2 Corinthians 10:1 Commentary and Bible Study

This is a chapter which establishes the apostle Paul’s special authority in the early church, given to him directly by God. But it more particularly uncovers the unbelieving or atheistic mind-set.The first phrase asserts Paul’s apostolic authority, and a casual reading may not find that particularly important, but it is unusual and in the Greek very emphatic. It is necessary for him to do this because the Corinthians church had been infiltrated by false teachers from Judea, and one thing they did was to denigrate the apostle, who had brought the gospel to Corinth and many had been converted. Here was this young church, large and active, and on the whole composed of very soundly converted and good people, but it was not without problems. Some had been swept off their feet by these false teachers, and were beginning to look upon Paul as unreliable entirely, two-faced. He had even been accused of verbal bullying. Well, he was an apostle, born out of due time he tells us, but just as much an apostle as the twelve commissioned by the risen Lord. Those apostles were never to be repeated in the history of the church. They were personally commissioned by the risen Lord, and they were authenticated by his power to do signs and wonders and mighty deeds.But note how he puts it – ‘But I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ.’ He was not such an apostle as to boss the people around. He appealed to them as those who loved the Lord, and who owed the Lord their obedience. He reasoned with them. The last part of the verse refers obliquely to the false teachers’ criticisms of him. ‘Who in presence am base among you.’ When I write I am a bully, they say. When I am with you, I am contemptible and weak and not to be respected. Well, there was some basis for that physically. The apostle Paul was a small man. In a very physical age this mattered to many. He was not somebody who possessed powerful physical magnetism. And his speech – it was cultured apparently, but not aggressive or militant or commanding. These were Greeks; they loved oratory; they loved flowery reasoning, even if they did not understand half the words. Paul was not like that. He reasoned very closely, but he spoke simply, directly, and earnestly, so it was easy for his critics to make him out to be contemptible. And yet when the Spirit was present, the hearts of multitudes was gripped. He was a sick man, constantly suffering from affliction and heavily persecuted, a man who was old before his time, but nevertheless when the Spirit was present, his words penetrated the heart.