10-13
Is Paul Sarcastically Referring to Rivalries among the Apostles?
10:8 Now, even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it. 10:9 I do not want to seem as though I am trying to frighten you with my letters. 10:10 For they say, "His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible." 10:11 Let such people understand that what we say by letter when absent, we will also do when present.
10:12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another, and compare themselves with one another, they do not show good sense.
Paul Claims Equality to the "Super-Apostles"
who Proclaim "Another Jesus" and "Another Gospel"
and who have "A Different Spirit" than that of Paul
11:2 I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 11:3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by its cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
11:4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus
than the one we proclaimed,
or if you receive a different spirit
from the one you received,
or a different gospel
from the one you accepted,
you submit to it readily enough.11:5 I think that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles.
11:6 I may be untrained in speech, but not in knowledge; certainly in every way and in all things we have made this evident to you. Compare to "Another Gospel"
And Again
12:11 I have been a fool! You forced me to it. Indeed you should have been the ones commending me,
for I am not at all inferior to these super-apostles,
even though I am nothing.12:12 The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, signs and wonders and mighty works.
Paul Reviles Satanic Boastful False Apostles
11:12 And what I do I will also continue to do, in order to deny an opportunity to those who want an opportunity to be recognized as our equals in what they boast about.
11:13 For such boasters are false apostles, deceitful workers,
disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.11:14 And no wonder!
Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
11:15 So it is not strange if his ministers also disguise themselves
as ministers of righteousness.Their end will match their deeds.
Paul Claims to be a Better Minister than his Jewish Opponents
Describes the Great Psychological Pressures that are on him
11:22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.
11:23 Are they ministers of Christ? I am talking like a madman--I am a better one:
with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death. 11:24 Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 11:25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 11:26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits,
in danger from my own people, in danger from Gentiles,
in danger in the city, in danger in the wilderness, in danger at sea,in danger from false brothers and sisters;
11:27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night,
hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked.11:28 And, besides other things,
I am under daily pressure
because of my anxiety
for all the churches.
Paul Describes (his own?) Psycho-Spiritual Experience
and his own Satanic Tormenter, his "thorn in the flesh"
12:1 It is necessary to boast; nothing is to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.
12:2 I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. 12:3 And I know that such a person--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows-- 12:4 was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat.
12:5 On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. 12:6 But if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me, 12:7 even considering the exceptional character of the revelations.
Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. 12:8 Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, 12:9 but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness."
Paul Anticipates Problems on his Coming Third Visit to Corinth
12:20 For I fear that when I come, I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish;
I fear that there may perhaps be quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. 12:21 I fear that when I come again, my God may humble me before you, and that I may have to mourn over many who previously sinned and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and licentiousness that they have practiced.
13:1 This is the third time I am coming to you. "Any charge must be sustained by the evidence of two or three witnesses."
13:2 I warned those who sinned previously and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come again, I will not be lenient-- 13:3 since you desire proof that Christ is speaking in me.