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"As my beloved children..."

Text: 1 Corinthians 4:14

AS A SPIRITUAL FATHER

What did it mean for the Apostle Paul to found churches? Paul saw himself as the spiritual father of many Corinthian believers.

“I do not write these things to shame you,
but as my beloved children I warn you.
For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ,
yet you do not have many fathers;
for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.”
1 Corinthians 4:14-15

1. “I do not write these things to shame you”

a) There was a great sense of consciousness when these words were being written.

i) The things shared by Paul were not intended to cause the Corinthians to feel shame.

ii) The candid way in which Paul recounted how much abuse he had to endure could have caused a sense of shame to come to the hearts of the readers (if they were humble and sensitive).

b) Paul’s intention for writing was for a nobler reason.

2. “But as my beloved children I warn you”

a) His relation with the Corinthians was as a spiritual father to the children.

b) He sought to admonish them as a good father would.

i) To rebuke

ii) To correct

3. “Ten thousand instructors in Christ”

a) This was, of course, intended exaggeration (a hyperbole).

b) There were probably many who posed as “instructors” (“people who teach children”).

4. “Yet you do not have many fathers”

a) This was a fact.

b) Paul was the one who led many to faith in Christ in the city of Corinth.

c) Not all instructors were “fathers”.

d) Paul had developed this strong and special relationship with many Corinthian believers. However, this relationship had been undermined along the way.

5. “For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel”

a) Paul had “begotten” the Corinthians through the preaching of the gospel.

b) He had been like a father to many in the growing of their faith.