1 Corinthians 15:9 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

NIV: For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

NASB: For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

CSB: For I am the least of the apostles, not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

NLT: For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church.

KJV: For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

NKJV: For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

Paul is not expressing self-pity or even self-hatred in this verse. He has described himself among the other apostles as one "untimely" or "abnormally" born. Unlike the men who were selected and trained by Jesus during the Lord's time on earth, Paul was confronted and converted by Christ after Jesus has already returned to heaven (Acts 9:3–6; 22:6–11).

It's not because of Paul's lateness to faith in Christ, though, that he describes himself as unworthy of the title "apostle." It's because he actively opposed Christ and those who followed him. As a high-ranking Jewish Pharisee, Paul applied all his energy and strategy to wiping out Christianity in its earliest form. To accomplish this, he hurt, imprisoned, and even killed Jewish people who had converted to faith in Christ. Here's how he described this season of his life in Acts 22:4, "I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women."

Paul acknowledges that, in human terms, such actions should have disqualified him from ever representing Christ as an apostle. That's not how God works, though, as Paul shows in the following verses.

First Corinthians 15:1–11 describes the gospel as it was delivered to Paul and as he delivered it to the Corinthians. It begins with the death of Christ on the cross for our sins, but it continues to His burial and, significantly, His resurrection. The alive-again Christ appeared to many people still alive at the time Paul wrote his letter. Paul establishes that the Corinthians believed the gospel, including faith in the physical resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Paul will connect that faith to belief in the resurrection of all believers from the dead.

Paul provides thorough teaching about the resurrection of Christians from the dead. This is a direct counter to some group of Corinthians who did not believe in such a resurrection. He shows that natural death is not the end of life for Christians; it is the last step before receiving a glorified, resurrected body like that of the risen Christ. That ''spiritual'' body will be as different from our current bodies as a star is from a fish. In that moment, for all who have believed in Christ, living and dead, death will be defeated for good.

In chapters 12, 13, and 14, Scripture focused on the concept of spiritual gifts and how best to use them. This follows several other ideas where Paul corrected errors in the Corinthians' thinking. Chapter 15 contains extensive teaching on one last issue about which some Corinthians were confused or misled. Apparently, they harbored some doubts about the physical resurrection of Christians from the dead. After clearing up these confusions, Paul will address various other items, of a less doctrinal nature, and close out his letter.

First Corinthians is one of the more practical books of the New Testament. Paul writes to a church immersed in a city associated with trade, but also with corruption and immorality. These believers are struggling to properly apply spiritual gifts and to resist the ungodly practices of the surrounding culture. Paul's letter gives instructions for real-life concerns such as marriage and spirituality. He also deals with the importance of unity and gives one of the Bible's more well-known descriptions of love in chapter 13.