Chapter ten begins a part of the letter that is full of passion and personal information about Paul and his ministry. In this part (10–13), the apostle defends himself and his ministry against his opponents.
The apostle defends himself against his adversaries (10:1–12:13):
Paul informs them about his planned visit (12:14–13:10) This section can be divided as follow:
13:11–13 - the final advice and blessing.
10:1–11
10:1–2.9–11
Two arguments against Paul:
10:3–8
The second ‘accusation’ gets the main response. Paul plays on the phrase: “walking in the flesh”. The accusation was “walking according to the flesh” - which basically means to live by the worldly/social (in a negative sense) standards - selfish, human-centered.
Paul makes a small change to this claim: “walking in (not according to) the flesh” - which means to live in this world.
Like everybody else, he lives in the flesh - after all he is a human being like others, but his standards are different. He is entirely focused on God and Christ.
10:4–5 (Jer 1:10) - the power of God’s word - mightier than sword. Three things are mentioned here:
This is a powerful statement describing the aim of an apostle in proclaiming the Gospel. Ideas matter. If false ideas spread in the world, the people will act falsely as well. That is why the Gospel is so needed.
10:6 - Obedience to Christ has to be understood as in Rom 1:5 - the obedience of faith. The Gospel is directed to that aim (Rom 1:5). Disobedience means a life of sin - opposition to God (Rom 3:10–12).
Apparently, the obedience of faith has to grow into perfection (see 2 Cor 7:1).
10:7 - probably another argument against Paul that he does not really know Christ. A similar argument was advanced in Galatia (see Gal 1:6–7.11). Somehow we can realize that Paul’s past always hunted him. The facts that he persecuted the Church and that he was not the part of the Twelve (like Peter and James) were often used by his enemies to discredit him and his ministry.
10:8 - But there is one thing that his adversaries always omit. Paul was the founder of those communities - they cannot claim this. It was Paul who brought them to Christ, not them. This alone gave him an [apostolic] authority over the community, which the others could not claim (1 Cor 4:15).
10:12–18
Now begins the contest: Paul and his adversaries. Who is better? It seems that they praised themselves (2 Cor 11:5.22–23). The main argument of Paul is clear: He has preached the Gospel in Corinth first; they came later. Now, they want to take credit for his work.
10:12 - Probably a reference to the letters of recommendations they brought with themselves when introducing themselves to the community; probably they had to boast - present a curriculum vitae - of their work before. Paul did not have to do it, because the Corinthians were a clear signs of his ‘evangelical achievements’ (see 2 Cor 3:2).
10:13–14 - for “the measure of the rule God” (see Gal 2:9–10). Paul had done it. His opponents are far behind him
10:15–16 - Paul impose on himself another rule (Rom 15:20). Now, he was looking toward other lands where the name of Christ was still yet unknown, Paul wanted to continue acting according to God’s measure assigned to him - preach the Gospel to the Gentiles - and according to his own rule - preach the Gospel only where the name of Christ was yet unknown.
10:17–18 - (see Jer 9:23–24). Good advice to his adversaries and to all of us. A play on the word “commanding”. The Greek meaning is: to introduce (favorably), or (figuratively) to exhibit.
Paul’s adversaries commanded themselves, but were they commanded by the Lord also? Who commands us makes a huge difference.