Paul Defends his Ministry
1Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you: 2But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. 3For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 6And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
7Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's. 8For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed: 9That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters. 10For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible. 11Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present.
12For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. 13But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you. 14For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ: 15Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men's labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly, 16To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand. 17But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. 18For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.
King James Bible
Text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.
Paul’s Apostolic Authority
1 Now I Paul, myself, entreat you by the humility and gentleness of Christ; I who in your presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you. 2 Yes, I beg you that I may not, when present, show courage with the confidence with which I intend to be bold against some, who consider us to be walking according to the flesh. 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we don’t wage war according to the flesh; 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds, 5 throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; 6 and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience will be made full.
7 Do you look at things only as they appear in front of your face? If anyone trusts in himself that he is Christ’s, let him consider this again with himself, that, even as he is Christ’s, so also we are Christ’s. 8 For though I should boast somewhat abundantly concerning our authority, (which the Lord gave for building you up, and not for casting you down) I will not be disappointed, 9 that I may not seem as if I desire to terrify you by my letters. 10 For, “His letters,” they say, “are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech is despised.” 11 Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such are we also in deed when we are present.
12 For we are not bold to number or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But they themselves, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves with themselves, are without understanding. 13 But we will not boast beyond proper limits, but within the boundaries with which God appointed to us, which reach even to you. 14 For we don’t stretch ourselves too much, as though we didn’t reach to you. For we came even as far as to you with the Good News of Christ, 15 not boasting beyond proper limits in other men’s labors, but having hope that as your faith grows, we will be abundantly enlarged by you in our sphere of influence, 16 so as to preach the Good News even to the parts beyond you, not to boast in what someone else has already done. 17 But “he who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.” 18 For it isn’t he who commends himself who is approved, but whom the Lord commends.
Paul’s Apostolic Authority
1 Now by the mildness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am humble when face to face with you, but bold when away. 2 I beg you that when I come I may not need to be as bold as I expect toward those who presume that we live according to the flesh.
3 For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh. 4 The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We tear down arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, as soon as your obedience is complete.
7 You are looking at outward appearances. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should remind himself that we belong to Christ just as much as he does. 8 For even if I boast somewhat excessively about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed.
9 I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you by my letters. 10 For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but his physical presence is unimpressive, and his speaking is of no account.” 11 Such people should consider that what we are in our letters when absent, we will be in our actions when present.
12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they show their ignorance. 13 We, however, will not boast beyond our limits, but only within the field of influence that God has assigned to us—a field that reaches even to you. 14 We are not overstepping our bounds, as if we had not come to you. Indeed, we were the first to reach you with the gospel of Christ.
15 Neither do we boast beyond our limits in the labors of others. But we hope that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you will greatly increase as well, 16 so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. Then we will not be boasting in the work already done in another man’s territory.
17 Rather, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” a 18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
Footnotes:
17 a Jeremiah 9:24
Paul Defends his Ministry
1And I, Paul, myself, do call upon you -- through the meekness and gentleness of the Christ -- who in presence, indeed am humble among you, and being absent, have courage toward you, 2and I beseech you, that, being present, I may not have courage, with the confidence with which I reckon to be bold against certain reckoning us as walking according to the flesh; 3for walking in the flesh, not according to the flesh do we war, 4for the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful to God for bringing down of strongholds, 5reasonings bringing down, and every high thing lifted up against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of the Christ, 6and being in readiness to avenge every disobedience, whenever your obedience may be fulfilled.
7The things in presence do ye see? if any one hath trusted in himself to be Christ's, this let him reckon again from himself, that according as he is Christ's, so also we are Christ's; 8for even if also anything more abundantly I shall boast concerning our authority, that the Lord gave us for building up, and not for casting you down, I shall not be ashamed; 9that I may not seem as if I would terrify you through the letters, 10because the letters indeed -- saith one -- are weighty and strong, and the bodily presence weak, and the speech despicable.' 11This one -- let him reckon thus: that such as we are in word, through letters, being absent, such also, being present, we are in deed.
12For we do not make bold to rank or to compare ourselves with certain of those commending themselves, but they, among themselves measuring themselves, and comparing themselves with themselves, are not wise, 13and we in regard to the unmeasured things will not boast ourselves, but after the measure of the line that the God of measure did appoint to us -- to reach even unto you; 14for not as not reaching to you do we stretch ourselves overmuch, for even unto you did we come in the good news of the Christ, 15not boasting of the things not measured, in other men's labours, and having hope -- your faith increasing -- in you to be enlarged, according to our line -- into abundance, 16in the places beyond you to proclaim good news, not in another's line in regard to the things made ready, to boast; 17and he who is boasting -- in the Lord let him boast; 18for not he who is commending himself is approved, but he whom the Lord doth commend.
2 Corinthians 10
The Authority of Paul’s Ministry
¹ By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you, brothers and sisters. I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” when away! ² I beg you that when I come, I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think we live by the standards of this world.*
Spiritual Warfare
³ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.*
Paul’s Authority and Obedience
⁶ And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. ⁷ You are judging by appearances. If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do. ⁸ So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it.*
The Dangers of Comparison
⁹ I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. ¹⁰ For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.” ¹¹ Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.*
Paul’s Focus on His Mission
¹² We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. ¹³ We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the field God has assigned to us, a field that reaches even to you. ¹⁴ We are not going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you with the gospel of Christ.
¹⁵ Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that as your faith continues to grow, our area of activity among you will greatly expand, ¹⁶ so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, for we do not want to boast about work already done in another’s territory.*
The True Basis of Boasting
¹⁷ But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” ¹⁸ For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.*
Footnotes:
•10:2: Paul expresses a contrast between his demeanor in person and in writing, addressing potential misunderstandings about his authority and character.
•10:5: The term “strongholds” refers to entrenched beliefs or systems that oppose the knowledge of God. Paul emphasizes the need to confront these with spiritual weapons.
•10:6: Paul signals that obedience is essential for the community’s growth and spiritual health, indicating a reciprocal relationship between the leaders and the church.
•10:10: This highlights criticism Paul faced regarding his physical presence and speaking abilities, emphasizing that effective ministry is not about outward appearance.
•10:12: Paul warns against the folly of self-commendation and the danger of comparison, promoting a focus on God’s standards rather than human measures.
•10:16: The “regions beyond you” implies Paul’s vision for evangelism and growth, encouraging the Corinthians to see their role in a broader mission.
•10:17: Quoting scripture, Paul stresses that true validation comes from God rather than self-promotion, reinforcing the humble posture of a servant leader.
