2 Corinthians 11:1-6

Butler's Commentary

SECTION 1

Unarticulative (2 Corinthians 11:1-6)

I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to Christ to present you as a pure bride to her one husband. 3But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4For if some one comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough. 5I think that I am not in the least inferior to these superlative apostles. 6Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not in knowledge; in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.

2 Corinthians 11:1-4 Unsophisticated: Although the word slander is not used in this chapter, that is the burden Paul addresses here. There is no lack of evidence that Paul was slandered throughout his life as a Christian (see Acts 22:30; Acts 23:28-29; Acts 24:2; Acts 24:8; Acts 24:13; Acts 25:5; Acts 25:11; Acts 25:16; Acts 25:18; Acts 26:2; Acts 26:7; Romans 3:8). The word slander, in Greek, is diabolos, or devil, (see 1 Timothy 3:11; 2 Timothy 3:3; Titus 2:3). The Greek noun is from the verb diaballo, to throw through, to thrust through, to accuse, slander, defame. There were false apostles at Corinth who had slandered Paul to the congregation there. These slanderers were probably Judaizers, who came from Jerusalem, claiming authority because of their origins. At the same time they were trying to deceive the Corinthians, by their cunning that Paul had not shown the proper credentials to be trusted as a true apostle. Their first slanderous innuendo seems to be that Paul's approach and his message was too simple (sincere 2 Corinthians 11:3). Their accusation seems to be that Paul was unsophisticated and unarticulate. And how does Paul answer this slander? By a little foolishness!

In Paul's mind, he was acting foolishly when he had to boast about his accomplishments in the ministry. The Greek word translated fool or foolish or madman (2 Corinthians 11:1; 2 Corinthians 11:16-17; 2 Corinthians 11:19; 2 Corinthians 11:21; 2 Corinthians 11:23) is aphrona which literally means, out of one's mind or brainless. Throughout these last four Chapter s Paul says he is doing what he despises. He apologizes every time he has to do so.

The only reason he now boasts of anything (he actually takes pride only in weaknesses) is that he knows the important point is not his own dignity, but the dignity and honor of Christ and his Church which is at stake. He is therefore willing to lower himself in his own eyes and do what was very distasteful for him in order to rescue these Christians from seduction by false teachers.

Satirically, he reminds the Corinthians they gladly bear with fools. even if a man make slaves of you, or preys upon you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face. (2 Corinthians 11:19-20). He begs them to grant him the same indulgence. He wants to spread only a little (Gr. mikron, microscopic, tiny) foolishness. While some people think of the humble, self-sacrificing and spiritually-minded preacher or missionary as a fool for giving up so much and being so holy, the same people bear with actual fools (false teachers) who tell them what they want to hear. Paul wrote to Timothy and explained why people are so silly as to willingly enslave themselves to exploiters, who seduce them with sophistry and insult (slap in the face) (see 2 Timothy 3:1-9) them. It is incredible, but there are people eager to be fooled or follow fools (see Isaiah 30:9-11; Micah 2:6; Micah 2:11; Micah 3:5; 1 Timothy 4:1-5; 2 Timothy 4:3-5; 2 Peter 2:1 ff).

Paul was willing to stoop to the game of fools because he had a divine (Gr. theou, godly) jealousy for the Corinthians. He had betrothed (Gr. hermosamen, the word from which we get the English word harmony, harmonized, it means, join, unite, fit together, marry) them to Christ as a pure bride (Gr. hagnen parthenon, holy virgin). Paul had not merely engaged them to Christ, he married them. He had united them in the ultimate relationshiphumanity to deity, deity to humanity. There could be no better relationship to Christ. Certainly, the law of Moses could only enslave themnot marry them. If being foolish joining in the foolish game of comparing credentials and affectionate love would save the Corinthians from seduction, hesitant as he was, Paul would do so.

The spirit of the devil was at work in Corinth. That is the way Paul evaluated the situation. He knew the work of these super pseudo-apostles was like that of the old Snake (Satan) when he deceived (Gr. exepatesen, tricked, cheated, seduced) Eve in the Garden of Eden. The devil is cunning (Gr. panourgia, lit. all-working, adroit, dexterous, expert, artful, cagey). And notice where he attacks! He attacked Eve at the most crucial point of spiritualitythe mind, the thoughts. That is why Paul's statement about the weapons of spiritual warfare (2 Corinthians 10:3-5) are so significant! They all deal with the mindoverthrowing arguments and proud obstacles to the knowledge of God and taking captive every thought to obey Christ. The devil led Eve's thoughts astrayhe was about to lead the Corinthian's thoughts astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. The devil would deceive the Corinthians through his servants who disguised themselves as messengers of light (2 Corinthians 11:12-15). John R. Stott says in his concise little book, The Mind Matters:

Faith is not optimism. Faith is a reasoning trust, a trust which reckons thoughtfully and confidently upon the trustworthiness of God. in Scripture, the deceit of the mind is commonly laid down as the principle of all sin.. Clear Biblical knowledge of God's will is the first secret of a righteous life.. The battle is nearly always won in the mind. It is by the renewal of our mind that our character and behavior become transformed.. Self-control is primarily mind-control. What we sow in our minds we reap in our actions.. Men's minds need to be fed just as much as their bodies.. And the kind of food our minds devour will determine the kind of persons we become.

The word sincere is from the Greek word haplotetos which means, simple, sincere, open, elementary, unsophisticated. The devil was about to lead astray (Gr. phthare, seduce, beguile) the thoughts of the Corinthians from the simplicity of the gospel. this is the way the devil works. He does not now attack bodies. He brings no irresistible force to bear upon people. He plants cleverly twisted thoughts in people's minds by words. And he is expert at turning a word to deceive. He is adroit at using words to make falsehood appear to be truth. What the devil told Eve was clearly false. Eve was not defenseless. God's true word had been spoken to her. But what the devil's words promised was immediate and pleasurable stroking of the fleshly nature and Eve chose that. Satan deceived her into believing that what God had said to her was too simple! And any preacher today who proclaims God's word as the answer to life's ultimate and most perplexing problems will be accused of being too simplistic! People have been seduced by the master-liar (Satan) that life is too complex, too ambiguous, too paradoxical, too sophisticated to be lived in conformity to the Bible. And this would have been the argument of the Judaizers. Paul taught that living free, under the compulsion and constraint of infinite grace, was sufficient for joy and fulfillment. Peter said that through a knowledge of Christ and his promises God had provided all things that pertain to life and godliness and even provided the way for man to become a partaker of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:3-5). But the Judaizers said that was too simplisticthat Paul was teaching people to sin (Romans 3:8)that people need to be regimented under the laws of Moses to survive the complexities of life.

When the Corinthians were bearing with the super apostles, they were bearing with another Jesus (Gr. allon, another of the same kind). The Judaizers believed that Jesus was the Messiah, as Paul did. But they taught that Jesus came to establish Judaism, not to vicariously fulfill the law and abrogate it. The difference was not in the history of the person Jesus, but in the role he was to fulfill as Messiah. There are those today who do much the same thing with Jesus. While they admit his historical existence in the past, they reject his substitutionary death as atonement for man's sinsthey present him as an example to follow in living a life of self-righteous goodness in order to be justified before God. That is another Jesus! It is cunningly and deceitfully constructed.

They were also bearing with those of a different (Gr. heteron, from hetero- another of a different kind) spirit and a different gospel. It is interesting that Paul uses the word spirit (Gr. pneuma) in connection to his opponents. In the context he is talking about those who are as the serpent (the devil) was with Eve. In other words, the Judaizers brought with them (or in them) the spirit of the devil when they came to Corinth. It is possible, then, for people to have the evil spirit of the devil without being possessed in a miraculous way such as were the demon possessed in the Gospels and Acts. Demon possession was unique to the public ministry of Christ and the twelve apostles, but does not seem to have been a phenomenon lasting beyond the apostolic first century (see our Special Study on demon possession in The Gospel of Luke, pp. 153-156, College Press). But the main thrust of the devil's war against man has been to capture his mind (thoughts). If the devil can lead astray or seduce the mind of a person, he does not need to possess his body. The human body is doomed to return to dust. But the spirit (mind) is immortal and that is what Satan wants to bring down to hell with him. The devil can get into people without using demons!

There is no gospel of another kind in reality (see Galatians 1:6-9). Gospel means good news. What the Judaizers preached was a gospel of law. Law condemnsit does not show mercy and forgiveness. But the Judaizers claimed that what they preached was the gospel of God. They claimed it was the only true gospel. Paul called their gospel the dispensation of death (2 Corinthians 3:1-18)!

While they were slandering Paul as unsophisticatedtoo simplistic in messageand those who accepted him as an apostle as fools, Paul was implying that those who accepted the message of the Judaizers were being fooled. They submitted (Gr. anechesthe, put-up-with, endure) readily enough to the foolishness of the spirit of the devil, and the preaching of another Jesus and another gospel, so they might well put-up-with a tiny bit of foolishness from Paul!

2 Corinthians 11:5-6 Unskilled: Not only was Paul unarticulate because of the simplicity of his message, said the Judaizers, he was also unskilled in speech. The first thing Paul does to reply to this slander is state that he reckoned (Gr. logizomai, reason, think, reckon) he came behind in nothing (Gr. meden husterekenai, not inferior) compared to these superlative apostles (Gr. huperlian apostolon, from lian and huper, exceedingly-beyond, or super-duper). Either the Judaizers were representing themselves as super apostles because they were from Jerusalem and had some credentials they believed were lacking in Paul, or Paul was using sarcasm in calling them super. Perhaps it was both! Did they have credentials? Paul's were in no way inferior to theirs (2 Corinthians 12:12). Did they say they cared about the church in Corinth? Paul had shown his care was undebatable (2 Corinthians 11:2; 2 Corinthians 11:7-9; 2 Corinthians 11:28; 2 Corinthians 12:13-15; 2 Corinthians 12:19, etc.).

Next, Paul admitted he might be unskilled in speaking compared to the world's adoration of oratorical eloquence, but he was not unskilled in knowledge. The word unskilled in Greek is idiotes (from which we get the English word, idiot, idiotic). This word began by meaning a private individual who took no part in public life. It went on to mean someone with no technical training. True, Paul was not a graduate of the Greeks schools of oratory. He was not a glib-tongued rhetorician who could entertain, mesmerize, or seduce with words. He was not in that business! They accused him of being inadequate, unschooled, inferior and therefore, not to be listened to.

Paul never pretended or claimed oratorial skill (see 1 Corinthians 1:17-25; 1 Corinthians 2:1-16). The gospel is actually emptied of its power by oratorical ostentation and philosophical sophistication. The gospel is fact, not oratory or myth. It is historythe eyewitnessed evidence of the incarnation of God. It needs simply to be reported, transmitted, announcednot orated! Jesus thanked God that his word was hidden from the wise but revealed to babes Matthew 11:25-30. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so! That is the simplicity of the good news.

He was not unskilled or without technical knowledge of the gospel of grace! Paul had made plain (Gr. phanerosantes, manifested, cleared) all things (Gr. pasin) in every way (Gr. en panti) to the Corinthians. His First Corinthian letter alone makes plain every doctrine or practice or principle necessary to the Christian life! We know he must have preached and taught many more words to the Corinthians besides those he wrote. They should never have been deceived by anyone who would accuse Paul of being unarticulate! He was able to communicate the facts of the Gospel well enough to convert thousands of people.

One does not need skill or eloquence to communicate the gospel. There is a difference between being skilled in oratory and being skilled in knowledge. Preachers do not need eloquence, but they do need knowledge. People who are asking questions of the soul and spirit do not want entertainment or oratorical showmanship, they want soberness, seriousness, facts, reasonableness, concern, love and kindness. One may have eloquence with deficiency in knowledge and be inadequate for God's use. On the other hand, one may have knowledge and be deficient in eloquence and still be very useful in the Lord's work. Paul converted many people, though unskilled in speaking, because he went where people were who had not heard the gospel, and taught it. He was not afraid to declare it wherever he was (to kings, philosophers, rabbis, to the hostile and the heedful), and to whomever he confronted. He was bold, blunt and believable. He was captivated by Christ and concerned for the growth of the kingdom of God. He was urgent and unashamed! What did Paul preach? Read the book of Acts. He preached Christ, him crucified, risen from the dead, judgment, repentance, grace, baptism into Christ. He had no time to waste on mythologies, politics, economics, the weather, entertainment, or fads and fancies. He traveled a lot! He wrote a lot! He studied a lot! He worked (making tents) a lot! And he preached and taught when there were opportunities and made opportunities where there were none! Knowing the terror of the Lord, he persuaded men (2 Corinthians 5:11).

Applebury's Comments

An Ironical Appeal
Scripture

2 Corinthians 11:1-6 Would that ye could bear with me in a little foolishness: but indeed ye do bear with me. 2 For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ. 4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we did not preach or if ye receive a different spirit, which ye did not receive, or a different gospel, which ye did not accept, ye do well to bear with him. 5 For I reckon that I am not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles. 6 But though I be rude in speech, yet am I not in knowledge; nay, in every way have we made this manifest unto you in all things.

Comments

in a little foolishness.It was really unnecessary for Paul to defend his apostleship since it had been established by the signs which he had performed in their midst. More than that, the Corinthians were thoroughly aware of the fact that their relation to Christ depended on the message which Paul had preached to them and which they had accepted. See 1 Corinthians 9:1-2 and 2 Corinthians 3:1-3. Consequently, Paul could say, I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness. That is, let him go on defending his apostleship which had come under attack from false leaders who had come to Corinth after his departure.

but indeed ye do bear with me.Paul knew from the report of Titus that the Corinthians had responded to the directions he had given them in his first letter. That's why he said, Of course, you do bear with me. But in this particular issue in which my apostleship is being attacked by the super-apostles, I want you to let me restate the facts in answer to the charges that are now being brought against me.

For I am jealous over you.Paul's position in the Corinthians-' relation to Christ was that of a father who had espoused his daughter to the bridegroom. Paul had espoused them to Christ. Just as a father would be jealous of anyone seeking to usurp his position in such a case, so Paul expressed his jealousy over the fact that some of the Corinthians were listening to the Satanic teachers who were interfering with the arrangements that he had made in committing the Corinthian Christians to Christ.

a godly jealousy.Paul's attitude was like that of God toward those who would lead His people away from Him.

Jealousy can be, and often is, an evil thing. This is true when it becomes an expression of selfish envy. But no such element enters into the attitude of Paul in his relation to the church at Corinth.
The Old Testament frequently represents God as the jealous husband of a faithless wife who has forsaken her husband for another man. Israel kept forsaking God for the gods of the pagans. She was like a faithless wife, and God is said to be jealous in such cases. Thou shalt have no other gods before me is the basic principle on which the Law of God for the Israelites rested. He would not tolerate Israel's running after idols and getting involved in all the sinful practices associated with idolatry.
The apostle of Christ with Godlike jealousy resented the defection of the Corinthian Christians to the false teachers whose true character Paul was about to point out as being Satanic.

to one husband.The marriage relationship presented a perfect illustration of the point Paul was making. From the beginning, the divine plan was that there should be one husband for one wife. See Studies in First Corinthians, chapter seven, for the instruction Paul had given the Corinthians on the divine standard of marriage. With that letter before them, they knew exactly the meaning of Paul's words when he said that he had espoused them to one husband that is, to Christ. In the Ephesian letter, Paul referred to the relationship between the church and Christ and called upon wives to be faithful to their own husbands as unto the Lord. See Ephesians 5:22-23.

John wrote about the marriage supper of the Lamb as he anticipated the coming of Christ and the gathering of the saints unto Him. Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give glory unto him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are true words of God (Revelation 19:7-9).

a pure virgin to Christ.Paul indicates that the purity of the bride who anticipates her wedding should symbolize the purity of the church as it anticipates the coming of Christ and the privilege of being with Him in the heavenly kingdom. Purity, of course, meant loyalty to Him and none other, abiding by the truth of His gospel, rejecting all falsehood, and keeping themselves unspotted from the sinful practices of the world. It meant faithfulness to Christ and His word in the Christian life which is the period of preparation for the marriage supper of the Lamb.

The term virgin in our language denotes -purity. Since it had other connotations in the language of the Greeks, it became necessary for Paul to define his meaning by saying pure virgin so that no member of the church could mistake his meaning.
To further insure his readers against any possible misunderstanding, he illustrated exactly what he meant by calling their attention to Satan's complete deception of Eve in the Garden.

But I fear.Paul had grounds for his fears, for the Corinthians were in real danger. They were gladly listening to the false teachers who were endeavoring to undermine the work of the apostle of Christ who had preached the gospel to them. And it was that gospel that had converted them to Christ.

as the serpent beguiled Eve.There isn-'t the slightest indication that the inspired apostle Paul believed that the account of Satan's effort to deceive Eve was some mythological explanation of the presence of evil in the world. He presented it in exactly the same way that Moses did in the third chapter of Genesis, that is, as an historical fact. To complete his account, he identified Satan, the troublemaker at Corinth, with the serpent. John does the same thing when he refers to the old serpent as the one who is called the devil and Satan. See Revelation 12:9.

his craftiness.Paul had already warned the Corinthians against the schemes of the devil as he tried to take advantage of God's people. His craftiness had succeeded in Eve's case. Paul had his fears that Satan might also succeed in some instances at Corinth.

corrupted from the simplicity and purity that is toward Christ.In the epistle to the Romans Paul tells what happens to men who turn from the knowledge of God to the worship of idols and the sins that accompany such worship. When they did so, God gave them up to an unapproved mind. See Romans 1:18-32. But since God has provided the means by which sins are blotted out, Paul could exhort his readers to be not fashioned according to this present age, but to be transformed by the renewing of their minds, so that they might approve the will of God, the thing that is good, acceptable to God, and complete. See Romans 12:2. The plea of the message of the Bible is for men to straighten out their thinking in the light of the truth of God revealed Word.

Some of the Corinthians were in danger of having Satan corrupt their minds from the simplicity and purity of the truth by which their relationship to Christ was governed. The word simplicity suggests the single-minded devotion to the things God wants man to do. It is translated liberality in 2 Corinthians 8:2. This singleness of purpose had led the Macedonians to give generously for the relief of the saints in Judea. But in 2 Corinthians 11:3 it suggests the sincere dedication of mind and purpose to the service of Christ. It is coupled with purity of heart and mind in all this vital relationship.

Paul had good reason to fear that some of the Corinthians were being led astray from this devotion to Christ through the craftiness of Satan. Every Christian must be constantly on guard against this happening to him. Some things that help prevent it are: (1) A real knowledge of the Word of God. Jesus illustrated this when He said to Satan, Thus it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. That individual who does not know what God has written may fall easy prey to the devices of Satan cleverly presented by false teachers. (2) Not only must one know the Word but he must also translate it into life. Anything short of active participation in the total program of Christ for His church places the Christian in jeopardy. Paul had written that it was necessary for him to buffet his body and bring it into bondage lest by any means after he had preached to others, he might be rejected. See 1 Corinthians 9:27. There is more to Christianity than being present in the assembly on the Lord's Day, keeping the Lord's supper, and hearing the Word taught. The first business of the church is to seek and save the lost. Every Christian should be busily engaged to the extent of his ability in this work of Christ. The untaught, idle church member needs to be brought to the realization of the peril which he faces, the very real danger of being lost.

For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus.Paul had been sent to Corinth to preach the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord indicated, in all probability, that Jesus was identified with the eternal living God. Jesus means Savior. Christ refers to the fact that He is prophet, priest, and king. Could the super-apostles who had come to Corinth preach another Jesus who was superior to Jesus whom Paul preached? It is true that they were preaching another Jesus but the Corinthians needed to learn that Jesus whom Paul preached was the only one in whom there is salvation, for there is no other name given among men in whom they must be saved. See Acts 4:12.

if ye received a different spirit.This is not a reference to the Holy Spirit. The Galatian churches had been corrupted by false teachers just as the Corinthians were being corrupted by the super-apostles. Paul asked them, Did you receive the Spirit that is, the Holy Spiritby the works of the law or by the hearing of faith (Galatians 3:2)? By receiving the Spirit in that context, Paul referred to the miraculous power which had been granted to those upon whom the apostles had laid their hands. This demonstration of power showed the Galatians that they should not follow the false teachers who wanted them to observe the works of the Law. Paul encountered a similar situation in the case of the disciples of John whom he found at Ephesus. They knew only what John had taught about Jesus. Paul asked them, Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed? They had heard nothing of the Holy Spirit, so Paul commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. After he had laid his hands on them the Holy Spirit came upon them in the manifestation of miraculous power that enabled them to speak in foreign languages and to prophesy. See Acts 19:1-7.

Since Paul was referring to a different spirit which the Corinthians received through the work of false teachers who in no way could impart the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit, it becomes necessary to determine the meaning of his question in the light of what he has taught in his epistles. Paul wrote to the Romans explaining that those who are led by the Spirit of God, that is, led through the things said by the inspired apostles, are sons of God. Then he added, For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear: but ye received the spirit of adoptionthat is, sonshipwhereby we cry Abba, Father (Romans 8:14-15). The spirit that is received as a result of obeying the gospel is that frame of mind of the one who knows he is a child of God and can give expression to this knowledge by calling God Father. See also Galatians 4:4-7. It was this spirit which the Corinthians had received as a result of their obedience to the gospel which Paul preached.

What, then, was the different spirit which they received when they submitted to false teachers? It was a spirit of faction, jealousy, and deception that characterizes the children of the devil. See John 8:44. It is no wonder that Paul was afraid lest they be corrupted from the simplicity and purity that is toward Christ.

a different gospel.Paul marveled at the Galatians who so quickly after their conversion to Christ were transferring their allegiance to a different kind of gospel which was not another gospel of Christ. See Galatians 1:6. The super-apostles were preaching a different kind of gospel to the Corinthians. It was not the Word of the Cross that had saved them when they believed in Christ.

ye do well to bear with him.A fine touch of irony in the same vein as that regarding foolishness of his boasting.

For I reckon.As Paul considered the issues, he was convinced that in no way was he inferior to these super-apostles.

But though I be rude in speech.An unfortunate translation, misleading in every way. Paul was never rude in our understanding and use of the term. This does not mean that he did not denounce false teaching in the severest of terms. Jesus had done the same thing in the case of the hypocrites with whom He dealt, but He was never rude.

The word translated rude simply means one who does not belong to the class of professional people, in this case orators. It is to be doubted, however, that the professionals were ever able to match the eloquence of Paul as he preached the gospel. He openly set forth Jesus Christ crucified before the eyes of his listeners. See Galatians 3:1. Festus, listening to his defense of the gospel, cried out, Paul, you are mad. Your much learning has turned you mad. Even the king said, With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian. While there are differences of opinion as to the interpretation of Agrippa's words, it is evident that the eloquent defense of the gospel which Paul made that day really stirred the minds of all who heard him. See Acts 26:24-29. Not infrequently in Paul's writings do we find examples of his ability to express himself in excellent style. See Romans 11:33-36; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; and 1 Corinthians 15:51-58. Examples are also to be found in Second Corinthians.

not in knowledge.His knowledge came through the ability given him as an apostle by the Holy Spirit to understand the deep things which he received by revelation from God. See 1 Corinthians 2:6-16. No super-apostle nor false teacher was superior to Paul in knowledge pertaining to the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ.

we made this manifest to you in all things.When he was present with the church at Corinth and through his letters, Paul had clearly demonstrated the fact that his wisdom and knowledge came from God. See 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5; 1 Corinthians 2:10; 1 Corinthians 2:16.