In verse 12 Paul goes on to say, “Indeed, the signs of the apostle were wrought among you in all endurance, by signs and wonders and works of power.” The signs are attesting miracles that furnish credentials of apostleship, the wonders are startling and awakening miracles, and the works of power are miracles that demonstrate God’s power.
I believe that the expression “the signs of the apostle” was used first by the Corinthians, not by Paul. Perhaps the believers at Corinth were discussing the matter of the signs of an apostle. They may have asked themselves what were the signs of Paul’s being an apostle. If they had not raised this question, Paul would not have mentioned it here.
The expression “the signs of the apostle” may sound strange to us, but it did not seem strange to the Corinthians. On the contrary, this expression was familiar to them, since they were probably the ones who invented it. Some of them may have thought that the Judaizers had more of these signs than Paul did. This was the reason in verse 12 Paul speaks of the signs of his apostleship.
Regarding the signs of the apostle, the first thing Paul mentions is “all endurance.” This indicates that endurance is the leading sign of an apostle. With respect to the Corinthians, Paul endured defamation. Some of them went so far as to say that Paul was crafty and with guile took advantage of them. Paul uses the word “guile” in verse 16. In a note on this verse in his New Translation, Darby points out, “The apostle is not saying that he did this, but is answering a charge that he had kept up appearances by taking nothing himself, but knew how to indemnify himself by using Titus in order to receive from them. The charge was false, as he proceeds to show.” The Corinthians were saying that Paul would not come to Corinth to collect money himself. Therefore, he sent Titus to do this for him and thereby used Titus to cover himself. It is hard to believe that certain of the Corinthians would defame Paul to such an extent. Now we can understand why Paul emphasizes the matter of endurance.
In 12:12 Paul seems to be saying to the Corinthians, “You ask me to tell you the signs of my apostleship. The first sign is my endurance. You have criticized me and defamed me, but I have been able to endure it.” Then Paul goes on to mention signs, wonders, and works of power. These are miraculous things. But according to the context, although Paul speaks of these things, he does not emphasize them. Rather, Paul seems to say, “You talk about miracles as signs of apostleship. When I was with you, there were many signs, wonders, and works of power. But instead of emphasizing such things, I would first speak of my endurance.”
In verse 13 Paul continues, “For what is it in which you were treated in an inferior manner to the rest of the churches, except that I myself was not an encumbrance to you? Forgive me this injustice.” The church at Corinth was not treated as inferior to the other churches or weaker than they. After pointing this out, Paul says, ironically, “Forgive me this injustice,” referring to not being an encumbrance to the believers.
In verse 13 Paul seems to be saying, “In the matter of receiving gifts, grace, and God’s blessing, you Corinthians are not inferior to other churches. I begot you in Christ, and I did my best to raise you as a church that was not short of anything. I did not treat you in a manner inferior to the rest of the churches. I did my best to beget you in Christ, to raise you up as a church, and to build you up. Regarding God’s salvation and blessing, divine grace, and spiritual gifts, you are not inferior to any other church. In what way, then, were you treated in an inferior way? Only in that I was not an encumbrance to you. I did not burden you. Forgive me this injustice!” It was a shame to the Corinthians that Paul had to speak this way. The only thing he failed to do for them was to make himself a burden to them. Elsewhere Paul even says that he took wages from other churches in order to work among the Corinthians. Although Paul worked for the Corinthians, they did not give him anything. Thus, his only injustice toward them was not placing any burden on them. Verse 13 is not a pleasant word, but Paul was nonetheless bold in saying it.