1 Cor 4:6-7 (NIV) Now, brothers, 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 take pride in one man over against another. 7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
NOTE: The saying "Do not go beyond what is written" is perplexing. I think Paul is saying that we must be careful to not develop doctrine that is not completely supported by the text of scripture. In which case, what a particular person thinks or doesn't think is not important, only what God says is true. Paul then summarizes in three questions.
"Who makes you different from anyone else?" I suppose Paul is saying that if we are different, which I am not sure we are, at least in authority of statements, then it would be God who made us different. But Paul is saying that we are not different, therefore God's word is our ultimate authority, not a person's interpretation of it.
"What do you have that you did not receive?" The answer is nothing. Everything we have, has been given by God. God has given us his word, and that is our source of truth.
"And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?" When God does give understanding, we should give him the credit. It should not be a new thought, but rather what God has clearly revealed. In other words, I don't get to create doctrine. Truth comes from God and is revealed in the scriptures.
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