2 Corinthians 11:18 Commentary and Bible Study

‘On this occasion, in response to this specific problem, I too will glory’, says the apostle. His opponents were not slow to speak of their accomplishments, and because of the vicious attack they had launched against him which focused on his person, and because they set against his weaknesses their own triumphs and strength, Paul must also say something about his external accomplishments which the Lord had worked in him. The Corinthians admired the false teachers because they set too high a value on externals: on circumcision, on ethnicity, on oratory, on stature, on self-confidence. Most of the claims of the Judaisers were exaggerated. They set a terrible example to the people, for all is accomplished only by the power of the Spirit, but these boasted in the flesh and therefore stole from the Spirit the credit for what they accomplished. Paul is not going to do as they do and boast about his gifts; he will not boast ‘after the flesh’ in a sinful way, from sinful motivation, but he will for once speak of himself. Nevertheless, he is still careful about what he says, and even in his glorying he is so different from the false teachers. He is careful to give the credit to Christ and if he speaks of himself, as he tells us, he speaks of those things in which he is weak and suffers. He is still teaching the Corinthians and warning them in all of this. His motive is to protect them from harm, to help them open their eyes to see for themselves the corruption of the false teachers.