DAILY GUIDE DEVOTIONAL: Credentials of True Apostles

Text: 2 Corinthians 11: 16-33

What is our confident boast as servants of God? What is our delight and happiness as children of God called to proclaim the kingdom message? Paul gives us a hint in this passage. He draws our attention to those things that should motivate us and give us courage as we continue to do the master's bidding. Surprisingly, the criteria is very unpopular with the world. It is nothing that the world could ever approve as a feature of success or pride. But Paul cannot find anything more meaningful than these. 

Paul's detractors boasted about their pedigree. They were of Jewish ancestry so they are proud. They were descendants of Abraham; super apostles, well versed in the law of Moses. They were eloquent speakers of persuasive appearance. They had all the impressive physical attributes. These were what informed their boasting. With these qualifications they mesmerised the Corinthians and enslaved them again under the legalities of old testaments laws, putting them in bondage of spending their resources to finance their bogus lifestyles. 

Paul would rather not boast about anything except the blood and cross of Jesus (2 Corinthians 4:5) but he pleaded with them to allow him a little folly so that he can borrow a leaf from the people they respect so much and show them the foolishness of their choice of teachers. 

It is clear from the text that our delight and joy should be in what we suffer for Christ and not what we gain. The perils we've been through as we follow Christ. The shipwrecks and jeopardy our lives have suffered, the pains, accusations uncertainties wants hunger and thirst and all sorts of inconveniences we had been through should give us courage and hope that we are toeing the same lines as Jesus. We like Paul would rather boast in these things ( if indeed we have suffered them) than borrowing leaf from those who merchandise the gospel for their selfish gains.

Watch video

Read also: Stick to the undefiled Gospel