Wed, 22 February, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.
1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? 2 If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
In this section of his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul is dealing with people who are questioning his authority. And so he asks the rhetorical question, Am I not an apostle? Why is Paul an apostle? Because he was specially appointed an apostle when Jesus Christ appeared to him. And Paul tells us that the churches formed under his ministry, especially the church at Corinth, are the result of his apostleship.
What do we learn from this?
God worked specially in Paul, calling him to the role of apostle (sent one) to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. He has faithfully served in this role. He doesn’t lightly throw around His credentials, just to impress people, but because of the harm that was going on in the church. He is greatly concerned for them, and he is afraid of the harm caused by those who who are undermining Paul’s authority. And so this chapter is to reassert his credentials and authority.
The role of apostle has died out with the specially appointed apostles of the first century, but God used these apostles to build His church and through the preservation of their writings in the New Testament, He continues to build His church.
Where is Christ in this passage?
When he thinks of the source of his authority, Paul points to what changed his life: Jesus Christ appeared to Paul when he was on the road to Damascus. He was granted a rare privilege, and his life was changed when he encountered Jesus Christ. He went from being Saul the persecutor of the church to being Paul the apostle of Jesus Christ to the church.
