IN this chapter Paul is concerned to establish his authority so that he can address the problems in Corinth with success. Unless they accept his authority as an apostle, his teaching and correction will be rejected.

VERSES 1-5

Paul first urges the church in Corinth to regard him as a servant of Christ entrusted with the secret things of God. By this he means that the Corinthians should accept that he comes to them with the word of Christ, and so he has the authority of Christ.

Having said this he owns that having been given this trust from Christ it is essential that he is faithful and only teaches what Christ has told him to teach. The Corinthians had shown they doubted both his authority and faithfulness, so Paul goes on to say that he cares very little for their opinion of him; nor of human opinion. He even says he does not trust his own opinion of himself. He tells them that what matters is the opinion of Christ, and referring to Christ's assessment of his ministry at the judgement when everything hidden will be exposed, he implies that on that day he will be approved by God. Paul was seeking to establish his teaching as being faithful to the word of Christ.

VERSES 6-7.

So Paul goes on to emphasise that he applies what he has been saying to himself, and he does this to emphasise that what is important is being faithful to what is written – that is the inspired word of God. By this Paul claims that the Corinthians can prove he is faithful by searching in the Old Testament Scriptures.

If the Corinthians will accept this then they will not take pride in any one man instead of another. The point is that we are all the same, being receivers of everything from Christ, and so none of us can glory as if we can take credit for what we have in wisdom and blessing.

VERSES 8-13.

These verses are pure irony. He speaks of the Corinthians claim for themselves with deep irony. They think they are so wonderful, when he and the other apostles were nothing. They had everything as they suppose, whereas Paul was despised and thought a fool, and had to take from them all the insults they threw at him. Paul is challenging the Corinthians to face the awful way they were treating him, and his care for them. He does this with irony because they thought themselves so wise and did not know how spurious and wrong their attitude was.

VERSES 14-17.

Paul then seeks to make them understand that all this irony was not to shame them, but to bring them to their senses – to warn them of the harm they were doing to themselves and the church.

Paul loves them as his spiritual children, and all he says to them is in love. He does not want them to have their relationship to Christ destroyed.

So Paul reminds them that they owe their spiritual life to him because he was the one God used to bring them to Christ. Because this was so Paul urges them to imitate him. To bring the Corinthians to the right attitude Paul says he is sending Timothy to them so that he may commend both the life and teaching of Paul to the Corinthians in order that then they will receive his fatherly instruction for their good, and not reject it and so go further away from Christ and his blessings.

VERSES 18-21.

Paul finishes this exhortation by seeking to punch a hole in the arrogance of the Corinthians. They could be arrogant when they had no fear that Paul would come in person, so Paul says he is determined to visit them again, if God so wills, and then these arrogant church members will be challenged as to whether their assertions are only talk or whether there is power in them.

Paul warns them that talk means nothing. Talk is very easy, but is the talk backed up by real spiritual power? The only validity for our words comes only from the power of God manifested in backing up the talk. The question always is this – does God honour what we teach and say with his blessing. If he does not then however arrogant we are in what we say, all the talk is of no value.