Paul has just made a strong statement, comparing himself to a miscarried infant. Now he is going to explain this statement (as indicated by the word for
). He begins by calling himself the least of the apostles.
Then he goes even further and states that he is not worthy to be called an apostle.
The reason for this is that he has persecuted the church of God.
Before Christ appeared to Paul, Paul was making every attempt to destroy the church (Acts 8:1–3). He was involved in Stephen’s death. He even went to the high priest to obtain official permission to arrest all the believers in Damascus (Acts 9:1–2).
In his appearance to Paul, Christ said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?... I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting
(Acts 9:4–5).
The knowledge that he had been persecuting the Lord himself would serve to humble Paul for the rest of his life. He openly shared this part of his personal history, as it was part of his testimony to God’s grace (Acts 26:9–11; Galatians 1:13; 1 Timothy 1:12–14). God’s grace is also the focus of the following verse.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.