Nice try at diversion from your real problem with my last post! I Corinthians 4:1-5 is your REAL problem as the same CHURCH LEADERS are explicitly identified in regard to the same judgemetn and yet the judgement in view CANNOT BE LIMITED TO CHURCH LEADERS only and neither can the principles that are being supplied in verses 4-5!
Your premise is faulty. You expect me to be able to produce a single categorical reference to "church leaders". This is not a reasonable challenge precisely because in identifying specific church leaders (such as himself and Appollos) and in focusing on the matter of church leadership, Paul is implicitly telling us that he has church leaders in mind. The text is full of material that shows a focus on church leaders in particular:
My premise is not faulty in the least bit but perfectly just and clear from the overall context. Paul addresses church leaders in verses 5-8 in regard to how they cooperate with one another and work together with God. In verses 9-10 he shifts from the PERSON's of the church leaders to the WORK of the church leaders at Corinth. In verses 11-15 he shifts from the WORK of the church leaders at Corinth to how WORKS will be dealt with in the judgement day of the saints in regard to gain or loss of rewards while making it clear that the PERSON ("soul") is not the object of this judgement. The same judgment is continued in 1 Cor. 4:1-5 where these church leaders are once again explicitly identified as the subjects but the prinicples of judgement at his coming cannot possibly be restricted to church leaders only any more than 3:11-15 can be restricted to church leaders only.
1. You cannot restrict secrets of the heart as the basis of judgement for church leaders only.
2. you cannot restrict bring hidden things to light as the basis of judgment for church leaders only.
It is obvious to any clear thinking person that the principles that God uses to judge between good and bad works that include hidden motives cannot be restricted to any specific class of Christians simply because a specific class is being addressed!
You just as well as argue that only church leaders will have their works judged according to the motive behind them or according to hidden things that determined those works in 1 Cor. 4:1-5 where church leaders are explicitly mentioned if you are going to argue that 1 Cor. 3:11-15 is only applicable to the "works" of church leaders where they are not mentioned explicitly in those verses.
Your premise is foolish and absurd!
Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?
5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. 10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.
Verse 2: An implicit focus on the matter of leadership through the metaphor about the giving of milk;
Verse 4: An explicit statement about following
leaders (Appollos and Paul)
Verse 5: Continues the thought - Paul and Appollos each have
leadership tasks.
Verse 6 to 8: An extended metaphor about the nature of
church leadership - one leader plants, another waters.
Verses 9 to 10: A clear distinction drawn between the
leaders and those who are led. This distinction is clearly relevant to Paul's argument. And what is critical is this: Paul sets himself and other church leaders specifically in the role of the
builders, setting up the argument of following verses.
Verses 11 to 14: Paul could not be more clear - it is the
builders and
their works he is talking about here. If you cannot see this, you are in simple denial.
This analysis shows that Paul constructs a careful argument, distinguishing the builders (leaders) from the building (the rest of the church) and then saying something about how the works
of those builders will be tested.
You are simply going beyond what Paul is saying, collapsing away the distinction that Paul has carefully drawn between leaders and the church, in order to fit your agenda.
We need to let the
text dictate things, and not read things into the text.
I have responses to the rest of your post, but those will be given in a subsequent post.[/QUOTE]
