1 Corinthians 4:7, "For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?"
The puffed up state of the Corinthian Christians meant there was a pride problem. Though the pride was evident in the cliques around the different apostles, the cliques weren't the problem as much as pride was the problem. Paul addresses their proud hearts with three questions.
Who makes you to differ from another? If there is a difference between us, it is because of what God has done in us. So, there is no reason for pride.
And what do you have that you did not receive? Everything we have has come from God, so there is no reason for pride.
Why do you glory as if you had not received it? If what you have spiritually is a gift from God, why do you glory in it as if it were your own accomplishment? There is no reason for this self-glorying pride.
Augustine used this text often in proclaiming the total depravity of man against the Pelagians. He knew that it taught there is nothing good in us except what we have received from God.
Dear God, I pray to remember that all I have and all I am is from You!!
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