If Paul says he is not speaking by commandment, why is it still God's word?
Paul sometimes writes that he is not speaking by commandment, meaning the Lord did not directly tell him to give that instruction. Yet once it is placed in the written Word, it becomes inspired Scripture. The Holy Spirit prompted and caused Paul to write it, so it remains the Word of God.
Les explains that Paul says, “I speak not by commandment,” in verse 8, but by occasion of the forwardness of others and to prove the sincerity of their love. Les teaches that we must always take into account how often Paul says he is not speaking by commandment. The Lord may have told Paul to tell the people something, yet when Paul says he is not writing by commandment, the Holy Spirit is the one who commanded or caused him to write it. Because it is in the written Word, it becomes inspired and is the Word of God. So even when Paul says it is not a commandment from God, in reality it is, since the Holy Spirit is prompting him to write what he writes. This leads into Paul’s call to abound in the grace of giving.
I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.