1 Corinthians 4:5

Wherefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall each man have his praise from God.

It is a mistake to read into such passages as this and in 1 Corinthians 15:51 that "Paul evidently expected the Advent of Christ within the lifetime of himself and his converts."[12] Since the time of the Second Advent was unknown by all of the apostolic preachers, and not even known by the Lord himself as a man (Matthew 24:36), it was altogether proper that the certainty of that event (whenever it was to come) was a legitimate basis of appeal and motivation for Christians of EVERY generation, including the first. It is a positive certainty that both Christ and his apostles taught that the Second Coming was an event to be expected at a very remote time in the future, although not impossible at ANY TIME. See my Commentary on Luke, pp. 456-457. Paul's great prophecy of the apostasy (2 Thessalonians 2:1,2) makes it certain that he did not expect the coming of Christ in his own lifetime; and the apostle John devoted the last chapter of his gospel to shooting down the proposition that Jesus had promised to come in John's lifetime (John 21:23).

The import of this verse, according to Morris, is "Stop judging!"[13] This injunction is necessary because: (1) the only judgment that matters will be announced by the Lord at the final judgment and, besides that; (2) people do not have sufficient information or competence to judge one another, not even themselves.

Each man shall have his praise from God ... Shore's perceptive comment on this is: "God, unlike man who selects only some one for praise, will give to every worker his own share of approval."[14] Moreover, it must not be supposed that no blame will be assigned in the judgment, for "The word rendered praise denotes in this place reward,"[15] indicating that God will reward every man according to his works "whether good or bad" (2 Corinthians 5:10). Some misunderstand this place as teaching universal salvation, as Johnson for example, "Wonder of wonders - every man (believer) shall have some praise from God!"[16] Regarding Paul's probable reason for stressing praise rather than blame in this verse, Farrar noted that:

He was thinking of faithful teachers like Cephas, Apollos and himself, who were depreciated by rival factions; and like all the apostles, he had an invariable tendency to allude to the bright side, rather than the dark side of judgment.[17]

The hidden things ... and "counsels, of the hearts ..." show "how much that is needful for a correct estimate of people's conduct lies now under an impenetrable veil."[18]

The background of Paul's teaching in these profound lines was a sordid condition among the community of Corinthian believers.

There must have been a very considerable group of church leaders, Paul's own converts, who, in Paul's absence, had become influential and self-important, and were trying to run away with the church. They had become haughty, overbearing, and boastful in their attitude toward Paul.[19]

[12] J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 898.

[13] Leon Morris, Tyndale Commentary (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1958), p. 76.

[14] T. Teignmouth Shore, Ellicott's Commentary on the Holy Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House), p. 298.

[15] Albert Barnes, op. cit., p. 71.

[16] S. Lewis Johnson, Jr., Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), p 599

[17] F. W. Farrar, op. cit., p. 133.

[18] John Wesley, One Volume New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1972), in loco.

[19] Henry H. Halley, Bible Handbook (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1927), P. 545.