15:9-11
Paul then continues this slight digression, referring to himself as the least of the apostles, and definitely the least deserving. He is not referring to any hierarchy within the apostles, but to the fact that he once persecuted the church. But being an apostle was not a measure of merit, but of the grace of God. Any positions or missions we have within the church are not, ultimately, given on merit, but by grace. This does not mean we ignore skills and abilities, but even the skills we have were given to us by God. And none of us deserve to be servants of Christ, we are servants only because of the grace of God.
And this grace “was not in vain”. Too often we think of grace as being passive, ie of us receiving forgiveness and mercy (which of course we do). But grace is also active, as here. God’s grace towards Paul enabled him to take the gospel to the Gentiles.
“I worked harder than any of them”. God’s grace towards us does not mean that we do not do anything, quite the opposite in fact. If we truly receive the grace of God, then we will work all the harder. And, at least on some measures, Paul worked harder than all the other apostles. When God does stuff it always involves men and women doing stuff. God’s grace enables us to do things and be more fruitful than we have any right to expect.
“Though it was not I but the grace of God that is with me”. So the grace of God leads us to work hard, but when we are working hard in the grace of God we find that it is actually God who is working through us. We know that we do not succeed because of our abilities or effort, but because it is God working through us.
Paul then returns to the central point. Both he and the other apostles preached the same gospel, the gospel of the risen Christ, and it is this gospel of the risen Christ that the Corinthians believed.
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