<p>10:1 <i>Now I Paul-</i> The appeal to support the Jerusalem Poor Fund in chapters 7-9 is now finished, and Paul now returns to tackle the Corinthians over their serious spiritual inadequacies. For all the love, enthusiasm, imputation of righteousness, the loving them with a love which imagines good and exaggerated their spirituality- Paul was also realistically aware that they were heading the wrong way in their spiritual lives. &quot;Now I...&quot; suggests that the argument flows straight on from the preceding chapters. Chapters 7-9 appear to present the Corinthians in an unrealistically positive light, but now Paul turns to realities. The break in style is such that some have suggested that chapters 7-9 form a separate piece of correspondence. But &quot;Now I...&quot; indicates that Paul is fully aware of what he has just written, and is now returning to dealing with their suspicions of him and need for exhortation. </p><p><i>I myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ- </i>&quot;I myself&quot; emphasizes his personal approach to them. And he himself was acting as Christ to them, with His gentleness. His sarcasm and anger later in this letter must be read therefore either as a departure from his aim as here stated, or we are to read it as all the same expressing the Lord's meekness and gentleness. &quot;I beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ&quot; is surely a reference to the Lord's description of Himself as being, there and then, &quot;meek and lowly of heart&quot; (Mt. 11:29; 2 Cor. 10:1). Paul's point is that as the Lord was in His life, so He is now, in His heavenly glory.</p><p><i>I who in your presence am lowly among you-</i> &quot;Lowly&quot; was likely a reference to how his critics described his literal presence, perhaps hinting at some physical deformity. But the ultimate &quot;lowly&quot; one was of course the Lord Jesus, and Paul has just stated that he seeks to relate to them as Him, with His meekness. For the same word is used by the Lord in saying that He was &quot;lowly in heart&quot; (Mt. 11:29). And he has earlier stated that he feels &quot;lowly&quot; because of the bad state of affairs in Corinth (2 Cor. 7:6 s.w.). The Lord's lowliness of mind (s.w.) was at its zenith during His time of dying (Phil. 2:3), and Paul sets that humbling of mind as the pattern for every Christian. </p><p><i>But being absent am bold toward you</i>- The contrast is between being present and yet being now absent from them. He is keenly aware of his absence from them (10:11; 13:2,10). But he warns them that he will visit them and be in presence as he is when absent in his letters (:11). He earlier warned them that although he was absent yet through the Spirit he was present with them (1 Cor. 5:3; also Col. 2:5 &quot;Though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit&quot;). Therefore his presence or absence was not to be understood by them as significant. Any attempt to criticize the difference between his written style when absent and personal style when present was ill founded- because through the Spirit, he was present with them although absent. So they were not to think that what he was now going to write was just mere words, and his personal presence would be far less demanding. </p>