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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 9:16-27
We have pointed out that 9:1-15 reveals how pure Paul was. When we use the word pure here, we use it in a biblical sense. For example, the Lord Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). In this verse to be pure means to be single in motive in seeking after God. If our motive is single, we are pure. Otherwise, we are impure. When we say that Paul was pure and that the Corinthians were impure, we mean that Paul had a single motive in seeking after God, but that the Corinthians had mixed motives. Because they were not pure, they even doubted Paul’s apostleship and wanted to examine him. Second Corinthians 12:16 indicates that some of the believers at Corinth thought that Paul was gaining material profit from them through craft. They could think this way about Paul because their motives were not pure.
Whether or not we are pure depends on our motive. Our motive may be related to our personal benefit, to something which would be a profit to us. The problems in the churches are often related to the seeking of some kind of personal gain. If a particular aspect of the church life is a benefit to you, you may be happy and very much for the church. However, if there is no personal gain for you in the church, you may be unhappy and find fault with the church. When we fail to receive what we expect, we may be unhappy with the church, the elders, or the saints. This indicates that we are not pure, that our motive is for our personal benefit.
We all love the Lord and the recovery. We may even stand up in a meeting and declare that we consecrate ourselves to Christ and the church. We may say that Christ is marvelous and that the church is wonderful. But if our motives are not pure, we may begin to have problems with the church after making such a declaration and consecration. Regarding our motives, we need to be crucified with Christ. We need the cross to touch our motives.
Paul was pure because he knew experientially what it was to be crucified with Christ and to be one spirit with the Lord. He lived a crucified life, and he practiced being one spirit with the Lord. Therefore, he did not have any motive related to personal gain. His motive was wholly in Christ and for Christ. This was the reason Paul could be so pure. Because he was so pure, he could speak in 9:1-15 in a bold, frank, strong, and direct manner. Like a surgeon who has been cleansed of all bacteria, he could operate on the Corinthians. If Paul had not been pure, his impurity would have been imparted to the Corinthians. But because he was pure, he could perform spiritual surgery on the believers at Corinth without contaminating them.
Having seen Paul’s purity in 9:1-15, let us go on in 9:16-23 to see his faithfulness. In verse 16 Paul says, “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; for woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.” By necessity Paul means a burden which becomes a pressure. Such a necessity, such a pressing burden, to preach the gospel was laid upon him. Thus, he could say, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.” Paul did not care how the Corinthians treated him or how they reacted to him. He had a burden which pressed upon him to carry out the work of his ministry. His ministry to preach the gospel was a necessity. Paul knew that if he did not preach, he would suffer loss. This indicates Paul’s faithfulness.
Like love, faithfulness can make us blind. If we are keen to know the attitude and reaction of others toward us, we may not be faithful. It is not faithful to preach the gospel only if others give us a favorable reaction. If we are faithful in preaching the gospel, we shall not care for the way others react or for the way they treat us, because we have a burden, a necessity, to fulfill our ministry. This faithfulness blinds the faithful one to the reaction of others.
In verse 17 Paul continues, “For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship.” This verse is not easy to understand. The words “not of my own will” mean not willingly. Even if Paul had not been willing to preach the gospel, he would have had no way to escape the Lord’s burden, for he had been entrusted with a stewardship. This indicates that with Paul preaching the gospel was not a matter of choice. Paul had been caught by the Lord, drafted by Him, and entrusted with a stewardship. Whether or not he was willing, he had to fulfill the burden given to him. He had no choice about this. He could not escape the commission to preach the gospel.
In this verse Paul refers both to God’s commission and to his own burden. Because God had commissioned him, he had a burden. He had no choice except to carry on the work of the ministry. Therefore, he could say to the Corinthians, “I don’t care how you treat me, or how you doubt about me or examine me. I preached the gospel to you out of burden, out of necessity. I did not have any choice in the matter.”
In verse 17 Paul speaks of a reward. The book of 1 Corinthians was not written to help lost sinners be saved, but to help saved believers to grow (3:6-7), to build with the precious materials (3:10, 12-14), to care for the Lord’s members (8:9-13), and to run the race (9:24). Hence, reward is mentioned repeatedly as an incentive to the believers’ progress (3:14; 9:18, 24-25).
The Greek word rendered stewardship also means a household administration, household dispensation. The apostle was not only a preacher but also a steward in God’s house, a household administrator, dispensing Christ’s salvation, life, and riches to His believers. Such a ministry is the stewardship with which he was entrusted and commissioned (Eph. 3:2; 2 Cor. 4:1).
Verse 18 says, “What then is my reward? That in preaching the gospel I may make the gospel without charge, so as not to use to the full my right in the gospel.” Here we see that Paul did not use his right with respect to the Corinthians. This gave him ground to boast, as mentioned in verse 16. Although Paul did not use his right with the Corinthians, he did use it with other churches. In 2 Corinthians 11:8 Paul even says that he robbed other churches in order to serve the Corinthians. Other churches supplied him, but the church at Corinth did not. According to 1 Corinthians 9:18, Paul preached the gospel to the Corinthians free of charge.
In verse 19 Paul continues, “For though I am free from all, I have enslaved myself to all, that I might gain the more.” By the word all here Paul means all men. He was free from all men in the sense that he did not owe anyone anything. This means that he was free from the Corinthians, not owing them anything. However, being free from all, Paul enslaved himself to all in order to gain more people for the Lord.
In verses 20 and 21 Paul says, “And to the Jews I became as a Jew, in order that I might gain Jews; to those under law, as under law (not being myself under law), that I might gain those under law; to those without law, as without law (not being without the law of God but within the law of Christ), that I might gain those without law.” Here it seems as if Paul was not a Jew. Actually, he was a Jew, but he no longer lived a Jewish life. Instead, he lived a Christian life. But he became as a Jew in order to gain Jews. Likewise, to those under law, he became as one under law in order to gain those under law. In verse 20 Paul inserts the parenthetical statement “not being myself under law” in order to indicate that he was not under law. He did not want the Corinthians to think that he was for the law. Although he was not under law, he became as one under law to those who were under the law.
According to verse 21, to those without law Paul became as one without law that he might gain those without law. Again he points out, parenthetically, that he was not without the law of God but within the law of Christ. In Greek the expression “in the law” is ennomos, in law, that is, in the sphere, the limit, of law; hence, under law, subject to law. It is the opposite of anomos, outlaw, that is, outside the sphere, the limit, of law; hence, without law. Within the law of Christ means under the ruling of Christ, subject to the regulation of Christ, that is, legitimately, legally, rightfully, duly subject to Christ, under law to Christ, lawful before Christ. The law of Christ denotes the higher and better law of Christ working through love (Rom. 8:2; John 13:34), which is Christ Himself as our life regulating us from within. Paul was no longer under the law of Moses, but he was under the law of Christ. To the Gentiles, who did not have the Mosaic law, Paul became as one without law, not being without the law of God, but within the law of Christ.
In verse 22 Paul declares, “To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak. To all men I have become all things, that I might by all means save some.” To become all things to all men means that Paul adapts himself to all things, that is, to different ways of eating and different practices (v. 23), for the sake of all men. He was willing to live in the way followed by others. For example, when he was with vegetarians, he would not eat meat. With Jews, he would not eat pork. In this way he became all things to all men in order to save some.
Verse 23 says, “And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow-partaker of it.” The Greek word rendered fellow-partaker is rich in meaning; it also means a joint participant, cooperator, copartner. The apostle is not only a fellow-partaker, a joint participant, enjoying the gospel, but also a cooperator, a copartner laboring for the gospel. However, here he refers to the enjoyment of the gospel. Hence, in the Recovery Version we use the word fellow-partaker.
To preach the gospel is to labor. But as we labor in preaching the gospel, there is a share, a portion, for our enjoyment. Paul was alert that in preaching the gospel to others he might participate in the enjoyment of the gospel. He was careful not to miss partaking of this enjoyment.
In verse 24 Paul goes on to say, “Do you not know that those who run in a racecourse all run, but one receives the prize? So run, that you may lay hold.” This reveals that the Christian life is a race we must run successfully. The prize is a reward as an incentive. To lay hold is to obtain the prize.
Actually verse 24 should not be separated from verse 23, for verse 24 is the explanation of what it means to be a fellow-partaker of the gospel, as mentioned in verse 23. To run in a racecourse is to labor, but to receive the prize is to have enjoyment. As we preach the gospel today, we are running the course. But to receive a reward, a prize, at the coming of the Lord is to have a particular enjoyment.
We have seen that in 9:17 Paul speaks of a reward. In Acts 20:24 he refers to the course: “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” Paul regarded his preaching of the gospel as the running of the Christian race. Verse 24 indicates that all believers are running a race. Here Paul exhorts us to run so that we may obtain, lay hold of, the prize.
We have seen that the Christian course involves the preaching of the gospel. To preach the gospel is to dispense Christ into God’s chosen ones. Since God’s chosen ones were to be found among the Gentiles, Paul preached the gospel to the Gentiles. If a person receives our preaching, this proves that he has been chosen by God. We should dispense Christ into such receptive ones. In this way we run the Christian course. However, because many believers today are not running the race, we need Paul’s word, “So run, that you may lay hold.”
In verse 25 Paul continues, “And everyone who contends exercises self-control in all things; those, therefore, that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.” All those who contend in the games, Paul says, exercise strict self-control. For instance, they watch their diet very carefully. If athletes exercise self-control in order to receive a corruptible crown, we should exercise self-control even more to obtain an incorruptible crown.
This incorruptible crown, which the Lord will award His overcoming saints who win the race, is a reward in addition to salvation. As believers, we have all received His salvation through faith in Him. This has been settled once for all. But whether we shall be rewarded by Him depends on how we run the race. Here in this chapter the apostle is running the course. In Philippians, one of his last Epistles, he was still running (Phil. 3:14). It was not until the last moment of his running, in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, that Paul had the assurance that he would be rewarded by the Lord at His appearing. With this prize in view, the apostle charged the Corinthian believers to run the race that they might obtain the reward.
In verses 26 and 27 Paul says of himself, “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so I box, not as beating the air; but I buffet my body and lead it as a slave, lest having preached to others, I myself should become disapproved.” The Greek word translated buffet literally means to beat the face under the eye black and blue. This is not to ill-treat the body as in asceticism, nor to consider the body evil as in Gnosticism. This is to subdue the body and make it a conquered captive to serve as a slave for fulfilling our holy purpose. It is the equivalent of putting to death our earthly members (Col. 3:5) and putting to death the practices of the body (Rom. 8:13), not allowing our body to be used for the indulgence of lust nor doing anything on our own except what is holy to God. The Corinthians misused their body by indulgence in fornication, not caring for God’s temple (1 Cor. 6:19), and in the unrestrained eating of sacrifices to idols, not caring for weak believers (8:9-13).
Paul also tells us that he leads his body as his slave. This is a metaphor which means to lead the vanquished one as a captive and a slave, to bring the captive into slavery and make him a slave to serve the conqueror’s purpose. Our body should be such a captive, something vanquished to be a slave serving the purpose of the conqueror. This indicates that we need to conquer our body and subdue it. Our body has been captured by lusts. Now we must deliver it and bring it into captivity, into a very positive kind of slavery where our body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit and a member of Christ.
We need to practice buffeting our body and leading it as a slave, just as Paul did. For example, when your eyes do not want to read the Bible, you need to buffet them and subdue them so that they will serve your purpose in reading the Bible.
According to verse 27, Paul was concerned lest having preached to others, he himself would become disapproved. The context indicates that preaching here refers to the preaching of the reward as an incentive to the Christian runners. This is related to the kingdom, the manifestation of which will be a reward to the overcoming saints, those who win the Christian race.
The Greek word rendered disapproved also means disqualified, rejected, that is, unworthy of the prize. The apostle was surely saved by grace through faith in Christ. Not only so, he was also called to be an apostle to carry out God’s New Testament economy. Nonetheless, in verse 27 he is very much on the alert to run his course (Acts 20:24) by subduing his body to serve his holy purpose, lest he be disapproved and rejected at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10) and be found unworthy of the reward of the coming kingdom.
The judgment which will take place at the judgment seat of Christ will determine whether we are approved by the Lord or disapproved, whether we shall be known by the Lord or be rejected by Him. In Matthew 7:22 the Lord Jesus says that on that day many will tell the Lord that they prophesied in His name, cast out demons in His name, and did many mighty works in His name. However, the Lord will say that He never knew them (v. 23). This means that He does not approve of what they have done. Their Christian life was not a pleasure or joy to Him. On the contrary, their work was done presumptuously according to their own will and choice. Therefore, instead of approving them, the Lord rejects them as far as the reward in the coming kingdom is concerned. Paul was afraid lest having preached the gospel regarding the reward to others, he himself would be disapproved by the Lord.
First Corinthians 9 reveals Paul’s faithfulness. In his spirit he was utterly faithful to the Lord’s charge and commission. The Lord had charged him to run the course, and he was endeavoring to run it. We also need to run the Christian course in such a way that we shall not be disapproved, rejected, disqualified, from the enjoyment in the coming kingdom as a reward.
This truth of the reward has been neglected by the majority of today’s Christians. Some have even accused us of being heretical for teaching it. Brother Nee and others before him also spoke of the reward given to the overcoming believers. In the New Testament we are told definitely that God has prepared not only salvation for us, but also has a reward for the faithful ones. In 3:14 Paul says, “If anyone’s work which he has built upon it shall remain, he shall receive a reward.” The reward here is different from salvation. In the next verse Paul explains, “If anyone’s work shall be consumed, he shall suffer loss, but he shall be saved, yet so as through fire.” This indicates clearly that receiving a reward is different from being saved. We may suffer loss and not receive a reward, but we shall never lose our salvation.
The fire in 3:15 refers to some kind of suffering or punishment. However, it is certainly not the purgatory heretically taught by Catholicism in its devilish interpretation of this verse. The principle of Roman Catholic teachings is to mix truth with error or heresy. Thus, the doctrines of Catholicism are often a mixture of truth and heresy. The Lord prophesied of this in Matthew 13 when he spoke of the woman adding leaven to the fine flour. We absolutely do not teach the Catholic doctrine of purgatory. We simply teach what is revealed in the Bible. The Bible tells us that if we are faithful, we shall receive a reward in addition to our salvation. If we are not faithful, we shall lose the reward and suffer punishment, but we shall not lose our salvation, for it is eternal and settled once for all.
In 1 Corinthians 9 Paul was on the alert, concerned lest after preaching to others he would be disapproved. Paul certainly was faithful. In these verses we see a brother who was absolutely faithful to the Lord’s commission and faithful in running the Christian course.
