There is a Time for Boasting, if it is Done Correctly.
In this passage, Paul continues to defend his position as the spiritual authority in the Corinthian church.
Generally speaking, it’s wrong to boast.
1 Corinthians 13:4 NLT
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud.
However
Paul boasted.
There is a time for boasting if it is done correctly.
2 Corinthians 10:13-18 NLT
Paul Defends His Authority (continued)
13 We will not boast about things done outside our area of authority. We will boast only about what has happened within the boundaries of the work God has given us, which includes our working with you. 14 We are not reaching beyond these boundaries when we claim authority over you, as if we had never visited you. For we were the first to travel all the way to Corinth with the Good News of Christ.
15 Nor do we boast and claim credit for the work someone else has done. Instead, we hope that your faith will grow so that the boundaries of our work among you will be extended. 16 Then we will be able to go and preach the Good News in other places far beyond you, where no one else is working. Then there will be no question of our boasting about work done in someone else’s territory. 17 As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”
18 When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them.
Examine the scriptures:
2 Corinthians 10:13-18 NLT
Paul Defends His Authority (continued)
13 We will not boast about things done outside our area of authority. We will boast only about what has happened within the boundaries of the work God has given us, which includes our working with you.
- Paul only boasted about what had happened within the boundaries of the work God had given him.
Paul knew that God had given him a job to do.
Galatians 1:1 NLT
1 This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead.
1 Corinthians 1:1 NLT
1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus,
Acts 18 NLT
1 Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent! 10 For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.” 11 So Paul stayed there for the next year and a half, teaching the word of God.
1 Corinthians 3:6 NLT
6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.
- Paul knew his ministry in Corinth was given to him by God.
We will limit our boasting to the work God gave us,
Romans 15:18 NLT
18 Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I worked among them.
- Do not boast about anything except what Christ has done through you.
14 We are not reaching beyond these boundaries when we claim authority over you, as if we had never visited you. For we were the first to travel all the way to Corinth with the Good News of Christ.
Paul was the first person to share the good news of Christ with the Corinthians. His opponents visited the church much later, so their claim to Corinth as their territory was empty.
Romans 15:20 NLT
20 My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else.
- Paul knew that he was the first person to share the good news of Christ with the Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 4:15 NLT
15 For even if you had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. For I became your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the Good News to you.
Paul was defending his spiritual authority in the Corinthian church. (continued)
15 Nor do we boast and claim credit for the work someone else has done.
The false teachers in Corinth
2 Corinthians 11:4 NLT
4 You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.
Apparently the false teachers were taking credit for the work Paul had done. Paul was saying that he would never take credit for something someone else had done.
- Don’t boast and claim credit for the work other people have done.
Instead, we hope that your faith will grow so that the boundaries of our work among you will be extended.
1 Corinthians 11:1 NLT
1 And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.
Paul wanted the Corinthians to be more mature in their faith.
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 NLT
1 Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ. 2 I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, 3 for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?
16 Then we will be able to go and preach the Good News in other places far beyond you, where no one else is working.
After the crisis in Corinth was resolved, Paul could, with the help of the Corinthians, move on to new areas.
Then there will be no question of our boasting about work done in someone else’s territory. 17 As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”
There is a place for boasting if it is done correctly.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 NLT
23 This is what the Lord says:
“Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom,
or the powerful boast in their power,
or the rich boast in their riches.
24 But those who wish to boast
should boast in this alone:
that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord
who demonstrates unfailing love
and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth,
and that I delight in these things.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
1 Corinthians 1:30-31 NLT
30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. 31 Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”
This doesn’t leave much for us to say about ourselves.
- If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.
Psalm 78:4
We will tell the next generation
about the glorious deeds of the Lord,
about his power and his mighty wonders.
Tell what Christ has done for you.
Romans 5:6-11 NLT
6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
18 When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much.
Proverbs 27:2 NLT
2 Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth—
a stranger, not your own lips.
Proverbs 26:12 NLT
12 There is more hope for fools
than for people who think they are wise.
The important thing is for the Lord to commend them.
2 Corinthians 5:10 NLT
10 For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.
Matthew 25:23 NLT
23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’
- What people say about themselves means nothing. What counts is whether the Lord says they have done well.
