1 Corinthians 9
1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?
2 If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
Here we see how Paul defines an apostle – a person who goes into a place where there is no church and starts a church.
3 My defense to those who examine me is this:
4 Do we not have a right to eat and drink?
5 Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?
6 Or do only Barnabas and I not have a right to refrain from working?
7 Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock?
8 I am not speaking these things according to human judgment, am I? Or does not the Law also say these things?
9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, "YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING." God is not concerned about oxen, is He?
10 Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher {to thresh} in hope of sharing {the crops.}
11 If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?
12 If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we did not use this right, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ.
13 Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the {food} of the temple, {and} those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from the altar?
14 So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel.
Those who proclaim the gospel have rights. For example, they can receive material gifts from the churches they plant and serve.
Nevertheless, I don’t think that they can compel people to give. They can use what is given but they cannot demand anything.
It is interesting how Paul interprets Moses’ law of not muzzling an ox while he is threshing. Can we interpret all laws concerning animals in a similar fashion?
Those who minister are also allowed to marry.
15 But I have used none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than have any man make my boast an empty one.
16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.
17 For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.
18 What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
Paul chose not to exercise his right. He was looking for the eternal reward. He was running the race to win. So he wanted to give as much as possible and receive as little as possible. In that way he would get compensation in heavenly currency rather than in earthly currency. He clearly saw that the earth was passing away.
Further, he did not preach the gospel so that he could make a living. He preached because he wanted to obey God who called him. The material compensation was entirely secondary to him.
We need to minister because we are called to do so, and not to think of it as a way to earn a living. Our goal should be to help people, not to make money.
19 For though I am free from all {men,} I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more.
20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law;
21 to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law.
22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some.
23 I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.
Here we see Paul’s attitude. He was willing to do anything he could possibly do (except sin, or lower the bar) to truly save people.
This attitude is something worth meditating on more often and serves as a good guide regarding how we should behave towards unbelievers.
Can we be open to have such an attitude?
24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but {only} one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
25 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then {do it} to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
26 Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air;
27 but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
Most Christians don’t even realize that they are in a race.
Very few Christians run in the race with the aim to win.
The reward is very great, but the cost (self-control and self-discipline) is very great too, and few are willing to pay the cost.
But Paul was someone who saw clearly that he was in a race. And he was in it to win.
Did you know that you can be disqualified even after you’ve preached to others? Not just that you’ll come second or third, or even last, but disqualified.
You get into the race by being born again. When you get born again you are at the starting point.
To stay in the race you have to discipline your body and make it your slave – otherwise, you get disqualified. To discipline your body means whenever you are tempted to sin you fight against the temptation and let yourself suffer the pain and discomfort needed to overcome the temptation. You may still fall in the end (if you haven’t yet become wise enough or strong enough) but you must not give up, but get up, and the next time the temptation comes you must fight again. Things like prayer, reading the Bible, having fellowship and evangelizing may help but they are not sufficient (the Pharisees did all of them but they missed out); We overcome by God’s grace (i.e. with God’s help) (Rom 6:14) and God only gives grace to the humble (Jas 4:6, 1 Pet 5:5).
To be disqualified means that you are no longer saved – you are no longer born again. You don’t end up first, or second or third, or even second last or last. You are out of the race, and no longer saved. Quite clearly, Paul did not believe in eternal security – i.e. Paul realized that a person – even he – could lose their salvation, even after having preached to others.
The person who comes first is the one who was the most faithful during all his temptations and who was most obedient to God in life and ministry (Mt 5:19; Mk 9:33-35).
In this chapter Paul is showing how he lives what he preached in Chapter 8 regarding thinking about what’s good for the other person and doing things to benefit others even at personal sacrifice.
In Chapter 6, Paul talked about making the best of our spare time. In Chapter 9 he revisits that theme by talking about running the race.
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