Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 1 Corinthians 4:7

"For who maketh thee to differ? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? but if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?" — 1 Corinthians 4:7 (ASV)

Some Christians evidently were boasting because of their talents, positions, and parties. So Paul puts the rhetorical question to them: “What do you have that you did not receive?” The obvious answer is that they received everything from God and had no right to boast. He therefore derides their conceit by a series of dramatic boasts of theirs: they, so they think, have all they need; they are rich and are reigning like kings, even without any help from Paul. The Corinthians evidently thought they had reached full maturity and were ruling and reigning rather than walking humbly with God.