"When Paul 'caught them with guile,' was he obeying [233] the commandment to be 'wise as serpents?'" asks a correspondent. No. Paul did not use guile or deceit. He caught nobody with guile. Read that passage over in its connection (2 Cor. 12:14-18), and you will see he is but repeating or referring to an accusation brought against him at Corinth to the effect that he shrewdly refused remuneration in order that he might get the more; and that while he personally would take nothing, he perhaps sent his helpers around afterwards to gather the harvest for him. Paul's defense against those charges is a model of love combined with powerful refutation.

[TAG 233-234]