Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Corinthians 5:12

"We are not again commending ourselves unto you, but [speak] as giving you occasion of glorying on our behalf, that ye may have wherewith to answer them that glory in appearance, and not in heart." — 2 Corinthians 5:12 (ASV)

Paul insists that these assertions about himself in relation to God and other people should not be interpreted as a further attempt at self-commendation (cf. 3:1). But he does want his converts to have the necessary ammunition with which to defend his apostleship. They ought, he implies, to have had sufficient pride in him to have undertaken this defense on their own initiative (cf. 12:11) with their weapons in hand—namely, their personal knowledge of his devoted service as an apostle. However, he reluctantly supplies them with additional weaponry by reminding them of the testimony of their individual consciences.

Paul describes the opposition as those who prided themselves on outward appearances. No doubt they made superficial claims to superiority over him— such as their relation to the Jesus of history (cf. 5:16) and to Palestinian orthodoxy (cf. 11:22) or to their greater number of visions and revelations (cf. 12:1–7). Paul was content to take his stand on what was not outwardly evident or fully provable, i.e., what was “in the heart.”