2 Corinthians 10:18

For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.

Paul's work among the Corinthians had been marked by the authority and blessing of God, they themselves having accepted the gospel through his preaching; and, in the light of those facts, the honor that some of them were willing to give the false prophets was as scandalous as it was unjust and wicked.

"The only true ground of approval is to do the work of Christ."[17] Reluctant as Paul was to mention his own personal qualifications, he would nevertheless do so, in order to show by whatever standards chosen, that the false teachers were infinitely below him whom God had commissioned as the apostle to the Gentiles. Even in the boasting which he was reluctant to do, Paul selected his sufferings, hardships, and tribulations, as there could be no charge of human vanity in the recounting of them. He poured out his heart in the succeeding chapter.