Why did Paul consider the Corinthian believers to be his own children?
Paul considered the Corinthian believers his own children in the faith because he had brought them the gospel. Through his ministry they received the salvation power that delivered them from paganism and idolatry. He therefore called them beloved sons, just as he called Timothy his son in the faith—not physically, but spiritually.
Les explains that Paul uses the term “sons” here of the pagan Corinthians the same way he spoke of Timothy, calling him “my son in the faith.” This was not a physical relationship, since Timothy was in a different part of the world from Paul, yet Paul still referred to him as his son in the faith. In the same way, Paul could refer to these Corinthian believers as his children because he was the one who brought them the gospel and the salvation power that brought them out of their paganism and idolatry. Les connects this to the verse where Paul says that though they may have 10,000 instructors in Christ, they do not have many fathers. You can have Sunday school teacher after Sunday school teacher, pastor after pastor, and television evangelist after television evangelist, but only one or two people usually have a real impact in bringing a person to salvation and making them a child of God.
For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
More Questions
How does Paul use the word 'sons' when he calls the Corinthian believers his beloved sons?
Paul uses the term 'sons' of the pagan Corinthian believers in the same spiritual sense in which he called Timothy his 'son in the faith.'