The extent of the attack upon the apostle Paul by the enemies of Christ in Corinth may be gauged by the length and scope of his answer.

His answer continues here in the portion before us. Having indicated that he had to speak on the matter of his labours for God, he explains his motive for so speaking, verses 1-4.

He begins now to make assertions regarding himself and his opponents.

I. HIS EQUALITY AMONGST THE APOSTLES

Some things were seen as evidence of Paul’s inferiority to the rest of the apostles and his opponents.

1. His late call to the apostleship. Paul did not consider himself as coming short of the rest of the apostles, I Cor 15:8-10. He was born out of the season of blessing which will come upon Israel in the last days, Isaiah 66:8, Zech 12:10-13:1.

2. His lack of rhetorical polish. This was something he deliberately chose. 1 Cor 2:1-4. The word rude refers to someone who has not polish associated with the holding of an office such as a magistrate or a writer of plain prose rather than poetry. However, Paul was not impoverished in knowledge. His knowledge came directly from the Lord Jesus, Gal 1:11-12.