That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters.
The verse is Paul's expressed desire not to seem as if he would terrify believers by his letters. His firm words in writing were not intended as a threat to frighten them. They belong to his defense of his course, in which he vindicated his conduct before the church. That defense included his choice to humble himself by supporting himself through manual labor while preaching the gospel.
He humbled himself in this way by working with his own hands, yet he could still speak with authority. That authority rested on the fact that God had entrusted him with a work for the edification of the church.
The verse is Paul's expressed desire not to seem as if he would terrify believers by his letters. His firm words in writing were not intended as a threat to frighten them. They belong to his defense of his course, in which he vindicated his conduct before the church. That defense included his choice to humble himself by supporting himself through manual labor while preaching the gospel.
He humbled himself in this way by working with his own hands, yet he could still speak with authority. That authority rested on the fact that God had entrusted him with a work for the edification of the church.