ACC ~ 1 Corinthians 4 v1

STEWARD OF THE MYSTERIES. ORIGEN: There is a big difference between being a servant of Christ and a steward of the mysteries of God. Anyone who has read the Bible can be a servant of Christ, but to be a steward of the mysteries one must plumb their depths. Paul was acting as a steward of the mysteries when he commissioned Luke, for example, to write his Gospel, and when he sent Timothy to sort out the Ephesian church. I would even dare to say that in Corinth Paul acted like a servant of Christ, whereas in Ephesus he became a steward of the mysteries of God. COMMENTARY ON 1 CORINTHIANS 2.18.10-16.

IN ACCORD WITH THE APOSTLES. AMBROSIASTER: Paul says this because some of the Corinthians were denigrating him. He did not preach anything different from the apostles. By calling himself a servant of Christ and a steward of the mysteries of God, Paul implicitly points out who the false apostles are. He denies that what they preach is of Christ, because it is not in accord with apostolic tradition. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

MYSTERIES NOT GIVEN INDISCRIMINATELY. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul honors the Corinthians by calling them servants and makes this even more precise when he adds the term stewards. For we should not give the mysteries of God indiscriminately to everyone, but only to those to whom they are due and to whom it is right that we should minister. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 10.5.

1 Cor