Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Corinthians 15:9

"For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God." — 1 Corinthians 15:9 (ASV)

For. A reason for the title which he had given to himself in 1 Corinthians 15:8.

I am the least of the apostles. This was not on account of any defect in his commission, or any lack of qualification to bear witness to what he saw, but on account of the great crime of his life: the fact that he had been a persecutor. Paul could never forget that, just as a man who has been profane and a scoffer, when he becomes converted, can never forget the deep guilt of his former life. The effect will be to produce humility and a deep sense of unworthiness continually.

Am not meet to be called an apostle. I am not fit to be regarded as a follower of the Lord Jesus, and as appointed to defend His cause and to bear His name among the Gentiles. Paul had a deep sense of his unworthiness, and the memory of his former life always tended to keep him humble. Such should be, and such will be, the effect of remembering a life of sin on those who become converted to the gospel, especially if they are entrusted with the high office of the ministry and occupy a station of importance in the church of God.

Because I persecuted the church of God. See Acts 9. It is evident, however, that as deeply as Paul might feel his unworthiness and his unfitness to be called an apostle, this did not render him an incompetent witness of what he had seen. He was unworthy, but he had no doubt that he had seen the Lord Jesus. Amidst all the expressions of his deep sense of his unfitness for his office, he never once intimates the slightest doubt that he had seen the Savior.

He felt himself fully qualified to testify to that, and with unwavering firmness he did testify to it to the end of his life. A man may be deeply aware that he is unworthy of an elevated station or office, and yet be no less qualified to be a witness. Humility does not disqualify a man from giving testimony but rather provides an additional qualification.

There is no man to whom we listen more attentively, or whose words we more readily believe, than the modest and humble man—the man who has had abundant opportunities to observe that to which he testifies, and yet who is deeply humble. Such a man was the apostle Paul. He evidently felt that, much as he felt his unworthiness and ready as he was to confess it, his testimony on the subject of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus ought to have, and would have, great weight in the church at Corinth. (See Barnes on Acts 9:19.)