Summary of 1 Corinthians 9:1-22

Paul asks: Is he not free? is he not an Apostle? has he not seen Jesus the Lord? are not the Corinthians his work in the Lord? He says that even if he may not be an Apostle to some others, but surely he is to the Corinthians: they are the proof of his Apostleship.

To those who try to speak against him, his defense is this: He insists he does have the right to get support from the churches he serves, he has the right to marry a Christian woman just as the other Apostles and the Brothers of the Lord and Kephas do. Do only he and Barnabas lack the right of not having to work for their own support? No one serves as a soldier at his own expense. No one plants a vineyard and does not share in its fruit. No one shepherds a flock and does not get some of the milk.

It is not just these human comparisons or reasonings that he depends on. For the Scripture itself says the same. For example in the Law of Moses we read: "You must not muzzle the ox that treads the grain." Now God did not make the law just for the sake of oxen -- no, it was for our sake, so that we could see that the one who plows should be able to hope to get part of the crop, and the one who threshes, similarly. Paul has sown spiritual things among them. So it is not asking a lot if he were to ask for material support. Others share in that right, does not Paul have all the more right? But he has refrained from using this right, he has put up with much to avoid making any hindrance to the Gospel by asking for support.

The priests in the Temple eat from the offerings in the temple. So the Lord also commanded that those who preach the Gospel should live thereby. But he, Paul, has not made use of this right. However, he is not writing this way to hint he wants material support. He would rather die than do that! To preach the Gospel is no great credit for him, for that is just his assignment. If he does it willingly, he will have pay from Christ. If he does it grudgingly, he would be just a functionary.

The "pay" he has in mind is that of making the Gospel free of charge. Even though he is a free man, yet he has acted as a slave [working without pay], in order to gain as many as possible for Christ.

So his policy is this: He will be like a Jew to the Jews, to gain the Jews. He will be like one under the Law, to gain those who are under the Law. He will be like one free of the Law -- though He is not free from the law of God, but under the law of Christ -- to gain those who are outside the Law. He becomes like one who is weak to gain the weak. To all men he becomes all things, so as to save all, by all means.

Comments on 9:1-22

To understand Paul rightly in this stretch it is very important, as we shall see after a bit, that we must keep clearly in mind what he is doing. He began by speaking of food sacrificed to idols, and said the food was not changed and so one could eat it. But then he added: in case of scandal, do not eat. He spoke very strongly: you must not, for the sake of a piece of meat, ruin a soul for which Christ died!. He even died, died terribly. Cannot you give up this little?

Now in this chapter and the next chapter he continues to plead most earnestly: do not ruin a soul for a piece of meat. To support this plea he says in effect: Look how far I am going to save your souls. I could accept financial support for my work. People in all walks in life get their support from their work. So do the priests in the Temple. Both pagan and Jewish priests do that. But I am giving that up to help you reach the great goal of eternal life!

Then Paul presents his own principle on which he decides everything. First, it is taken for granted he will not do anything wrong, will not contradict the principles of Christ. But on all other things, he will be as adaptable as needed: he will be a Jew to the Jews, all things to all men. (Incidentally, this is a splendid sort of policy for anyone to follow: never give in on principle, but be as adaptable as needed on everything else).

Summary of 1 Corinthians 9:23-27

Paul sums up: He does everything for the Gospel, so he can share in it, that is, reach eternal life through it.

He reminds them: those who compete in the stadium in the Isthmian games all compete, but only one can get the prize. So the Christians should run in such a way as to get the prize. In those games, those who compete give up many things [athletic training]. They do it in the hope of getting a crown of leaves that does not last. But we are competing for eternal life, and whereas in the games, only one can get the prize, in the race for eternal life, not just one, but all can get that prize!

Paul personally acts the same way as do the great athletes: he does not run without knowing where he is going. He does not hit at the air. No, he hits his body under the eyes, and leads it around like a slave, so that after preaching to others, he himself may not be disqualified in the race, that is, lose the eternal crown.

Comments on 9:23-27

Paul continues to plead: keep your eyes on the goal of eternal life, and do not cause someone to lose it just for a piece of meat. He appeals to the example of the athletes who give up so much in athletic training in the hope of winning a crown of leaves in the Isthmian games (held every two years at Corinth). Only one of them can win -- but in the race for eternal life, all can win. Should we not be willing to give up many things, like those athletes, when we are out for an eternal prize, not just a crown of leaves?

He again gives his own example. He does not go off in all directions in the race. He does not strike blows at the air. No, he hits his body under the eyes -- the exact translation of Greek hypopiazo. In Greek boxing, there were no padded gloves. So a blow under the eyes would be likely to be a knockout. Then the winner would wait until the loser came to, and then would put a rope around his neck,and lead him around the stadium like a slave. Hardly sportsmanship! But that was the way it was done. So Paul says he is very hard on his body. If he does not do that, it might rebel, lead him into sin, and he might be disqualified in the race for eternal life even though he had preached to others.

It is very important to keep in mind the context. Paul is not urging them to get just an added prize (as the Anchor Bible tries to claim, on p.243) -- no, he is urging them to avoid causing eternal death to another. And if they do so they will sin mortally too, and be disqualified in the race whose prize is eternal life. It is the same for himself. He fears not just losing an added prize, but eternal life itself, just as the Corinthians would risk losing eternal life for themselves and for the one they would scandalize. Furthermore, the treatment Paul gives himself -- hitting under the eyes, leading around like a slave -- that is, to put it mildly, rather rough for just something added, but quite in order to avoid loss of eternal life.

The reason the Anchor Bible tries to make the claim that it is only a matter of some added thing is obvious. If we recognize that Paul really is speaking of gaining the prize of eternal life, then what he says destroys Luther's claim of infallible salvation by once in a lifetime "taking Christ as your personal Savior." Surely if anyone ever did take Christ as his personal Savior, Paul did. Yet he does not feel he is infallibly saved. Far from it, he has to work hard (not to earn it but to avoid "blowing it." Please see again the comments on Galatians 2:15-21 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

Even more basically, we saw already in our comments on 1 Thessalonians 1:3 that what Paul means by faith, when he speaks of justification by faith, is very different from what Luther thought. Even the Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, Supplement, p.333, a standard Protestant reference work, knows that what Paul means by faith is quite different: If God speaks a truth, we must believe it in our minds; if He makes a promise, we must be confident He will keep it; if He tells us to do something, we must do it, in the "obedience of faith" [Romans 1:5], all of this to be done in love. Quite a contrast to just thinking Christ is my Savior, He has paid for my sins! Yes He has, but that is not what Paul means by faith. (We find that by using a concordance, finding every place where Paul uses the word faith and related words, reading all in context, keeping notes, adding up the result).

Furthermore, we should add this: If Luther were right, Paul would have no reason to be so concerned about a person sinning in scandal. He would not tell them they must not ruin a soul for whom Christ died. Rather, he would say with Luther²²: "Even if you sin greatly, believe still more greatly." So in Luther's view it would not mean eternal ruin if the man did sin in scandal. He would need only to believe Christ paid for that sin, and all would be well.