Am I not free? am I not an apostle? have I not seen Jesus our Lord? are not *ye* my work in [the] Lord?
Paul has just warned the Corinthians about a use of freedom that trips up weaker believers. Now he turns the argument on himself with four sharp questions. Some at Corinth were disputing whether he was a real apostle. He answers by pointing to what he had seen, and to what they themselves were.
The chapter is not a change of subject. Paul now offers himself as the example: a man who had rights and chose not to use them.
This follows well on his exhortation in the previous chapter. There he corrects a use of liberty that might trip up the weak. It was certainly not so with him. He did not even use his right to be supported while he was among them.
His freedom is real, and he says so first. But freedom in service never meant that he answered to no one.
It is often just this lack of true balance that ruins the path of service. Some claim liberty and refuse subjection. Others press subjection and deny freedom in service. "Am I not free?" asked the apostle in 1 Corinthians 9:1. He said he was "free from all" (v. 19) in the work entrusted to him. Even so, he made himself the servant of all for their good. Yet he was truly subject: "not as without law to God, but as legitimately subject to Christ" (v. 21). No servant enjoyed greater freedom!
The third question is his credential. Commentators note a difference between Paul and the other apostles.
One of the proofs of an apostle was that he had seen the Lord. In 1 Corinthians 9:1, Paul says, "Am I not an apostle? … Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?" The twelve apostles had seen the Lord Jesus as a Man on earth. They received their authority as apostles from Him then. Paul also truly had seen the Lord, but he had seen Him in the glory. And it was from the glory, from the Lord Himself in the glory, that Paul had received his authority as an apostle.
Kelly grants one point to Paul's opponents, then names where his authority came from.
He affirms his independence of any human yoke as clearly as his apostleship. Liberty went hand in hand with the highest responsibility. Nor was his office vague or secondary. He had seen Jesus our Lord. His critics were right this far: he had received no rank from the group of apostles, and no commission from Jerusalem. Others might claim to succeed the twelve apostles, and claim it falsely. Paul had his authority straight from the Lord seen on high.
The fourth question needs no research. Paul's readers only have to look at themselves. (Other translations read, "are not you my work in the Lord?")
The Corinthians had been calling into question the apostolic authority of Paul. How does he meet this? He points them to themselves. God called them and turned them from idols to Himself, and that call is "the seal of his apostleship." It is as though he said, "If Christ has not spoken by me, how is it that you are Christians?"
Their doubt turns back on them.
Verse 2 gives a crushing answer to those among them who had listened to his opponents and were ready to question his apostleship. They were themselves the proof that his work was genuine! To throw doubt on the reality of his work was to throw doubt on the reality of their own conversion.
If seeing the risen Lord is what makes an apostle, no one can pass the office on.
The mark of an apostle was that he could bear witness to Christ's resurrection… Paul had never seen Jesus during His life, or in the forty days before He went up to heaven. Even so, he rests his apostleship on the same ground. "Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?" … This was a condition of apostleship. So it is clear that no one who has not seen the risen Christ could be an apostle. In other words, apostles were only temporary gifts.
- Free — Paul opens by claiming full liberty, yet he is "legitimately subject to Christ". Freedom in service and subjection to the Master belong together. Losing either one ruins the path of service.
- Sent — his office is not vague or second-hand. He had no rank from the other apostles and no commission from Jerusalem. His authority came straight from the Lord seen in glory.
- Seen — the twelve had seen Jesus as a Man on earth; Paul saw Him in the glory, and that sight is what makes him an apostle at all.
- Sealed — he does not produce a certificate; he points at the Corinthians. To deny his apostleship they would have to deny their own conversion.
- Sole — seeing the risen Christ was the condition. So apostles were a temporary gift, and no line of successors can claim the same place.
If I am not an apostle to others, yet at any rate I am to you for the seal of mine apostleship are *ye* in [the] Lord.
Paul founded the church at Corinth, and now the very people he led to Christ were asking whether he was a real apostle. His proof is not a document or a title but the Corinthians themselves, whom he calls a "seal."
The chapter opens in the middle of a dispute.
We know from the Second Letter that some were questioning Paul's apostleship. So he opens this part of his letter with a short assertion of his apostleship, and of his liberty as well. He had the outstanding mark of an apostle, for he had seen "Jesus Christ, our Lord." And how could the Corinthians have any doubt about it? They were the seal and proof of it. Their existence as an assembly grew out of his "work in the Lord."
Behind the attack lay a charge about money.
False teachers accused the apostle. They claimed that he carried on his gospel preaching and his labours from selfish motives, and that he took the property of Christians, taking advantage of their devotion. So he speaks of his ministry.
A seal in Scripture carries several ideas, and this verse uses one of them.
One use of the seal was to ratify a resolution or decision. We may add the thought of proof of a mission or service, as in 1 Corinthians 9:2. And when high officials used a seal, it carried an unmistakable thought of authority. No one who feared that official's power would dare to break the seal.
Paul's whole argument comes down to one question.
The Corinthians had been calling into question the apostolic authority of Paul. How does he meet this? He appeals to themselves — to God's own call of them, when He turned them from idols to Himself, "as the seal of his apostleship." It is as though he said, "If Christ has not spoken through me, how is it that you are Christians?"
His critics were right about one thing: no human body had licensed him.
He affirms his freedom from any human yoke as clearly as his apostleship. Liberty went hand in hand with the highest responsibility. His office was not vague or secondary. He had seen Jesus our Lord. His detractors were right this far: he had received no degree from the apostolic college, no mission from Jerusalem. Others might claim to follow in succession from the twelve apostles, and claim it falsely. Paul had his authority directly from the Lord seen on high... If he was not an apostle to others, surely those should not deny it who were its seal in the Lord.
Paul does not appeal to outside witnesses. He turns to what the Corinthians knew about themselves.
Paul appeals to their consciences. Did he not have the credentials of an apostle? They could not fairly dispute that he had seen the Lord, and certainly not that they themselves had been converted through him. No one of these facts alone was proof of apostleship. But these, together with his own witness of God's clear appointment of him, were evidence their consciences could not ignore... Therefore their own state as Christians was proof of his apostleship. Whether others recognised this or not, they ought to.
Paul needed no written reference for Corinth. He pointed to changed lives instead.
If anyone had asked Paul, "Are you sure you are called to this work?" he could have replied, "If you have any doubts about it, go to Corinth, and you will see the effects of my calling." The saints in Corinth were his letter, his letter of commendation as to his apostleship.
- Challenge. Critics at Corinth questioned Paul's apostleship and hinted that he served for personal gain.
- Credential. A seal ratifies and proves a mission. The converted Corinthians were that proof — his work in the Lord, standing in front of him.
- Source. Paul's commission came straight from the Lord seen in glory. No degree from Jerusalem and no claimed line of succession lay behind it.
- Scope. Others might not accept him. But the people he led to Christ carried the evidence in their own hearts. If Christ had not spoken through him, how were they Christians at all?
- Result. Where God works through a servant, changed people become the letter of recommendation. Anyone can go and read it.