Dednction from the preceding discussion, teaching the proper light in which the people should regard the ministry, vs. 1-6. Contrast between the apostles and the false teachers, vs. 6-21.
Ministers, as stewards, should he faithful, as Paul had 'proved himself to he, vs. 1-21.
It follows, from what was said in the preceding chapter, that the people should regard their ministers as the servants of Christ, and dispensers of the truths which God had revealed, V. 1. The most important qualification of a dispenser is fidel- ity, V. 2. It is a small matter how men may estimate the fidehty of ministers. The only competent judge is the Lord ; and, therefore, to his judgment the decision of that question should be referred, vs. 3-6.
What the apostle had said of himself and of Apollos, in the foregoing exhibition of the true nature of the ministerial