Paul defended his right to preach the gospel in Corinth and denied his critics' claim that they had been responsible for what God had done through Paul there. He did this to vindicate his former actions and to prepare for future ministry in the regions beyond Corinth.
". . . Paul, responding to his opponents' characterization of him as inconsistent, and hence as a flatterer, and of the invidious comparisons of his opponents, attacks the whole convention of self-advertisement by means of a remarkably subtle and forceful parody of its methods."248
What Paul wrote in this section and the following ones helps us to see that some opposition against Paul in Corinth came from Jewish Christians. These critics contested Paul's special calling and his legitimate right to minister to Gentiles. Moreover in their unrestrained self-commendation they were claiming the credit for what God had done through Paul in Corinth.
10:12 In irony Paul claimed to be a coward, as his critics accused, when it came to comparing himself with his critics. They cited their own conduct as normative and then prided themselves on measuring up to the standard. The Corinthians would be just as foolish if they measured Paul's apostolic credentials by using the same subjective standard that his critics applied to themselves.
J. B. Phillips' paraphrase of the first part of this verse captures Paul's irony well.
"Of course, we shouldn't dare include ourselves in the same class as those who write their own testimonials, or even to compare ourselves with them!"249
10:13-14 Evidently Paul's critics were claiming that the apostle had exceeded the proper limits of his ministry by evangelizing in Corinth. They proudly refused to admit that Paul's commission as the apostle to the Gentiles gave him the right to minister as far from Palestine as Corinth. He responded that he had not exceeded the territorial limits of his commission by planting the church in Gentile Corinth.
Paul's ministry had definite divinely prescribed limits. He was to be the apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15; Rom. 1:5; cf. Gal. 2:9) and he was to do pioneer missionary work (Rom. 15:20). His ministry at Corinth had been within those bounds. He had not overextended his authority by coming to Corinth. It was his critics who were overextending themselves by claiming that Corinth was their special domain.
"We may conjecture that had they come to Corinth and confined their ministry to the synagogue (as Cephas had?), there would have been no problem. The difficulty appears to be that these newcomers are not content with that; they wish to move into Paul's God-assigned field' of ministry, the Gentiles."250
10:15-16 Paul was anxious that all the Corinthians acknowledge that he was not doing what his critics were doing. They were taking credit for what God had done through Paul in Corinth. They were apparently claiming that the spiritual vitality of the Corinthian church was due to their ministry in spite of Paul's influence. This is sometimes a temptation for those who follow others in ministry. Sometimes they confuse unconsciously, or as in the case of Paul's critics consciously, the results of their work and the results of their predecessors' work.
Paul wanted the Corinthians to continue to support him as he reached out to yet unevangelized fields such as Rome and Spain in the future (Acts 19:21; Rom. 1:11; 15:24, 28). He hoped that his ministry would take him even farther still.
Pioneer evangelism precluded the possibility of Paul falling into the error of his critics. He could not claim the credit for what his predecessors had done since he had no predecessors when he planted a new church. Paul did not want to build on, much less take credit for, the foundational work that his predecessors had done but to preach the gospel in previously unevangelized areas (Rom. 15:18-21). He did not, however, object to others building on the foundation that he had laid or watering what he had planted (1 Cor. 3:6, 10). He did object to their failing to give credit where credit was due.
Paul spoke as though his future was in the Corinthians' hands. It was because for Paul to proceed into unreached areas he needed to have his former churches, including Corinth, in good spiritual condition. Paul did not just want to plant as many churches as he could. He wanted to plant a church and then make sure it continued to follow the Lord faithfully before he moved on to plant other churches. If it did not, he felt responsible to get it spiritually healthy before he moved on. The faith of the Corinthians would continue to grow as they responded positively to Paul's instructions. Then they would be able to provide the support (prayer and perhaps financial) that was essential for him to expand his ministry (v. 15b).
10:17-18 In summary, Paul purposed not to take credit for (boast in) what others had accomplished in their service for Christ. He could not even boast about what he had accomplished since it was God who was at work through him. His only boast therefore would be the Lord. He quoted Jeremiah who expressed this thought well (Jer. 9:24; cf. 1 Cor. 1:31). The only commendation worth anything is the work that God has done through His servants, not their words. This is His commendation of them (cf. 5:9).
"In the Christian church, indeed, self-commendation should be viewed with suspicion as a mark of disqualification. God's commendation of a person is shown, not by verbal boasts, but by the testimony of the consciences of those who have experienced the blessing attendant upon that person's labours and by the continuing and increasing fruits of his labours (cf. 4:2, 5:11)."251
In this chapter the contrast between Paul's view of ministry and his critics' view stands out clearly. They had different motives, different authority, different loyalties, different objectives, and different procedures. In all these contrasts Paul emerges as the truly Spirit-led apostle.
"If there is currently a temptation to import models of ministry from management, the social sciences, or academia, the New Testament sources indicate the inadequacy of all nonbiblical models."252
"The import of this passage is threefold. First, Paul establishes that the spreading of the gospel is the priority of Christian ministry. In Paul's case this meant the mission to the Gentiles to which he was called by God on the road to Damascus, as recognized by the missionary concordat of Jerusalem c. A.D. 47. Second, because the existence of another mission--that to the Jews--brought its own complications and tensions, accepted principles of cooperation were needed, as they continue to be in comparable situations. Third, self-commendation in Christian ministry is excluded. The Lord commends his servants for ministry by the fruits of their ministry."253
