1 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 4
The Work of the Ministers of Christ. 1 Cor. 4, 1—21.
The apostle's fatherly discipline: V. 16. Wherefore I beseech you, Be ye followers of me. V. 17. For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.
Of his right as father the apostle now makes use: I beseech you, then, become imitators of me, v. 16. The children should show the character of the father, they should make him their model, they should imitate him, they should follow him in his conduct as a Christian and true disciple of the Lord. If this way was one of cross and affliction (vv. 9—12), it would incidentally serve to strengthen their character and to make them safer against denial, now and in the days to come.
In order that this object might be accomplished, Paul had either just sent, or was sending with this letter, his young assistant, whom he calls a beloved child of his and faithful in the Lord, 1 Tim. 1, 2; 2 Tim. 1, 2. Timothy had also been converted through the work of Paul, had through his efforts derived spiritual life, and was therefore regarded by the apostle as a true son.
And since his characteristic, through the agency of the Lord Jesus Christ in his heart, was faithfulness in his Christian conduct, therefore he was the very man for this mission: Who shall remind you of my ways in Christ Jesus, just as I teach everywhere, in every congregation. The Corinthians had evidently forgotten, not only a large part of Paul's doctrine, but also his habits of life which he showed in their midst; their knowledge had been repressed by those evil influences which Paul has spoken of throughout the letter. No more fitting person, therefore, could have been found to recall both the conduct and the words of Paul than the man whom Paul had selected as his representative, who would do his reminding in accordance with Paul's teaching, for this was uniform in all the Gentile congregations. For they surely did not want to separate themselves from that apostolic doctrine which was in vogue everywhere; they would surely heed the kind admonition of his personal representative and return to proper Christian sanity.