ACC ~ 1 Corinthians 15 v8 - 11

OVERVIEW:

By “untimely” Paul means that he received his apostleship after Christ had ascended into heaven (AMBROSIASTER). Paul thought of himself in the humblest terms as one unformed and unfit (AMBROSIASTER, THEODORET OF CYR). Yet he shows that despite his great sins and unworthiness, the grace of God was not given to him for nothing (AMBROSIASTER, CHRYSOSTOM). Grace did not find Paul inattentive (CHRYSOSTOM). He was an athlete for Christ (AUGUSTINE). God granted efficacy to his labors (BASIL, CHRYSOSTOM). He did not labor in order to receive grace but received grace so that he might labor (AUGUSTINE). Paul understood his own fragility and humbled himself as unfit to be an apostle (JEROME, CHRYSOSTOM).

15:8 | As One Untimely Born

UNTIMELY BORN. AMBROSIASTER: By “untimely” Paul means that he was born again outside time, because he received his apostleship from Christ after the latter had ascended into heaven. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE LAST BUT MORE ILLUSTRIOUS. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul may have been the last but he was certainly not the least, since he was more illustrious than many who were before him, indeed, more illustrious than them all. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 38.5.

UNFORMED. THEODORET OF CYR: Paul compares himself here to an aborted fetus which is not even regarded by some as fully born. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 266.

15:9 | Least of the Apostles

LAST IN TIME. AMBROSIASTER: Paul is least because he was the last in time, not because he was inferior in any way to the others. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

UNFIT. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul says this because he was a humble man and also because it is what he really thought about himself. He was forgiven for having persecuted the church, but it was a shame he never forgot. It taught him the greatness of God’s grace toward him. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 38.6.

WHY SO FRAGILE? JEROME: These words apply to those who complain: Why wasn’t I created such that I would be free from sin forever? Why was I fashioned such a vessel that I could not endure hard like metal instead of being fragile and easily broken whenever touched? … Let us blush and say what those say who have already obtained their rewards. Let us, who are sinners on earth and encased in this fragile and mortal body, say what we know the saints are saying in heaven. AGAINST THE PELAGIANS 2.25.

THE JUST ACCUSE THEMSELVES. JEROME: If the apostle makes such a confession, how much more should the sinner? Scripture says: “The just man accuses himself when he begins to speak.” If the just man is prompt to accuse himself, how much more should the sinner be? HOMILY 47 ON PSALM 135 (136).

PAUL HUMBLED HIMSELF. CHRYSOSTOM: He who endured imprisonment, wounds and beatings, who netted the world with epistles, who was called by a heavenly voice, humbled himself, saying, “I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle.” ON REPENTANCE 5.27.

THE GREATER VICTORY. AUGUSTINE: The Enemy is more completely vanquished in the case of a man over whom he holds fuller sway. CONFESSIONS 8.4.

15:10a | Grace Not Given in Vain

GRACE NOT IN VAIN. AMBROSIASTER: Paul says all this in order to show that despite his great sins and unworthiness, the grace of God was not given to him for nothing. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

15:10b | Working Harder Than Others

THE LABORS IMPOSED BY VIRTUE. BASIL: He who spends his time in softness and all laxity because of his luxurious living, who is clothed in purple and fine linen and feasting every day in splendid fashion and who flees the labors imposed by virtue has neither labored in this life nor will live in the future, but he will see life afar off, while being racked in the fire of the furnace. UNTO THE END 19.5.

I WORKED HARDER THAN ANY. CHRYSOSTOM: If Paul was so humble, why did he call attention to his labors? He had to do this in order to justify his right to be a trustworthy witness and a teacher. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 38.7.

GRACE DID NOT FIND HIM INACTIVE. CHRYSOSTOM: You are familiar with Paul, who labored so much and erected so many trophies in combat with the devil. He physically marched throughout the known world. He orbited the earth, ocean, air—he circled the world as if he had wings. He was stoned, beaten and murdered. He suffered everything for the name of God, called from above by a heavenly voice. … We know, we understand, he said, the grace we have received, and it did not find me inattentive. CONCERNING ALMSGIVING AND THE TEN VIRGINS 3.22.

THE ATHLETE OF CHRIST. AUGUSTINE: Gladly and with the eyes of faith do all in the City of God look up to this great man, Paul, this athlete of Christ, who was anointed by Christ and instructed by him. With him he was nailed to the cross, and through him made glorious. This man was made a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. He lawfully carried on a great conflict in the theater of this world and strained forward to the prize of his heavenly calling. CITY OF GOD 14.9.

15:10c | The Grace of God with Him

GOD GRANTS EFFICACY TO OUR LABORS. BASIL: This is the perfect and consummate glory in God: not to exult in one’s own righteousness, but recognizing oneself as lacking true righteousness, to be justified by faith in Christ alone. Paul gloried in despising his own righteousness. In seeking after the righteousness by faith which is of God through Christ, he sought only to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable to his death, so as to attain to the resurrection from the dead. … It is God who grants efficacy to our labors. ON HUMILITY 20.

A LARGER MEASURE OF HELP. CHRYSOSTOM: Did you see how he reaped the benefit of God’s liberality and then how abundantly he contributed his own share, by his zeal, his fervor, his faith, his courage, his patience, his lofty mind and his undaunted will? This is why he deserved a larger measure of help from above. BAPTISMAL INSTRUCTIONS 4.10.

GRACE AND LABOR. AUGUSTINE: Paul did not labor in order to receive grace, but he received grace so that he might labor. PROCEEDINGS OF PELAGIUS 14.36.

NOTHING ACCOMPLISHED WITHOUT GOD’S HELP. AUGUSTINE: How, then, is God’s commandment accomplished, even with difficulty, without his help, since if the Lord does not build, the builder is said to have labored in vain. LETTER 186, FROM ALYPIUS AND AUGUSTINE TO PAULINUS.

15:11 | We Preach, You Believed

PAUL’S CREDENTIALS. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul does not expect the Corinthians to choose between him and the other apostles. He justifies his own credentials as a teacher but at the same time affirms the others as well. There is no difference between them, since their authority is the same. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 39.1.