sobriety go hand-in-hand with a joyful eagerness.

Listen to this wonderful truth: because Christ died and rose again for all who would receive him by grace alone, through faith alone, you and I can focus on that commendation, rather than any chance of condemnation. Praise God! Won't you take a moment even now to give thanks to God for this? Ask Him to help you look to Jesus today and this week, not only as Savior and Lord, but also as Judge (as the Judge who first took our eternal judgment); as the One we long to see on that Day, and in light of that, as the One we long to please on this day. Let's pray.