Judgment of Man and Judgment of God

1 Cor 4:1-5 in the Context of 3:18–4:5

Abstract

While at the origin of the Christian faith believers have striven to soften the hardness of the cross, Paul lifts up the cross before our eyes (Gal 3:1) as the only source of salvation (Gal 2:21; 1 Cor 1:17). In this way, Paul elaborates the theology of the cross: he starts the event from the contingency of its appearance and presents it as the eschatological saving event: reference to the little ones, to the condition of the preachers. In the center is the cross, determining a before (the world) and an after (the Spirit). This event of the cross indicates the mandatory passage for the believer.