Not Exceeding What Is Written

1 Corinthians 4:2 - "In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found faithful."

When we think of ourselves as the Lords stewards we recognize that everything we have has been given to us by God. He owns all that I have, but He has put me in charge of it for a while, and it's my responsibility to be faithful with what He has entrusted me. The verse above however does not talk about stewardship in regards to our earthly possessions. The Biblical subject of stewardship often concerns the use of the Christians money and possession, and the verse above is often quoted in that context, but our use of the possessions with which the Lord has entrusted us is not in view in the immediate context of this verse. In this passage the subject that is being dealt with is our responsibility to the Word of God. In the verse before this Paul calls himself a "steward of the mysteries of God."

There were many problems in the Corinthian church and this is one of the reasons for Paul's first letter to them. First Corinthians, by and large, is a book of correction. Throughout the first four chapters Paul is talking about different church leaders whom the Corinthian believers claimed to follow, and thus were bringing division into the church. You can have your favorite preachers and teachers, you can have your favorite styles and methods, but Paul makes the point that it's not about Christs servants, it's about Christ Himself. They were taking upon themselves the names of Paul or Apollos or Cephas, that is Peter, but Paul makes it clear that they are merely servants through whom the Corinthians came to believe. One planted, another watered, but God is the one who was causing the growth. Paul wasn't seeking a name for himself and he makes that very clear by saying several times that he is merely a servant of Christ. That's how he begins chapter 4.

1 Corinthians 4:1 reads - "Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God." As a servant of Christ and a steward of the mysteries of God, it's at this point that Paul makes the statement "In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found faithful." As Christ's servants, being entrusted with His Word, He requires our faithfulness. After pointing this out the apostle Paul goes on to make an interesting statement in verse 6 where he says - "Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written, in order that no one of you might become arrogant in behalf of one against the other."

This is a very straight forward and practical instruction. In the immediate context he is instructing them not to exceed what the Word of God says concerning His servants. Paul says that he and Apollos and Cephas are merely servants, and this is according to the words of Jesus in Luke 17:7-10 where He says - "Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat’? But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me until I have eaten and drunk; and afterward you will eat and drink’? He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’" Paul was telling the Corinthians not to exceed what is written. He was in effect saying "We are unworthy slaves; we have only done that which we ought to have done."
But the instruction that is given in this verse can be applied to every situation. Whatever the situation might be, the Lords word to us is "Learn not to exceed what is written. It can be very easy on many fronts to become fanciful in our interpretation of Scripture and make it say something that it doesn't say, but when we do that we are going beyond what is written. We're always safe staying within the bounds of the Word of God. Many times people will make the argument that the Bible is a difficult book to understand, and granted there are difficult passages in the Word of God, but more often than not, it's not the difficult parts that people don't like, it's the straightforward parts. The Bible is abundantly clear on so many issues, and we need to be careful not to exceed what is written. As to the difficult portions, we need to take extra care with these passages that we do not go beyond what is written and distort the passage to meet our own opinions. In 2 Peter 3:16 Peter is talking about some of Paul's writings and there we read - "as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction." There were some who were taking the difficult writings of Paul and exceeding what was written, and because they were going beyond what was written they were actually distorting the Word of God, making it say something that it didn't say. Don't force your opinions on the Word of God, let Gods Word shape your opinions. It's not my job to make sure that everyone else believes exactly what I believe on any given subject, but it is my job to remain faithful to the Word of God. Paul tells Timothy to "Retain the standard of sound words." One of the qualifications of an elder given in Titus chapter 1 is that he must be a man who is "holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict." Mans ideas and opinions are subject to change, but the Word of God is forever settled in heaven. It is required of a steward that one be found faithful, and one way to be a faithful steward of the Word of God is by not exceeding what is written.

1 Corinthians 4:6 - "Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written, in order that no one of you might become arrogant in behalf of one against the other."