1 Corinthians 15:10

Context

This verse belongs to chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians, the letter the apostle Paul sent to the church at Corinth. Chapter 15 deals with the resurrection. Paul first sets out the gospel that he received and delivered (15:1-11): Christ died, was buried, and rose again, and he appeared to Cephas (Peter), to the Twelve, to more than five hundred brethren, to James, and to all the apostles. Paul then says that last of all Christ appeared to him also, "as of one born out of due time," and confesses that he, who had persecuted the church, is "the least of the apostles" (15:8-9).

Verse 10 follows directly on this confession. Paul declares that both his becoming an apostle and the work he has done as an apostle came about by the grace of God. In verse 11 Paul concludes that "whether it were I or they," the same gospel was preached, and he then turns to his main argument for the resurrection. The verse thus stands at a point where Paul affirms both the legitimacy of his apostleship and the fact that he proclaims the same gospel as the other apostles.

Interpretation

• The priority of grace: Interpreters across many denominations commonly read "I am what I am" as a confession that Paul's conversion and apostolic calling arose not from his own qualifications but from the grace of God. "Not in vain" is taken to mean that this grace bore real fruit in his labor.
• Augustine and the Reformed tradition: Augustine is known to have cited this verse in his controversy with Pelagianism (the view that human beings can do good by their own will). The Calvinist tradition, including Presbyterianism, frequently appeals to this verse to support the view that even the believer's labor and sanctification (the process of growing in holiness) are brought about by grace.
• The Wesleyan tradition: The Wesleyan theological tradition, including Methodist and Holiness churches, focuses on the way grace moves people to respond and to labor. It therefore tends to read this verse as a passage in which human obedience and labor, empowered by grace, appear together.

Debates and Issues

• Textual question: Some Greek manuscripts include the article before "with me," while others omit it. With the article, "the grace of God which was with me" is more strongly emphasized as the subject that labored. Without the article, the text allows a reading of "not I, but the grace of God with me" that suggests grace and the human agent worked together. The major critical editions are known to place this article in brackets, leaving the question undecided.
• The meaning of "than they all": Interpreters differ on whether Paul means that he labored more than each of the other apostles individually or more than all the apostles combined. Whichever reading is adopted, interpreters generally agree that Paul immediately adds "yet not I," thereby withdrawing any claim to self-glory.
• Questions of application: Some observe that emphasizing grace alone can lead people to make light of labor, while emphasizing labor alone can drift toward boasting in one's own merit. Because this verse holds both elements together in a single sentence, it is often invoked in discussions of how to balance them.

Perspective: Korean Protestant practiceHow this idea is used in Korean churches, kept from the original Korean article.

In Korean Protestant churches, the rendering of this verse in the Korean Revised Version (Gaeyeok), "What I am, I am by the grace of God," is widely quoted in sermons and testimonies. It is used especially as a confession in which believers, looking back on their lives and ministries, give the credit to God.

Related Passages

• 1 Corinthians 15:8-9
• Galatians 1:15-16
• Ephesians 2:8-10
• Philippians 2:12-13
• 2 Corinthians 12:9