Men tend to fret over the motives behind others’ actions. Instead, men should trust the Lord to deal with the motives at the judgment seat of Christ.
It is always right to do right, but it is more perfectly right to do right for the right reasons. In other words, serve the Lord, but do so out of a pure motive.
Far too many believers today are guilty of a very dangerous practice of usurping authority that does not rightfully belong to them. As an apostle, Paul was given an elevated level of authority. As expressed in his writings, Paul understood that his authority differed from that of the other believers in Corinth. It is important to recognize that the apostles’ authority ended with their deaths. Believers only have the authority given to them in accordance to the holy scriptures. Unfortunately, many well-meaning Christians attempt to claim authority that belonged only to a special group of men that lived during the church’s infancy. This authority was given to them in order to confirm the word (Mark 16:14-20). Authority today resides within the word itself.
