What Did Paul Mean by “Not I, But the Lord”? There are certain passages in Scripture that seem to make careful Bible readers stop and think. One that has often prompted questions is found in I Corinthians 7. What did Paul mean by, ‘Not I, but the Lord?” When Paul says things like, “but to the rest speak I, not the Lord,” I Corinthians 7:12, or, “I have no commandment of the Lord; yet I give my judgment,” I Corinthians 7:25, it almost sounds at first as though Paul is saying, “This next part is simply my own opinion.’
Yet the more I’ve thought about those verses, the less I think that’s the distinction Paul is making. It seems to me that Paul is distinguishing between what the Lord Jesus expressly taught during His earthly ministry and what Christ was now revealing through His commissioned apostle. In other words, Paul is not saying, ‘This part is merely human.’ He appears to be saying something more like, “the Lord did not directly address this particular situation while He walked among us, so I am now giving apostolic instruction.”
Notice how Peter speaks of Paul’s letters. He places them alongside ‘the other Scriptures.’ Whatever distinction Paul is making in I Corinthians 7, Peter certainly doesn’t understand it as a distinction between inspired and uninspired writing. Then another passage comes to mind: “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.” I Corinthians 14:37. That verse seems especially significant. Paul can distinguish between repeating a command previously spoken by Christ during His earthly ministry and giving fresh apostolic instruction, yet he can also say that what he writes are the commandments of the Lord.
Perhaps the distinction, then, is not between God’s words and Paul’s words, but between the Lord’s recorded teaching during His earthly ministry and the Lord continuing to speak through the apostolic office He Himself established.
I’ve found that thought helpful. It also reminds me that inspiration did not erase the personalities of the biblical writers. Paul still writes as Paul. He expresses affection, sorrow, joy, practical concerns, and even asks Timothy to bring his cloak. Yet the Spirit of God so superintended those very words that they became exactly what God intended to preserve for His church.
That doesn’t lessen the authority of Scripture. If anything, it magnifies the wisdom of God, who spoke through real men without diminishing either His voice or theirs. Scripture is not a collection of divine dictation detached from human personality. It is God speaking through chosen men in such a way that every word is truly theirs, and truly His. I think that’s a beautiful truth, and one well worth pondering. MPJ