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No.3. The only ground of boasting
(I Cor. i. 31; iii. 21 - 23).
In the preceding article we were concerned largely with the faction and division that raised the party cries ‘I am of Paul, I am of Apollos’ etc., and realized that this party spirit is in mind right through the section, Paul, Apollos and Cephas being mentioned by name in the closing verses of chapter iii.
‘Glorying’ or ‘boasting’ falls into two main groups, namely, those things in which the believer can boast, and those things in which he cannot or must not boast. Those references which do not fall under one or other of these categories will need to be considered separately.
(1) Legitimate grounds of boasting for the believer.
This list can be headed with the words of I Cor. i. 31:
“He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”
The only true ground of boasting or glorying for a sinner saved by grace is expressed in the words of Gal. vi. 14:
“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
It is the characteristic of the true believer that he is one that:
“Worships God in spirit, boasts or glories in Christ Jesus, and has no confidence in the flesh” (Phil. iii. 13).
This boasting, while it may be expressed in faltering tones here and now, will be fully expressed in the day of redemption,
“that I may rejoice, boast or glory, in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain” (Phil. ii. 16).
This relation of the apostle’s “boasting” in that day, with the faithfulness of those believers who came under his care, is more fully announced when he said:
“For what is our hope, or joy, or crown or rejoicing (or glorying)? Are not ever ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?” (I Thess. ii. 19).
When the Apostle would bring the first great section of Romans to a conclusion, which he does in Rom. v. 1-11, he writes his exultant praise around three occurrences of kauchaomai thus:
A1 | 1, 2. BOASTING in hope.
B | 3-. Not only so.
A2 | -3-10. BOASTING in tribulation also.
B | 11-. Not only so.
A3 | -11. BOASTING in God.
The interposition of the ‘glorying in tribulations also’ brings us to another aspect of truth. It must not be assumed from the rigorous denial of all grounds of boasting in self and the flesh, that Paul was austere or unsympathetic in his dealings with fellow believers—the opposite is the truth. He finds some grounds for thanksgiving in the opening salutation of the epistle to the Corinthians, even though the bulk of the epistle exposes such aberration and folly as to cause the Apostle to weep. After all that he has said to the contrary he said he would ‘boast’ in himself, but not in his prowess his wisdom, his success, but in his infirmities!
“He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me . . . . . for when I am weak, then I am strong” (II Cor. xii. 9, 10).
He who could glory in tribulations and infirmities as did the Apostle, was no defeatist or cynic; he was an exultant believer delivered once and for ever from the vanity of self-justification, and could, from that standpoint, see that even his own acknowledged frailty but emphasized the power of Christ upon him. In much the same way, the same Apostle who resolutely set aside all boasting in self and in men, could punctuate II Cor. vii.-ix. with this boasting in the generosity of the Corinthian church.
“Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation” (II Cor. vii. 4).
Other references to the same theme are II Cor. vii. 14; viii. 24 and ix. 3, 4. But in all this the discerning reader will see that there is no boasting in the flesh. To this end, the concluding verse of II Cor. ix. should be pondered. When he had said all that could be said about the liberality of the Corinthians and their magnificent response, he gives the whole passage a significant turn at the end by saying:
“Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable Gift” (II Cor. ix. 15).
Similarly when Paul said that he had whereof he could boast through Jesus Christ, it was ‘in those things which pertain to God’, which the context reveals to be the grace given to him as the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles (Rom. xv. 15-20). In like manner, in the self-same chapter of Galatians where he writes ‘God forbid that I should boast’ he says “But let every man prove his own work and then shall he have rejoicing (or a ground of boasting) in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden (or allotted task, pack or load)” (Gal. vi. 4, 5).
(2) The Apostle has brought together a series of reasons to show that boasting in human merit, when the subject is related to sin and salvation, is entirely excluded.
Again we can head this list with quotations from the passages in Corinthians that are before us:
“That no flesh should glory in His presence” (I Cor. i. 29).
“Therefore let no man glory in men” (I Cor. iii. 21).
In his two fundamental epistles, namely Romans and Ephesians, while the dispensations differ and the sphere of blessing differs, they are in accord regarding the question of boasting in self. Having brought the great question of justification by faith without the deeds of the law to its triumphant conclusion in Rom. iii. 19-26, he puts the question and supplies the answer.
“Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith” (Rom. iii. 27).
In like manner, in Ephesians, he speaks of salvation and boasting:
“By grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. ii. 8, 9).
The classic example of Abraham occupies a large portion of the opening section of Rom. i. 1 - v.11, and there we read:
“What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?” (Rom. iv. 1).
All that Paul has said is summed up in the words of I Cor. i. 29 “That no flesh should glory in His presence”.
It might be well if we remember that enopion “In His Presence” is translated “in His sight” in Rom. iii. 20:
“There shall be no flesh justified in His sight” (Rom. iii. 20).
The intensive form katenopion and its usage makes any boasting in the presence of God, excepting boasting in the Lord, impossible. The word occurs but five times. Two references deal with witness (II Cor. ii. 17; xii. 19), the remaining three with complete and unconditional acceptance.
“According as He hath chosen us in Him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame BEFORE Him” (Eph. i. 4).
“In the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His SIGHT” (Col. i. 22).
What more fitting conclusion to an article like this can there be than the doxology of the epistle of Jude:
“Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless BEFORE THE PRESENCE of His glory, with exceeding joy, TO the only wise God our Saviour, be glory, and majesty, dominion and power both now and ever. Amen.” (Jude 24, 25).
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(From The Berean Expositor vol. 41, page 115).
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