SPECIAL TOPIC: WEAKNESS

SPECIAL TOPIC: WEAKNESS (astheneō)

The false teachers boast in their credentials and rhetorical style, but Paul knows the value of "weakness" (astheneō). Paul uses the concept of weakness in several different ways.

1. weakness of God is stronger than men, 1 Cor. 1:25

2. weak in the world, 1 Cor. 1:27

3. Paul's weakness and fear, 1 Cor. 2:3; 9:22; 2 Cor. 11:29,30; 12:5

4. Paul and his mission team, I Cor. 4:10; 2 Cor. 11:21

5. weak believer (cf. Rom. 14:1-15:13), 1 Cor. 8:7,9,10,11,12; 9:22

6. physical illness, 1 Cor. 11:30

7. parts of the human body, 1 Cor. 12:22

8. physical body, 1 Cor. 15:43

9. Paul's physical presence or his rhetorical skills, 2 Cor. 10:10

10. Paul's weakness amplified God's strength, 2 Cor. 12:9,10; 13:4,9

11. Christ's message through Paul, 2 Cor.13:3

12. Christ's physical body, 2 Cor. 13:4