1 Corinthians 4:6 (Do Not Go Beyond what is Written)

 

1 Corinthians 4:6

Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other.

In my most recent post I wrote about Jesus' view on adultery and how Jesus would treat a homosexual. One piece of feedback I received was that I should have also mentioned Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. The reason being because she too was in an adulterous relationship, or at least that is how it appears. The Biblical text does not necessarily clearly state that the woman was an adulteress. What the text says is that the woman at the well was not currently married (John 4:17), and that Jesus said she had "five husbands, and the man [she] now [has] is not [her] husband," (John 4:18). Is it possible that the Samaritan woman was a young woman who was having a promiscuous relationship with six different men? To insinuate that would seem to go beyond what is written in the text. The text clearly has Jesus referring to this woman's past five relationships as being "husbands," meaning that God, Himself, was saying that she was married to those past five people. Might Jesus be acting coy here, by referring to this woman's sinful relationships as being her husbands? Probably not, as this is something Jesus does not appear to do in other passages in the four gospels. He typically calls sin as it is, and does not ascribe false appealing labels to sin; erego referring to adultery by the terms used in marriage (husband and wife).

The point of this is to illustrate the meaning behind Paul's words to the Corinthians where he says, "Do not go beyond what is written," (1 Corinthians 4:6). Paul was writing to the Corinthians that he would be coming to them as a spiritual leader, however the Corinthians were wondering if Paul would be wiser than one of their other spiritual leaders, Apollos. In response to this Paul wrote that the Corinthians should not regard either him or Apollos as being anything higher than "servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed," (1 Corinthians 4:2). Paul wrote, "Judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart," (1 Corinthians 4:5). Paul is saying that when it comes to judging someone's heart and their motivations a Christian should be slow in making this judgement; so slow that they make no definitive judgements on any unclear personal matters until even Jesus Christ returns. So, when it comes to interpreting Scripture, a Christian should take note of what is made explicitly clear about a person in the text. When it comes to what is unclear, a Christian should be very careful about what they claim about a person in the text.

It might seem like a harmless way of making the Bible more tantalizing,
but reading the Bible this way has lead to Christians believing some very
unbiblical things about Biblical people (see Sources below).

I'll add a personal example: I am very curious about the eternal fate of Judas Iscariot, yet Scripture does not provide a definitive answer. There is not a verse in the Bible that says "Judas is in hell" or "Judas is in heaven." On top of this, there are a few verses that seem to lean his final destination to one way over the other. In both Luke and John it is written that the devil entered into Judas (22:3 and 13:27 respectively). This in combination with how Judas killed himself seems to strongly imply that his eternity is in hell. There is, however, nothing in Scripture that clearly states that those whom the devil enters go to hell 100% of the time and that those who commit suicide cannot be forgiven (and concerning the ladder, there is Biblical evidence opposed). Moreso there is a prophecy that Jesus gives to His twelve disciples where He says to them, "Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel," (Matthew 19:28). This passage's context makes it clear Jesus is referring to all of His disciples, and there is nothing in this section of Scripture that directly states that any of the disciples could lose their place on one of these twelve thrones. The most exclusive part of this prophecy is that Jesus says it applies to the twelve disciples who "followed Him," but the twelve disciples including Judas are described many times as following Jesus. So, what is it? Is Judas in heaven or hell? I wonder about this from time to time, but the truth is it doesn't matter.

If something matters to us in Scripture, then it will be written clearly for us to understand or interpret based on all of the books of the Bible. There were indeed events transpired and words spoken during the time of Scripture that were not written down for us. This is because we do not need them. John once heard a voice from thunders, and he was told by heaven, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down," (Revelation 10:4). Does that make us wonder what the thunders said? It most likely does, but we should not concern ourselves with this, or try to imply in the text what the thunders said. We don't know, and we shouldn't care. Why? Because "all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work," (2 Timothy 3:16-17). What is written in Scripture is there to equip us for every good work; every good thing God requires us to do is in our Bibles. If we spend our time focusing on what is not in Scripture but might be implied by it, we are devoting our time to useless rumors. The Scriptures say, "Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down," (Proverbs 26:20). Let us be diligent to focus on what is written in the Bible and to not go beyond what is written.

Sources

• The Bible (New International Version)
• WWUTT: Did David Rape Bathsheba?
• Christianity Today: Some People think Jesus was Racist