Through the will of God - Not by human appointment, or authority, but in accordance with the will of God, and His command. That will was made known to him by the special revelation granted to him at his conversion, and call to the apostleship; Acts 9 . Paul often refers to the fact that he had received a direct commission from God, and that he did not act on his own authority; compare Galatians 1:11-12 ; 1 Corinthians 9:1-6 ; 2 Corinthians 11:22-33 ; 2 Corinthians 12:1-12 . There was a special reason why he commenced this Epistle by referring to the fact that he was divinely called to the apostleship. It arose from the fact that his apostolic authority had been called in question by the false teachers at Corinth. That this was the case is apparent from the general strain of the Epistle, from some particular expressions 2 Corinthians 10:8-10 ; and from the fact that he is at so much pains throughout the two epistles to establish his divine commission. And Sosthenes - Sosthenes is mentioned in Acts 18:17 , as "the chief ruler of the synagogue" at Corinth. He is there said to have been beaten by the Greeks before the judgment-seat of Gallio because he was a Jew, and because he had joined with the other Jews in arraigning Paul, and had thus produced disturbance in the city; see the note on this place. It is evident that at that time he was not