Paul's defense of his apostolic authority
10
Weapons of spiritual warfare
1 Now I, Paul, am myself appealing to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ (I who am ‘humble when present’ among you, but ‘bold when absent’ toward you). 2 Yes, I beg you, that when I am present I may not have to be bold with the confidence that I will ‘dare’ to visit upon some who think that we are walking in a fleshly manner. 3 Well, we do walk about in flesh, but we do not wage war that way,* 4 because the weapons of our warfare are not physical, but are powerful in God for demolishing strongholds:† 5 demolishing sophistries‡ and every arrogance that sets itself up against the knowledge of God; taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ; 6 being ready to punish every act of disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.§
Paul is criticized
7 Do you only look at the ‘face’ of things? If anyone has persuaded himself that he is Christ's, let him consider this again with himself, that just as he is Christ's, so also we are Christ's. 8 Now even if I boast a little to excess about our authority (which the Lord gave us for building up, not to tear you down), I will not act ashamed,* 9 so as not to appear to agree that it is only with letters that I ‘terrify’ you. 10 Because some say, “His letters are ‘heavy’ and forceful, but his physical presence is weak, and his speech can be disdained.” 11 Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters while absent is just what we will be in action when present.
Proper limits for boasting
12 Now we do not dare to class or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves; but they, measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves with themselves, are without understanding.† 13 We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will stay within the boundaries that God assigned to us, a field that includes you. 14 For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we had not reached you, because we did indeed get to you with the Gospel of Christ; 15 nor do we boast ‘off limits’ in the labors of others, but we have hope that as your faith grows our boundaries will be greatly expanded through you, 16 so as to evangelize the regions beyond you‡ (not to boast in work already done in someone else's field).
17 “He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.”§ 18 Because it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but whom the Lord commends.*
* 10:3 Well, at least we shouldn't! † 10:4 The subject of biblical spiritual warfare is generally not well understood in Christian circles. Much of what has been written concerns defensive procedures, but this text speaks of demolishing strongholds (presumably the enemy's, since no one will want to destroy his own), that has to do with taking the offensive. For more on this subject the reader may consult my site: www.prunch.org. ‡ 10:5 A sophistry is a false argument that is presented in such a way as to appear correct, and impressive, especially if not properly analyzed. Satan has purveyed a number of sophistries designed to keep people from the knowledge of God, such as humanism, relativism, materialism, Freudianism, and so on. § 10:6 I suppose that the three gerunds—‘demolishing sophistries’, ‘taking captive every thought’ and ‘being ready to punish’—are some of our weapons, being grammatically subordinated to ‘demolishing strongholds’. In the context, the thoughts we take captive are not our own (though that also is a good thing to do), but those of the enemy's servants. I do this in so many words, aloud or in thought, and thereby avoid unnecessary complications. * 10:8 He is not going to pretend to be ashamed of having overdone the boasting (in the event), since his greater concern here is to cut the ground from under his critics. † 10:12 If you compare yourself with a weakling, you can tell yourself that you are strong, which could get you beaten up. In any case, our standard is “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). ‡ 10:16 Who does the actual evangelizing? Presumably the Corinthians, not Paul himself, so he is saying that their work will contribute to his ‘boundaries’. As my spiritual children pass on my teaching, they are increasing the area that my teaching has reached. § 10:17 See Jeremiah 9:24. * 10:18 Just because God uses or ‘blesses’ someone does not necessarily mean that He is approving of them.