2 Corinthians 10:7-11 - Spiritual Authority

Verse 7 shows obviously that the apostleship of Paul was being questioned. Paul’s accusers apparently were using some superficial criteria to evaluate him. So he told them that they were looking at things external to evaluate his apostleship. He maintained that he was as much Christ’s representative as those unnamed critics who claimed to be Christ’s. On that count, he was not afraid to boast about it and would in fact be confident that he would not be put to shame in exercising the authority given to him by the Lord. Why? Because he exercised that authority to build them up and not to destroy them.

 

In verses 9-11, Paul turned again to answer the accusation that he was bold in his letter because he was not present with them, but when in person, he would be weak. Paul told them that in his letter he was not trying to frighten them. As he had written in the letter, he would also be when he appeared in person.

 

In verse 10, we get the feeling that his opponents was being sarcastic. They appeared to be complimenting him for his weighty and strong letter, only to denigrate his authority. They said in person he would be different from the impression given by his letter. They insisted that Paul would be unimpressive in person and his speech would be found contemptible and disgraceful. It seems clear that those who maligned Paul had perceived him to be lacking in public speaking skills. They saw the lack of dynamism and persuasive skill as a lack of the Spirit and authority. So Paul warned those who maligned him that they would find out that his presence in person would correspond with what he had written in the letter.   

 

Spiritual authority can be a complex issue. It requires volumes to deal with everything about it. However, from Paul, we learn that spiritual authority is unlike secular authority. Secular authority is derived from one’s position. But spiritual authority is different. It is not rooted in one’s position or one’s rhetoric. God is the source of true spiritual authority. It is His gift for ministry. He expects it to be exercised in humility and meekness. We should not run into the error of evaluating a person’s authority based on his position or his rhetoric. Let’s realize that true spiritual authority comes from the Lord and has His total backing!