1 Corinthians 15:10

'But by the grace of God I am what I am. And his grace which was bestowed on me was not found to be vain, but I laboured more abundantly than all of them, and yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.'

But he does not want them to gain the impression from this that he is not therefore a genuine Apostle. He is what he is by the grace, the unmerited favour and goodness, of God Who had chosen him from birth (Galatians 1:15). And God does nothing by halves. Even while he had not known Him God had been fully preparing him for the task that was to be his. And that grace was not bestowed in vain, for of all the Apostles he had been the most active. He had laboured more abundantly than all, working hardest, reaching furthest, writing letters to the churches in which he had laboured. And yet the credit was not due to him. It was due to the unmerited favour of God. This was no criticism of the others. It was due to the grace of God which was with him. It was that which had driven him on and enabled him. It had been God's miracle. He owed all to God.