1 Corinthians 9

16 Paul does not boast in his preaching, because he has been appointed by Christ to preach the Gospel; he has no choice but to preach. He is compelled to preach. He is under obligation to preach; therefore, he has nothing to boast about. Men don’t boast about what they are compelled to do; they can only boast about things they do voluntarily.

Woe to me if I do not preach, Paul writes here. Not all Christians have been appointed to be preachers, but all Christians have been appointed to be witnesses of the Gospel as they have opportunity. Woe to the believer who refuses to witness for Christ!

One time, Paul proclaimed the Gospel to the Jews of a certain city, but they did not accept it. Therefore, Paul said to them: “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility” (Acts 18:6). If Paul had not proclaimed the Gospel to them, he would have been responsible for their unbelief. Those who refuse to believe and repent will have to bear their own punishment; but those who should have witnessed to them but didn’t will also receive a punishment. The “blood” of those non-believers will be “on the heads” of those who should have witnessed to them (Ezekiel 33:7-9); that is, the believers will be partly guilty of the unbelief of those non-believers.

17 If we preach voluntarily, we will receive a reward. But those who are specially called to preach do not preach “voluntarily”; rather, they are compelled to preach because of their calling. They have received a trust, and they must carry out that trust. And they shouldn’t expect a reward for doing so—at least, not in this life.

18 In that case, what is Paul’s reward? Paul’s “reward” is the fact that he has preached the Gospel free of charge. Paul has received no personal benefit from his labor as an apostle. To be able to make such a statement is Paul’s reward.

19 Paul was free. In a spiritual sense, he was free from sin and from bondage to the world. In a financial sense he was free also; he owed no one anything. He earned his own living. He did not belong to any man.

But Paul voluntarily gave up his freedom and made himself a slave to everyone. He became a slave of others so that he might bring them to faith in Christ. First of all, Paul made himself a slave of Christ (1 Corinthians 7:22). Then, in the work of preaching, Paul made himself a slave of others, so that he might win as many as possible to Christ.

20 Paul tried as much as possible to adapt himself to those to whom he preached. Even though he was free from the customs and traditions of men, he voluntarily submitted to many of their customs and traditions in order not to give unnecessary of fense to those he was trying to win.²⁶ For example, when Paul went into a Jewish synagogue, he followed the customs of the synagogue so as not to give any unnecessary of fense to the Jews.

Those mentioned here who are under the law are Jews, especially those who were originally Gentiles but who then converted to the Jewish religion. The law is the Jewish law—in particular, all the ceremonial rules and traditions regarding sacrif ices and cleanliness. Even though Paul was himself a Jew, he was no longer compelled to observe these rules and traditions. He was no longer under the control of the Jewish ceremonial law, because Christ had canceled the ceremonial law (see Ephesians 2:15; Colossians 2:14 and comments).

21 Those not having the law are the Gentiles, or non-Jews. When Paul was among them, he tried to behave according to their customs as much as possible. Paul preached the same Gospel both to Jews and to Gentiles, but his method and style of pro-claiming the Gospel was different for the two groups.

Although Paul was no longer under the control of the Jewish ceremonial law (the Jewish ceremonial rules and traditions), he remained under God’s law—that is, Christ’s law—which is equivalent to the “moral” part of the Jewish law. Christ’s law (the “moral” law) is summed up in the two greatest commandments: to love God and to love one’s neighbor²⁷ (see Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 22:35-40; Mark 12:29-31 and comment).

22 The weak are those who are weak in faith and whose consciences are weak (Romans 14:2; 15:1; 1 Corinthians 8:913). If they are afraid to eat food sacrificed to idols, then Paul also will not eat such food when he is with them.

Paul did not want to of fend people, lest they be turned away from accepting Christ. However, Paul did not “speak out of both sides of his mouth”; that is, he did not speak falsely to some people in order to flatter them. He spoke only the truth. But he tried to fit in as much as possible with the different kinds of people he preached to, in order that he might more readily win them to Christ. Paul had become all things—Jew, Gentile, weak, strong. Let us, likewise, follow Paul’s example in this (see 1 Corinthians 10:33).

23 Paul became like other men so that he could proclaim the Gospel to them more effectively. And Paul shared in the joy and blessings of those who accepted the Gospel and received salvation.

24 The Christian life is like a race. And the “finish line” of the race is to become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). Or, in other words, the “finish line” is to be conformed to the likeness of [God’s] Son (Romans 8:29). Our supreme goal in life is to be like Christ. All true Christians, through faith, will reach the finish line; that is, they will all reach heaven, where they shall be like Christ (see 1 John 3:2 and comment).

But here Paul says: Don’t walk to the finish line as if you were going for a stroll; rather, run as hard as you can! Let us not be lazy; let us strive with all our soul and strength to be like Christ in this life—not just in heaven! Let as run as fast as we can and try to get the prize for first place (see Hebrews 12:1).

25 Christians are like those who are training for athletic games. Athletes set aside everything else in order to train for the games. Likewise, we Christians should be ready to give up all pleasures and conveniences in order to concentrate fully on serving Christ. We must keep our bodies under control—that is, we must exercise self-control—just as those who compete in the games exercise self-control. Let us remember that if we endure the training and discipline necessary to run the race, we shall obtain a prize, that is, a crown. In Paul’s time, those who won the race received as their prize a “crown” made of a wreath of laurel leaves; they also, of course, received praise and honor from the spectators. The “prize” we Christians will receive is the praise of God for our faithful service to Him. Unlike the crown of leaves, our prize will never wither away; it will last forever (see 2 Timothy 2:4-5; 4:7-8; James 1:12).

26 Paul does not run the race aimlessly; he runs the race in order to win. Paul does not want to reach the finish line behind the other racers.

In the Greek games of Paul’s time, boxing was one of the sports that athletes competed in. Paul here uses the illustration of a boxer who, instead of hitting his opponent, keeps beating the air. It is “aimless” for a boxer to beat the air; he’ll never overcome his opponent that way!

27 Paul says here: I beat my body. That is, Paul trains himself strenuously for the race. He exercises. He works constantly. He makes tents; he preaches and teaches; he travels from church to church; he writes letters. He is always working for God in one way or another (see 1 Thessalonians 2:9).

Paul makes his body his slave; that is, he subdues it. He keeps his body and the sinful desires of his body under control. Paul has self-control (Galatians 5:23). He denies himself (Mark 8:34). He does not want to lose his prize—that is, his reward for his faithfulness and good works (see 1 Corinthians 3:13-15).

Paul does not want to be disqualified for the prize. In the opinion of some Bible scholars, Paul is saying here that if he “runs the race” of the Christian life poorly, he might not get a “prize”—that is, he might lose his salvation. But other scholars say that the prize Paul is referring to here is not his salvation but rather the special praise and honor he hopes to receive from God for his faithful service.

How could a great preacher and apostle like Paul lose his prize? It’s certainly possible. No matter how great a Christian leader, pastor, or preacher is, it’s still possible for him to lose his prize. Even those who have led many others to heaven can lose the way themselves. Why? Because they too are human. They can fall into temptation. They can become lazy. They can become disobedient to Christ. Let us remember: if great apostles like Paul must keep running the race as hard as they can, surely we ordinary Christians must do so too!