Paul vs. the Super-Apostles: Defending the True Gospel
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” - 2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV)
False teachers, or “super-apostles” (2 Cor. 11:5) as the apostle Paul sarcastically names them, have made their way into the church at Corinth. They slandered Paul’s name, reputation, and ministry; sowing seeds of doubt amongst the church as to his legitimacy as an apostle. In response, Paul spends a good portion of 2 Corinthians (his second letter to the Corinthian church) in defense of his apostolic ministry. The purpose, however, is not for his own pride or ego, but rather to build up the faith of the Corinthian church and defend the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The false apostles came to the Corinthians with a new Jesus, new Spirit, and new Gospel (2 Cor. 11:4). Based on Paul’s defense, it is likely that they were proclaiming some early form of “prosperity” gospel; that life in Christ leads to earthly power, health, and wealth. In light of this, they deemed Paul to be both weak and foolish. Fueled by the Holy Spirit, Paul responds to these accusations with a resounding, “Yes!” He became weak for the sake of the Gospel and the Church. He appeared foolish to man by boasting in his weaknesses, trials, suffering, and poverty.
When we come to 2 Cor. 12:9, Paul lands his fatal blow to the super-apostles. As revealed to him by the Lord, it is these weaknesses that Paul boasts in and they ridicule that God uses for His own glorious purpose. The sufferings Paul went through show the mighty power of the cross! In this verse, Paul shows the Corinthians, and us, three things:
1. Paul shows where true power lies. While the super-apostles preached power and influence in the flesh, Paul boasts of the power of Christ. He reveals that the power of God is perfected in human weakness, so that truly his trials and suffering are strength in God. He shows that the power of Christ, which is true power indeed, rests on him because of his faithfulness to the true Gospel, and not with these super-apostles. This means that whatever power they claimed to hold was not actually from God, ultimately making it true weakness. Paul, boasting in his weakness, is made truly strong by the Lord. They, boasting in their own strength, have become truly weak. True power comes from power’s source; the one, almighty God.
2. Paul proves the prosperity gospel of the super-apostles to be the antithesis of the true Gospel. Their message of earthly power, health and wealth is an abuse and corruption of what it means to live in the power of Christs’ resurrection. The true Gospel message says that we die with Christ, sharing in His crucifixion (2 Cor. 13:4). Do we then raise ourselves up with Him? No! We are raised in power by the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead (Romans 8:11). This power is not our own to claim, it is of God. Do we then go on living in this power for our own gain, security, health and wealth? No, we live for Christ! And as a natural byproduct of living in a world corrupted by sin, living for Christ will result in suffering, looking as a fool, and enduring human weakness. We give up our desire for earthly gain, replacing it with a desire to do the will of our Father in Heaven.
All endure suffering, and Paul teaches Christ-followers to boast in these so that Jesus’ power may be shown. While it is certainly possible for God to bless us with power, health and wealth on earth, these are not necessarily the fruit of the Spirit working in our lives. We must never make the mistake of the super-apostles; equating the generous temporal blessings of God with our reward for faithfulness to Him. Rather, as Paul shows, true fruit is imitating Christ in suffering for the sake of others. In fact, Jesus goes so far as to say this in John 15:12-13: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus loves us so much that He died for us, laying His own life down for our salvation. In turn, we lay our lives down for God and for one another so they may find salvation in Him as well. This is the true Gospel.
3. Paul shows us that the prosperity gospel of the super-apostles actually robs God of His glory. If God’s power is made perfect in weakness, Paul’s boasting in his weaknesses served to glorify God and not himself. On the other hand, the false teachers glorified themselves rather than God in boasting of the power they possessed. Like the Pharisees and religious leaders of Jesus’ time, they spoke eloquently and propped themselves up. They abused the power and word of God for their own gain. Christ’s victory on the cross, while certainly for our great benefit and salvation, ultimately brings God the glory and not us. Jesus could have taken the glory for Himself when Satan tempted Him in the wilderness (Matthew 4:8-10), but instead He modeled for us to deny ourselves and worship God alone. The super-apostles, however, accepted the devil’s deal, and we do the same whenever we choose our own glory over what rightfully belongs to the Lord our God.
