Nor in basing my claims upon this head do I go at all beyond my own proper province. I will take credit for no man’s labours but my own. They have, indeed, been quite signal enough.
I will not dare to speak. — I have a certain just and legitimate pride, but I shall not, therefore, presume to boast of successes of which others have been the instrument. All successes in the mission field are due ultimately to Christ; for some he has made use of me, for others of other men. I will confine myself to those in which I have been myself directly concerned.
To make the Gentiles obedient. — Comp. Romans 1:5, “for obedience to the faith among all nations” (i.e., to bring over all the Gentiles into obedience to the faith; see Note).
By word and deed. — This goes with the phrase “wrought by me,” and signifies “either by preaching or by miracles.”
It will be seen that the structure of this verse is not, in a rhetorical sense, quite elegant. The Apostle uses a negative form of sentence where a positive form would seem to be more appropriate. Instead of saying, “I will confine myself to what Christ has wrought by me,” he says, “I will not speak of what Christ has not wrought by me,” though the description which follows is that of his own ministry.