7Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge? 8I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. 9And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so. 10As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine. 11Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! 12And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. 13For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
Dig Deeper
One of the teams in the high school athletic conference in which I used to coach was a major problem for years. The school was an inner-city charter school just like all of the other schools in the conference but this one had a very poor reputation. The principle had been under investigation for misuse of funds, as had the entire school. The basketball coach had been discovered intentionally using a player who did not even attend the school (false grade reports had been manufactured by someone inside the school office) and on several occasions, teachers were involved in or responsible for inciting altercations at basketball games. Unfortunately, the students seemed to act just like the teachers and administrators at the school. It was no surprise to those familiar with the school that the students would behave in a manner in keeping with the behavior and reputation of the school. In fact, the school was actually thrown out of the athletic conference due to the uncontrollability and potential violence of their fans at games.
Paul is simultaneously defending his apostolic ministry while making it quite clear that the position of his opponents was not just a local variation of the more traditional Christian practices. It wasn’t that Paul just didn’t care for the gospel being preached by the super apostles. In this passage, he gets right to the heart of the matter. Earlier, Paul called those who would oppose him ‘unbelievers’ (2 Cor. 6:14). Now he is even more specific. Paul has acted the way that he has because he belongs to the true Messiah, and they acted the way they had because of who they belong to. They had followed the example of their superior.
We certainly don’t have any written records of the charges that Paul’s detractors were making, but when we look at the areas where Paul defends himself, we can begin to piece together, with a few gaps, the sorts of things they were charging Paul with. The attacks against Paul had, apparently, become so unfair that he was in the position of being damned if he did and damned if he didn’t. On one hand, Paul was accused of being dishonest and stealing money. Yet, on the other hand, when he refused to take any sort of support from the Corinthian Church, he is charged with not loving them enough to take support from them. Paul, however, vigorously defends himself on both ends. On one end, he would not take any sort of money or support, so as not to appear in any way that he was benefiting from the people of Corinth. This makes sense considering that Paul was spreading the gospel in a culture that valued prosperity and thought that the value of the speaker was equal to the amount of money he made. They also believed that it was a sign of respect and patronage for disciples of a teacher to support that teacher. Paul didn’t want any of those things being associated with his ministry (and he wanted disciples of Jesus, not Paul), so he refused to take any support from them.
On the other end, Paul wants them to understand that he has not done all of this because he doesn’t love them. God knows that wasn’t true. He did it all precisely because he loved them. It was the right of an apostle to receive support for his ministry, but Paul lowered himself in status and raised them above the obligation to support him. He shared the gospel free of charge to them, to the point of robbing (Paul is, of course, speaking hyperbolically here meaning if there was theft it was for not from them) churches that were extremely poor. He has not and would continue not to take support from them because he don’t want them to ever see Paul in any of the worldly ways that might have come so naturally to them.
Despite the fact that this would open himself to more criticism form his opponents, Paul would keep on doing what he was doing. He knew that by doing this, it would cut the ground (a military word that meant the place from where an attack was launched) from under his opponents. Paul realized that the criticism of him for not taking money was more of a result of the fact that his opponents knew that once the Corinthians began to understand his reasons, it would make them look badly. If Paul would compromise on this, it would make them look a little better in comparison.
Paul now hits the real reason that his opponents have attacked him so violently, have preached a different gospel, and have masqueraded as authentic apostles of the real gospel. The one to whom they belonged was not the Messiah, but Satan. This explains their behavior. Satan was known to masquerade as an angel of light (see Isa. 14:12-15), so it only makes sense that those who belong to him would pretend to be something that they were not. Paul has already stated that they taught a different Jesus, were animated by a different Spirit, and spread a different gospel (v. 4). Now he explains why. They were acting just light Satan, obviously implying that they belonged to Satan. In the end, though, they would receive exactly what they deserved, which will presumably be the lake of fire (Gehenna) that was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matt. 25:41).
Throughout this section, Paul has carefully crafted a parallel that should not be missed. Korah was the man who led a rebellion against Moses (Num. 16). Korah and his followers wanted honor and authority that was equal with Moses, all the while they questioned and sought to undermine the authority of Moses. They tried to gain equality with Moses, but were shown by God to be false leaders while Moses was demonstrated as the true leader. In the end, Korah and his followers were swallowed up by the earth and went down into Sheol, the place of the unrighteous dead. In the same way, Paul’s opponents have not just made a mistake in doctrine, they have attacked the authority of the true leader and the man of God. They have desired for themselves the honor and authority that were due only true apostles. They made an attempt to undermine the authority of Paul that had nearly led many people away from the true gospel. They would get precisely what their actions deserved, just as Korah had.
Clearly, Paul does not pull any punches here. But his reasons are valid. This is no mere doctrinal squabble. He is in a battle for the very gospel itself. He was trying to protect it from being turned into another Corinthians philosophical system with a Christian twist. He was, in essence, fighting to keep it the as the true vehicle of God’s new creation. That was a fight from which Paul would never back down.
Devotional Thought
Much of our version of Christianity in America today is in desperate need of a close examination that would rid it of it’s unhealthy cultural influences. In what areas do you see that your surrounding culture has crept in and watered down your own Christianity or that of your church?
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