1
Corinthians 9
New
American Standard Bible (NASB)
Paul’s
Use of Liberty
9
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.
3
My defense to those who examine me is this: 4 [a]Do we not have a right to eat
and drink? 5 [b]Do we not have a right to take along a [c]believing wife, even
as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? 6 Or do
only [d]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 [e]use the milk of the
flock?
8
I am not speaking these things according to [f]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 [g]from
the altar? 14 So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get
their living from the gospel.
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.
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 [h]the Law, as under [i]the Law though not being myself
under [j]the Law, so that I might win those who are under [k]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.
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
[l]discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to
others, I myself will not be disqualified.
The
Bible Panorama
1
Corinthians 9
V
1–2: SEAL Paul defends his apostleship and his liberty in Christ. The seal of
his apostleship to the Corinthians is that God started the church through him
and through his gospel witness. They know he is their apostle.
V 3–14: SUPPORT He argues from illustrations
taken from warfare, husbandry, and farming, as well as from Scripture, that, as
an apostle, he has a right to be supported by them financially.
V
15–18: SURRENDERED Paul then declares that he has surrendered the right, in
their case, to be paid. He wants his passionate concern to be recognised as
that of preaching the gospel for which ‘necessity is laid upon’ him. He regards
it as woeful if he does not do it. If he preaches the gospel willingly, he is
rewarded; but if not, he has a stewardship to discharge. So he presents the
gospel without charge so that no one can accuse him of abuse of his authority
as an apostle.
V
19–23: SOUL-WINNER Paul makes himself a servant (or slave) to everyone, in
order to be a soul-winner. He fashions his lifestyle to identify with the lost
he seeks to win, without participating in their sins, and sinks his personal
preferences. His priority is preaching the gospel to those who are Jews, to
those who are not Jews, to the weak, and, in fact, to all men. For the sake of
the gospel and for the sake of the Corinthians, he declares that ‘I have become
all things to all men, that I might by all means save some’.
V 24–27: STRIVING As a runner in a race, or a
boxer in a fight, Paul strives to conquer for Christ. To do this he exercises
self-discipline so that his own faith is not shipwrecked and that his example
will be clear and consistent to those to whom he has preached.
The
Bible Panorama. Copyright © 2005 Day One Publications.
Yours
because of His Grace
Blair
Humphreys
Southport,
Merseyside
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