Sufficient Grace
1 Boasting is necessary. It is not profitable, but I will move on to visions f and revelations g of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who was caught up h to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether he was in the body or out of the body, I don’t know; God knows. 3 I know that this man—whether in the body or out of the body I don’t know; God knows— 4 was caught up into paradise i and heard inexpressible words, which a human being is not allowed to speak. 5 I will boast about this person, but not about myself, except of my weaknesses.
6 For if I want to boast, I wouldn’t be a fool, because I would be telling the truth. j But I will spare you, so that no one can credit me with something beyond what he sees in me or hears from me, 7 especially because of the extraordinary revelations. Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh k was given to me, a messenger of Satan l to torment me so that I would not exalt myself. 8 Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it would leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power m is perfected in weakness.” n
Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. 10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. o For when I am weak, then I am strong. p
Signs of an Apostle
11 I have been a fool; you forced it on me. You ought to have commended me, since I am not in any way inferior to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing. q 12 The signs r of an apostle s were performed with unfailing endurance among you, including signs and wonders t and miracles. u 13 So in what way are you worse off than the other churches, except that I personally did not burden you? Forgive me for this wrong!
Paul’s Concern for the Corinthians
14 Look, I am ready to come to you this third time. v I will not burden you, since I am not seeking what is yours, but you. For children ought not save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 I will most gladly spend and be spent for you. ,w If I love you more, am I to be loved less? 16 Now granted, I did not burden x you; yet sly as I am, I took you in by deceit! y 17 Did I take advantage of you by any of those I sent you? 18 I urged Titus z to go, and I sent the brother with him. Titus didn’t take advantage of you, did he? Didn’t we walk in the same spirit a and in the same footsteps?
19 Have you been thinking all along that we were defending ourselves to you? No, in the sight of God we are speaking in Christ, and everything, dear friends, is for building you up. b 20 For I fear that perhaps when I come I will not find you to be what I want, and you may not find me to be what you want. Perhaps there will be quarreling, c jealousy, d angry outbursts, selfish ambitions, e slander, f gossip, arrogance, and disorder. g 21 I fear that when I come my God will again humiliate me in your presence, and I will grieve for many who sinned before and have not repented h of the moral impurity, sexual immorality, i and sensuality j they practiced.
12:1–5. A final issue, closely related to the third, apparently pertained to the ability to recount previous personal experiences of revelatory visions (12:1–13). Once again, though there is really nothing to be gained by an attempt to supplement the record of divine support that he has already presented, Paul consents to go on “boasting” in an effort to win the wayward Corinthians back to his side (12:1). But once more he does so in a way that shows his reticence to cooperate fully in any contest of credentials proposed by his opponents, speaking modestly of his own experience as only that of a “man in Christ” (12:2).
12:6–10. Furthermore, the Corinthians should know that following the experience of exaltation there came still further moments of weakness (12:7). Paul’s picturesque description has led to a wide range of interpretations concerning the nature of his “thorn in the flesh,” but in the end, little more can be said with certainty than what Paul in fact tells us—namely, that the thorn began to affect him only after his revelatory experience, that it was painful for him, and that it had enabled Satan and the thought of sin to gain entrance to his mind. Paul had “pleaded with the Lord three times” to remove it (12:8). But in response, he received instead divine power that finds its perfect completion when it enables the overcoming of such weakness (12:9).
12:11–13. Accordingly, though he regrets having “been a fool” with a different boast, Paul has shown through it that he deserves to be commended rather than written off as the inferior of his opponents or those whose apostolic authority they might claim as superior to Paul’s (12:11). All the manifestations of divine power have been demonstrated at necessary points in the mission to Corinth, along with a kind of endurance that convinced the Corinthians these were more than the tricks of a charlatan seeking some temporary converts (12:12). Indeed, they have received from Paul all that the other churches have except for the request that they share in the burden of his support (12:13).
F. The conclusion of the appeal (12:14–13:10). 12:14–18. Paul concludes his appeal for Corinthian allegiance to his apostolic authority by informing the church that he is preparing to come to them a third time and urging them in advance to think over what he has said (12:14a). If they do, they will surely see that his reluctance to accept their support is no more difficult to explain than the reluctance of parents to accept their children’s support or to give up the privilege of spending their resources on behalf of those whom they love (12:14b–15). It is just this kind of parental love that Paul has lavished on the church. They can scarcely love him less for it, or for refusing for any reason to burden them with his support.
12:19–21. Paul reiterates, however, that his primary purpose is not his own defense (12:19). Instead, he has written in an attempt to bring the truth—which alone can be spoken in the sight of God—plainly into view, and to strengthen its hold on the minds of the Corinthians. The apostle’s fear is that upon his return, both he and his converts may find that the lies of his detractors have worked so well that neither of them will be happy to learn the truth (12:20a).