Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - 1 Corinthians 4:1-21
Secrets Made Known 1 Corinthians 4:1 The point for us is, 'What does the word "mystery" mean in the New Testament?' Mystery in the New Testament means one thing only, and that is something which has been kept secret for centuries, but has at last been revealed. And I am going to speak to you about five secrets five mysteries if you like five things which have been kept secret since the foundation of the world, but which have at last been told us. Now what are those five secrets? I. What was... read more
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - 1 Corinthians 4:21
(21) What will ye?—I give you a choice. I am coming to you as a father in any case. But shall I come as a father comes with a rod (Isaiah 11:4), and going to inflict punishment with it (such is the force of the Greek, “in a rod”); or as a father would come when no faults on the child’s part need interfere with the perfect and unrestricted outflowing of his gentleness and love. The pathos of these last few words sufficiently indicate what the Apostle would himself prefer. The choice, however,... read more