1 Corinthians 9:23 Komentář

In this chapter the apostle seems to answer some cavils against himself. I. He asserts his apostolical mission and authority, and gives in his success among them as a testimony to it (Co1 9:1, Co1 9:2). II. He claims a right to subsist by his ministry, and defends it by several arguments from natural reason and the Mosaical law, and asserts it also to be a constitution of Christ (Co1 9:3-14). III. He shows that he had willingly waived this privilege and power for their benefit (Co1 9:15-18). IV. He specifies several other things, in which he had denied himself for the sake of other men's spiritual interest and salvation (Co1 9:19-23). And, V. Concludes his argument by showing what animated him to this course, even the prospect of an incorruptible crown (Co1 9:24 to the end.)

INTRODUCTION TO 1 CORINTHIANS 9 The principal things in this chapter are the proof of the apostle's office and authority; arguments for his own maintenance, and the maintenance of Gospel ministers; reasons why he did not make use of his right and privilege in this respect: and the whole is concluded with an exhortation to diligence and perseverance in the Christian course of life, of which he himself was an example. He begins with his office, as an apostle, and proves it; partly by his independency on men, not having his call and mission from them; and partly by his corporeal sight of Christ, and the authority which he in person received from him; and also by the success of his ministry among the Corinthians, Co1 9:1, wherefore, whatever might be objected to him by other persons, they had no reason to object to his apostleship, seeing they, being converted under his ministry, were so many seals of it, Co1 9:2, and since his call to the ministry was firm and valid, he had a right, as other ministers, to a maintenance of himself and family, should he have any, from the churches, without labouring with his own hands, Co1 9:3, which he proves from the law of nature and nations, exemplified in the cases of soldiers, planters of vineyards, and keepers of flocks, who by virtue of their calling and service have a right to a livelihood, between whom, and ministers of the Gospel, there is some resemblance, Co1 9:7, and also from the law of Moses, particularly the law respecting the ox, which was not to be muzzled when it tread out the corn; and which he observes is to be understood, not only and barely in the letter of oxen, but of ministers of the word, who are as husbandmen that plough and thresh in hope, and therefore should be partakers of their hope, Co1 9:8. Moreover, the apostle argues the right of the maintenance of the ministers of the Gospel, from the justice and equity of the thing, that seeing they minister spiritual things, it is but reasonable that they should receive temporal ones, Co1 9:11, and which the apostle argues for himself, and Barnabas, as from the instances of other apostles, Co1 9:5, so from the examples of those that succeeded him in Corinth, who were maintained by that church; though he did not think fit, when among them, to claim his right, and make use of his power, lest any check should be put to the progress of the Gospel, Co1 9:12. And he goes on to make this point clear and manifest from the case of, the priests and Levites under the former dispensation, who ministering in holy things, had a provision made for them, Co1 9:13. And lastly, from the constitution and appointment of Christ himself, who has ordained it as a law of his, that the preachers of the Gospel should live of it, Co1 9:14, though the apostle himself did not make use of this his privilege; nor would he ever make use of it, especially at Corinth, for which he gives his reasons; and his principal one was, that his glorying might not be made void, Co1 9:15 which did not lie in preaching the Gospel, for that he was obliged to do, Co1 9:16, for if he had engaged in it of his own accord, he would have had his reward; but since it was through necessity, he could not claim any, Co1 9:17, or if any, it could be no other than to preach the Gospel "gratis", and without charge, which was the thing he gloried in, Co1 9:18, and thus, though he lived independent of men, both with respect to his office and his maintenance, yet in order to gain souls to Christ, and be the instrument of their salvation, he became a servant to all, Co1 9:19, who are distributed into three sorts, the Jews that were under the law, Co1 9:20, the Gentiles that were without the law, Co1 9:21, and weak Christians, Co1 9:22, all which he did, not with any lucrative view to himself, but for the sake of the Gospel, that he might partake of that, and of the glory he was called unto by it, Co1 9:23 which, and not temporal things, he was looking unto, and pressing after; and which he illustrates by a metaphor taken from the Grecian games, well known to the Corinthians, particularly that of running races, in which all ran, but one only had the prize: wherefore he exhorts the Corinthians to run in like manner, that they may obtain the prize which he mentions, and describes as an incorruptible crown, in opposition to a corruptible one, which others strove for, Co1 9:24, and to this he animates by his own example and conduct, which he expresses in terms borrowed from racers and wrestlers, expressive of his humility, sobriety, and temperance; which things he exercised, that whilst he was a preacher to others, he might not be worthy of reproof and disapprobation himself, Co1 9:26.

Know ye not that they which run in a race,.... The allusion in this and the following verses is to the Grecian games, which consisted, among other things, of running of races, and of wrestling, combating, and fighting; and which are in this and the context particularly mentioned: and the apostle the rather makes use of these terms, and refers to these things, because they were well known to the Corinthians, and refers to them as well known; for the Isthmian games were performed in their neighbourhood, and doubtless had been seen by many of them, for the Corinthians were presidents of them. The race, or stadium in which they ran, was the space or interval between the place they set out from, and that which they ran unto, and consisted of 125 paces, or 625 feet; it was the space of a furlong, and about the eighth part of a mile: in this they run all; as many as would, that came around from all parts, striving who should be foremost and get the crown; but one receives the prize; which was held by the president of the game, or judge of the race, and received by the winner, who was judged to be so by him; and was no other in the Isthmian games, which are most likely to be referred to here, than a crown made of pine tree branches, or leaves, and sometimes of dried parsley (s): so run that ye may obtain. The apostle accommodates or applies the above account to the Christian's course of life, and exhorts to run in it in like manner as racers do in a race. The "stadium", or "race" plot in the which the believer runs, is this world, or this present life; he is only a runner now and here, for no sooner is the time of his departure come, but his course or race is finished; and, as his forerunner Christ, sits down in full rest from all his labours as at a table, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and on a throne with Christ: the course he runs includes the exercise of every grace, particularly faith, which is expressed not only by going to Christ, walking in him, but by fleeing and running to him; and the discharge of every duty, signified by a running in the way of God's commandments; and, in a word, the whole of a Christian profession, and the holding of it fast, and holding on in it unto the end. The act of "running" is a motion forward, a following on to know the Lord, a going from strength to strength, from one degree of grace to another, a pressing forward toward the mark for the prize; and requires spiritual strength from Christ, and a daily renewal of it; is to be performed with readiness, swiftness, and cheerfulness, in opposition to a slowness of heart to believe, and a slothfulness and sluggishness in the business and service of Christ. The manner of running, "so", that is, as the Grecians ran in their races; they ran "all", so should all believers run, ministers and churches, churches and the several members thereof, old and young professors; so the church determines for herself, her members, and the daughters of Jerusalem, "we will run after thee", Sol 1:4 and they have this encouragement which the others had not, for only one received the prize with the Grecians, but here all, that run well, obtain: again, they ran and strove to be foremost, who should get to the goal first and receive the prize, so should believers be emulous to outdo each other, to go before one another, in faith and holiness; striving in the strength of Christ, who should do most service for him, and bring most glory to him: moreover, as they ran in the way that was marked out for them, not turning to the right hand or the left, so should believers run in the way of salvation, which is Christ; in the way of holiness, faith, and truth; and in the path of duty and ordinances, which are all clearly pointed out unto them: once more, as they while running kept their eye upon the mark, so should believers, while running the race set before them, be continually looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of faith: to say no more, as they kept running till they came to the end of their race, so should the saints; there is no time for stopping or looking back; remember Lot's wife. The end of running is to obtain the prize, the incorruptible crown of eternal life; not that this is to be procured in a way of merit by running; for the best services of the saints have no merit in them, they are previously due to God, nor can they be profitable to him; and besides, are done by the assistance of his own grace and strength; nor is there any proportion between the best works of men, and this crown of glory, life, and righteousness; yea, salvation, or eternal life, is expressly denied to be of him that willeth, or of him that runneth, and is always represented as this crown is, to be a free gift: the meaning of the expression is, that believers are to run on in their Christian race, that they may, and when they are come to the end of it they shall, as he that came foremost in the race did, stretch forth their hand, lay hold on, and receive the crown which the righteous Judge will give them; and is the true import of the word made use of here, and the sense the same with Ti1 6:12. "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life", and denotes that the persevering saint shall enjoy the crown. (s) Schmid. Prolegam. in Isthm. Pindar, p. 5, 6. & Not. in Olymp. p. 312. Paschalius de Coronis, l. 6. c. 27. p. 441.

Only someone as mature in faith as the apostle Paul could say this. A sinner could never talk in this way.

"And I do all things for the Gospel's sake, that I may be a joint partaker thereof." "That is, that I may seem also myself to have added some contribution of mine own, and may partake of the crowns laid up for the faithful. For as he spake of "living of the Gospel," i.e, of the believers; so also here, "that I may be a joint partaker in the Gospel, that I may be able to partake with them that have believed in the Gospel." Do you perceive his humility, how in the recompense of rewards he places himself as one of the many, though he had exceeded all in his labors? whence it is evident that he would in his reward also. Nevertheless, he claims not to enjoy the first prize, but is content if so be he may partake with the others in the crowns laid up for them. But these things he said, not because he did this for any reward, but that hereby at least he might draw them on, and by these hopes might induce them to do all things for their brethren's sake. Seest thou his wisdom! Seest thou the excellency of his perfection? how he wrought beyond the things commanded, not receiving when it was lawful to receive. Seest thou the exceeding greatness of his condescension? how he that was "under law to Christ," and kept that highest law, "to them that were without law," was "as one without law," to the Jews, as a Jew, in either kind showing himself preeminent, and surpassing all.

He calls the believers "the gospel," who are saved through the gospel, as he also said above: "to live of the gospel," that is, from the believers. I act this way, he says, so that together with the believers I might be a partaker in the crowns. He says this not as though he did it for the sake of a reward, but in order to persuade them to do everything for the brethren in the hope of receiving heavenly goods. Notice the humility of the apostle. Though worthy of the first place, he places himself on the same level as the believers in general in the sharing of blessings.

St. Paul vindicates his apostleship, and shows that he has equal rights and privileges with Peter and the brethren of our Lord; and that he is not bound, while doing the work of an apostle, to labor with his hands for his own support, Co1 9:1-6. He who labors should live by the fruit of his own industry, Co1 9:7. For the law will not allow even the ox to be muzzled which treads out the corn, Co1 9:8-10. Those who minister in spiritual things have a right to a secular support for their work, Co1 9:11-14. He shows the disinterested manner in which he has preached the Gospel, Co1 9:15-18. Now he accommodated himself to the prejudices of men, in order to bring about their salvation, Co1 9:19-23. The way to heaven compared to a race, Co1 9:24. The qualifications of those who may expect success in the games celebrated at Corinth, and what that success implies, Co1 9:25. The apostle applies these things spiritually to himself; and states the necessity of keeping his body in subjection, lest, after having proclaimed salvation to others, he should become a castaway, Co1 9:26, Co1 9:27.

And this I do for the Gospel's sake - Instead of τουτο, this, παντα, all things, (I do all things for the Gospel's sake), is the reading of ABCDEFG, several others, the Coptic, Ethiopic, Vulgate, Itala, Armenian, and Sahidic; the two latter reading ταυτα παντα, all these things. Several of the fathers have the same reading, and there is much reason to believe it to be genuine. That I might be partaker thereof with you - That I might attain to the reward of eternal life which it sets before me; and this is in all probability the meaning of το ευαγγελιον, which we translate the Gospel, and which should be rendered here prize or reward; this is a frequent meaning of the original word, as may be seen in my preface to St. Matthew: I do all this for the sake of the prize, that I may partake of it with you.

HE CONFIRMS HIS TEACHING AS TO NOT PUTTING A STUMBLING-BLOCK IN A BROTHER'S WAY (Co1 8:13) BY HIS OWN EXAMPLE IN NOT USING HIS UNDOUBTED RIGHTS AS AN APOSTLE, SO AS TO WIN MEN TO CHRIST. (1Co. 9:1-27) Am I not an apostle? am I not free?--The oldest manuscripts read the order thus, "Am I not free? am I not an apostle?" He alludes to Co1 8:9, "this liberty of yours": If you claim it, I appeal to yourselves as the witnesses, have not I also it? "Am I not free?" If you be so, much more I. For "am I not an apostle?" so that I can claim not only Christian, but also apostolic, liberty. have I not seen Jesus--corporeally, not in a mere vision: compare Co1 15:8, where the fact of the resurrection, which he wishes to prove, could only be established by an actual bodily appearance, such as was vouchsafed to Peter and the other apostles. In Act 9:7, Act 9:17 the contrast between "the men with him seeing no man," and "Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way," shows that Jesus actually appeared to him in going to Damascus. His vision of Christ in the temple (Act 22:17) was "in a trance." To be a witness of Christ's resurrection was a leading function of an apostle (Act 1:22). The best manuscripts omit "Christ." ye my work in the Lord--Your conversion is His workmanship (Eph 2:10) through my instrumentality: the "seal of mine apostleship" (Co1 9:2).

partaker thereof--Greek, "fellow partaker": of the Gospel blessings promised at Christ's coming: "with" (not as English Version, "you": but) them, namely, with those thus "gained" by me to the Gospel.