1 Corinthians 9:1 – was Paul not an apostle?

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?

Here Paul interrupts the subject of the idol’s meat. Later in 10: 14 he will continue that. In the previous verse he wrote that he was prepared to “not eating meat for the eon”, for the sake of a brother. Hereafter his criticizers could say: are you not free? Are you not an apostle? That is for Paul a reason elaborating his authority, a key word in this chapter (Greek: exousia, 9x).

Paul’s authority and apostleship were often challenged. Also in the Galatians letter we find that. And indeed, he was not one of “the twelve”. He was also not educated by Jesus on earth . Stronger: in the early days he was the most important persecuter. But he was called on the way to Damascus, where “Jesus our Lord” appeared to him in heavenly glory. A feature of an apostle is that he must have seen the risen Christ and personally delegated by him. And Paul did. “Last of all” (15:8).

Delen: