◄ 2 Corinthians 10:15 ►
Neither do we boast beyond our limits in the labors of others. But we hope that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you will greatly increase as well,
Study Bible
Neither do we boast beyond our limits in the labors of others.

Paul refuses to claim credit for churches or ministries established by others. His conduct sharply contrasts with the intruding teachers at Corinth, who commended themselves and sought influence by attaching their claims to work already accomplished. God assigns each servant a field of responsibility, and faithful ministry honors those boundaries. Paul’s confidence rests not in comparison, reputation, or borrowed achievements, but in the Lord who called and sent him. Proverbs 27:2 likewise warns against self-praise, directing honor away from self-exaltation.

Rom 15:20 In this way I have aspired to preach the gospel…
Jhn 4:37-38 For in this case the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’…
1Co 3:6-7 I planted the seed and Apollos watered it,…

But we hope that as your faith increases,

Paul expects genuine faith to mature in knowledge, obedience, discernment, and love. The spiritual health of the Corinthian church mattered deeply because immature believers were vulnerable to deception and division. Their growth would strengthen them to recognize apostolic truth, reject false teaching, and participate more fully in the work of Christ. Faith that grows in grace also produces steadiness and fruitful service within the whole body.

2Th 1:3 We are obligated to thank God for you all the time…
2Co 8:7 But just as you excel in everything—in faith…
Col 2:6-7 Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord,…

our area of influence among you will greatly increase as well,

Paul does not seek a larger sphere for personal status, but for the wider advance of the gospel. As the Corinthians became established in faith and affirmed the ministry God had entrusted to Paul, they could serve as a strong base for mission beyond their city. Corinth’s position as a major commercial center made the church there strategically important for the spread of the gospel throughout Achaia and neighboring regions. Their maturity would enable Paul to continue carrying Christ’s name to places where He had not yet been proclaimed.

1Co 16:9 because a great door for effective work has opened to me…
2Co 2:12 Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ…
Rom 15:23-24 But now that there are no further opportunities for me…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Paul
The apostle who authored the letter to the Corinthians, addressing issues within the church and defending his apostolic authority.

2. Corinthians
The recipients of the letter, members of the church in Corinth, a city known for its diversity and moral challenges.

3. Apostolic Ministry
The broader context of Paul's ministry, which involved spreading the Gospel and establishing churches across the Roman Empire.
Teaching Points
Humility in Ministry
Paul emphasizes not boasting beyond limits, teaching us to recognize and respect the contributions of others in ministry.

Faith and Influence
As faith grows, so does the potential for influence. This encourages believers to focus on spiritual growth to expand their impact for the Kingdom.

Partnership in the Gospel
The verse highlights the importance of working together in ministry, as Paul hopes for mutual growth and expansion.

God's Role in Growth
While Paul desires expansion, he acknowledges that it is contingent upon the increase of faith, reminding us that God is the ultimate source of growth.

Vision for Ministry
Paul’s hope for expansion challenges us to have a vision for our own ministries, seeking to reach more people as we grow in faith.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Paul's approach to boasting in ministry challenge our own attitudes towards recognition and success?

2. In what ways can we actively contribute to the increase of faith within our church community?

3. How does understanding the connection between faith and influence change our perspective on personal spiritual growth?

4. What are some practical steps we can take to ensure we are working in partnership with others in our ministry efforts?

5. How can we develop a vision for expanding our influence in our personal and communal ministry contexts, in line with Paul's example?
Connections to Other Scriptures
1 Corinthians 3:6-9
Paul discusses the concept of planting and watering in ministry, emphasizing that God gives the growth, which relates to the idea of expanding influence as faith increases.

Romans 15:20
Paul speaks about his ambition to preach the Gospel where Christ was not known, aligning with his desire to expand his area of influence.

Ephesians 4:15-16
The growth of the body of Christ is discussed, which parallels the increase of faith and expansion of influence mentioned in 2 Corinthians 10:15.
Sermons
The False and True Method of Estimating MenD. Thomas, D. D.2 Corinthians 10:11-18
The Vital in CharacterD. Thomas, D. D.2 Corinthians 10:11-18
Boasting, Wrong and RightE. Hurndall 2 Corinthians 10:12-18
Limits and LaboursC. Lipscomb 2 Corinthians 10:12-18
The Mission Field AdmeasuredR. Watson.2 Corinthians 10:13-16
The True Sphere of Human Usefulness and the Source of Human GloryD. Thomas, D. D.2 Corinthians 10:13-16
People
Corinthians, Paul
Places
Achaia, Corinth
Topics
Abundance, Abundantly, Activity, Amongst, Area, Beyond, Boast, Boasting, Business, Continues, Credit, Due, Effect, Enlarged, Entertain, Exceed, Expand, Faith, Field, Further, Gain, Glorying, Greatly, Grow, Groweth, Grows, Growth, Hope, Increase, Increased, Increases, Increasing, Influence, Keeping, Labors, Labour, Labours, Larger, Limit, Limits, Line, Magnified, Measure, Measured, Men's, Ourselves, People's, Promotion, Proper, Province, Rule, Sphere, Taking, Within, Yet
Dictionary of Bible Themes
2 Corinthians 10:15

     8026   faith, growth in
     8348   spiritual growth, nature of
     8459   perseverance
     9612   hope, in God

2 Corinthians 10:7-18

     6121   boasting

2 Corinthians 10:13-16

     5109   Paul, apostle

2 Corinthians 10:13-17

     8820   self-confidence

2 Corinthians 10:15-16

     7726   evangelists, ministry
     7741   missionaries, task
     8427   evangelism, kinds of
     8443   growth

Library
A Militant Message
'Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience shall be fulfilled.'--2 COR. x. 5 and 6 (R.V.). None of Paul's letters are so full of personal feeling as this one is. It is written, for the most part, at a white heat; he had heard from his trusted Titus tidings which on one hand filled him with a thankfulness of …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

And, the Case Being Thus, Enough and More than Enough Answer Has Been Made...
33. And, the case being thus, enough and more than enough answer has been made to the heretics, whether they be Manichees, or whosoever other that bring false charges against the Fathers of the Old Testament, on the subject of their having several wives, thinking this a proof whereby to convict them of incontinence: provided, that is, that they perceive, that that is no sin, which is committed neither against nature, in that they used those women not for wantonness, but for the begetting of children: …
St. Augustine—On the Good of Marriage

Excursus on the Use of the Word "Canon. "
(Bright: Notes on the Canons, pp. 2 and 3.) Kanon, as an ecclesiastical term, has a very interesting history. See Westcott's account of it, On the New Testament Canon, p. 498 ff. The original sense, "a straight rod" or "line," determines all its religious applications, which begin with St. Paul's use of it for a prescribed sphere of apostolic work (2 Cor. x. 13, 15), or a regulative principle of Christian life (Gal. vi. 16). It represents the element of definiteness in Christianity and in the …
Philip Schaff—The Seven Ecumenical Councils

Perfect in Parts, Imperfect in Degrees.
And the very God of peace sanctify, you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. -- 1 Thess. v. 23. The Scriptural doctrine that sanctification is a gradual process perfected only in death must be maintained clearly and soberly: first, in opposition to the Perfectionist, who says that saints may be "wholly sanctified" in this life; secondly, to those who deny the implanting of inherent holy dispositions in God's children. …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Conflicts with Giant Mistake
CONFLICTS WITH GIANT MISTAKE I make so many mistakes, it seems I am just a bundle of contradictions. I try to do good; but at times my efforts are so crude that I seem to do more harm than good. What shall I do? And though all the time I try hard not to make mistakes, yet I still make them. It seems to me that surely I am not sanctified, or else I should be more perfect. Do not the Scriptures command us to be perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect? I am not perfect; far from it. Really I …
Robert Lee Berry—Adventures in the Land of Canaan

But, Again, Lest by Occasion of this Sentence...
50. But, again, lest by occasion of this sentence, any one should sin with deadly security, and should allow himself to be carried away, as though his sins were soon by easy confession to be blotted out, he straightway added, "My little children, these things have I written unto you, that ye sin not; and, if one shall have sinned, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and Himself is a propitiation of our sins." [2207] Let no one therefore depart from sin as though about …
St. Augustine—Of Holy Virginity.

Introductory.
As introductory to the following dissertation, I shall explain and define certain terms that frequently occur in it, especially canon, apocryphal, ecclesiastical, and the like. A right apprehension of these will make the observations advanced respecting the canon and its formation plainer. The words have not been taken in the same sense by all, a fact that obscures their sense. They have been employed more or less vaguely by different writers. Varying ideas have been attached to them. The Greek …
Samuel Davidson—The Canon of the Bible

"If we Say that we have not Sinned, we Make Him a Liar, and his Word is not in Us. "
1 John i. 10.--"If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." There is nothing in which religion more consists than in the true and unfeigned knowledge of ourselves. The heathens supposed that sentence, {GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER NU}{GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA} {GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON}{GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU}{GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON}{GREEK …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"Because the Carnal Mind is Enmity against God, for it is not Subject to the Law of God, Neither Indeed Can Be. "
Rom. viii. 7.--"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Unbelief is that which condemns the world. It involves in more condemnation than many other sins, not only because more universal, but especially because it shuts up men in their misery, and secludes them from the remedy that is brought to light in the gospel. By unbelief I mean, not only that careless neglect of Jesus Christ offered for salvation, but that which is the …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Of the Joy of a Good Conscience
The testimony of a good conscience is the glory of a good man. Have a good conscience and thou shalt ever have joy. A good conscience is able to bear exceeding much, and is exceeding joyful in the midst of adversities; an evil conscience is ever fearful and unquiet. Thou shalt rest sweetly if thy heart condemn thee not. Never rejoice unless when thou hast done well. The wicked have never true joy, nor feel internal peace, for there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.(1) And if they say …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

The Third Wall.
The third wall falls of itself, as soon as the first two have fallen; for if the Pope acts contrary to the Scriptures, we are bound to stand by the Scriptures, to punish and to constrain him, according to Christ's commandment; "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every …
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation

"But Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God," &C.
Matt. vi. 33.--"But seek ye first the kingdom of God," &c. O "seekest thou great things for thyself," says God to Baruch, (Jer. xlv. 5) "seek them not." How then doth he command us in the text to seek a kingdom? Is not this a great thing? Certainly it is greater than those great things he would not have Baruch to seek after, and yet he charges us to seek after it. In every kind of creatures there is some difference, some greater, some lesser, some higher, some lower; so there are some men far above …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Pharisee and the Publican
Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a Publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself; God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the Publican, standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.-- Luke, xviii. 10-13. In the beginning …
John Bunyan—The Pharisee And Publican

Epistle Lii. To Natalis, Bishop .
To Natalis, Bishop [1463] . Gregory to Natalis, Bishop of Salona. As though forgetting the tenour of former letters, I had determined to say nothing to your Blessedness but what should savour of sweetness: but, now that in your epistle you have recurred in the way of argumentation to preceding letters, I am once more compelled to say perhaps some things that I had rather not have said. For in defence of feasts your Fraternity mentions the feast of Abraham, in which by the testimony of Holy Scripture …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

A Discourse Upon the Pharisee and the Publican
WHEREIN SEVERAL GREAT AND WEIGHTY THINGS ARE HANDLED: AS, THE NATURE OF PRAYER, AND OF OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW, WITH HOW FAR IT OBLIGES CHRISTIANS, AND WHEREIN IT CONSISTS. WHEREIN IS ALSO SHEWED, THE EQUALLY DEPLORABLE CONDITION OF THE PHARISEE, OR HYPOCRITICAL AND SELF-RIGHTEOUS MAN; AND OF THE PUBLICAN, OR SINNER THAT LIVES IN SIN, AND IN OPEN VIOLATION OF THE DIVINE LAWS. TOGETHER WITH THE WAY AND METHOD OF GOD'S FREE GRACE IN PARDONING PENITENT SINNERS; PROVING THAT HE JUSTIFIES THEM BY IMPUTING …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Sick Person Ought Now to Send for Some Godly and Religious Pastor.
In any wise remember, if conveniently it may be, to send for some godly and religious pastor, not only to pray for thee at thy death--for God in such a case hath promised to hear the prayers of the righteous prophets, and elders of the church (Gen. xx. 7; Jer. xviii. 20; xv. 1; 1 Sam. xii. 19, 23; James v. 14, 15, 16)--but also upon thy unfeigned repentance to declare to thee the absolution of thy sins. For as Christ hath given him a calling to baptize thee unto repentance for the remission of thy …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

First Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Romans 12, 1-6. 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. 2 And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 3 For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

I May Briefly Reduce the Chief Persuading Motive to this So Needful and So Much...
I may briefly reduce the chief persuading motive to this so needful and so much desiderated grace into some three or four heads. All things within and without persuade to it, but especially the right consideration of the love of God in Christ, the wise and the impartial reflection on ourselves, the consideration of our brethren whom we are commanded to love, and the thorough inspection into the nature and use of the grace itself. In consideration of the First, a soul might argue itself into a complacency …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Holy War,
MADE BY SHADDAI UPON DIABOLUS, FOR THE REGAINING OF THE METROPOLIS OF THE WORLD; OR, THE LOSING AND TAKING AGAIN OF THE TOWN OF MANSOUL. THE AUTHOR OF 'THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS.' 'I have used similitudes.'--Hosea 12:10. London: Printed for Dorman Newman, at the King's Arms in the Poultry; and Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1682. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Bunyan's account of the Holy War is indeed an extraordinary book, manifesting a degree of genius, research, and spiritual …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Third Sunday after Trinity Humility, Trust, Watchfulness, Suffering
Text: 1 Peter 5, 5-11. 5 Likewise, ye younger, be subject unto the elder. Yea, all of you gird yourselves with humility, to serve one another: for God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time; 7 casting all your anxiety upon him, because he careth for you. 8 Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 whom withstand stedfast …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

Sanctification
'For this is the will of God, even your sanctification.' I Thess 4:4. The word sanctification signifies to consecrate and set apart to a holy use: thus they are sanctified persons who are separated from the world, and set apart for God's service. Sanctification has a privative and a positive part. I. A privative part, which lies in the purging out of sin. Sin is compared to leaven, which sours; and to leprosy, which defiles. Sanctification purges out the old leaven.' I Cor 5:5. Though it takes not …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

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