1 Corinthians 4:17

Timothy would serve as Paul’s personal representative in Corinth soon (along with Erastus; Acts 19:22). Several factors point to the probability that Timothy had already departed from Ephesus but had not yet arrived in Corinth when Paul wrote this epistle (cf. Acts 19:22). One of these is Paul’s lack of reference to Timothy in this epistle’s salutation. A second is the tense of the verb translated "have sent" (NASB) or "am sending" (NIV; epempsa, aorist tense). A third is Paul’s later reference to Timothy (1 Corinthians 16:10-11). Timothy was, of course, one of Paul’s closest and most trusted fellow workers.

Paul’s way of life here refers to the ethical principles that he taught and practiced.

". . . the Christian leader today not only must teach the gospel, but also must teach how the gospel works out in daily life and conduct. And that union must be modeled as well as explained.

"The need is evident even at a confessional seminary like the one at which I teach. Increasingly, we have students who come from thoroughly pagan or secular backgrounds, who have been converted in their late teens or twenties, and who come to us in their thirties. Not uncommonly, they spring from dysfunctional families, and they carry a fair bit of baggage. More dramatically yet, a surprising number of them cannot easily make connections between the truths of the gospel and how to live.

"A couple of years ago a student who was about to graduate was called in by one of our faculty members who had learned the student was planning to return to computer science and abandon plans to enter vocational ministry. The student was pleasant, with a solid B+ to his credit. But as the faculty member probed, it became obvious that this student had not put it all together. He could define propitiation but did not know what it was like to feel forgiven. He could defend the priority of grace in salvation but still felt as if he could never be good enough to be a minister. He could define holiness but found himself practicing firm self-discipline rather than pursuing holiness. His life and his theological grasp had not come together.

"Mercifully, this particular faculty member was spiritually insightful. He took the student back to the cross and worked outward from that point. The student began to weep and weep as he glimpsed the love of God for him. Today he is in the ministry." [Note: Carson, p. 111.]

Paul gave another gentle reminder that it was the Corinthians and not he who had departed from the Christian way. What he reminded them of here was standard teaching in all the churches (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Corinthians 7:17; 1 Corinthians 11:16; 1 Corinthians 14:33; 1 Corinthians 14:36).