Free Bible Commentary
“1 Corinthians 9:1-14”
Categories: 1 Corinthians“Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? 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.
“My defense to those who examine me is this: Do we not have a right to eat and drink? Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or do only Barnabas and I not have a right to refrain from working? 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 use the milk of the flock?
“I am not speaking these things according to human judgment, am I? Or does not the Law also say these things? 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? 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. If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 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. 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 from the altar? So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel.”
---End of Scripture verses---
Paul had just previously written about the importance of Christians giving up their rights for the wellbeing of their brethren (chapter 8). In today’s verses he reminded the Corinthians that he had done the very same thing for them, so he wasn’t asking of them anything he didn’t willingly and daily do himself. Paul had the same freedoms as other Christians, and even more privileges as an Apostle of Jesus Christ (verse 1-2). But he did not avail himself of all of his “rights” in order to be the best servant of the Lord that he could possibly be (verses 4-7, 12).
Some at the church in Corinth questioned (examined – verse 3) the validity of Paul’s apostleship. He made a quick defense of that by stating that He had “seen Jesus the Lord,” and that they had witnessed his power because they were his “work in the Lord” (verse 1; consider also 2 Corinthians 12:12). The brethren in the church at Corinth were Paul’s best defense for the authenticity of his apostleship.
“So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel” (verse 14). In verse 7 Paul used the illustrations of a soldier, a farmer and a shepherd to prove that a preacher of the word should expect a living from his vocation. A soldier collects his wages, a farmer eats of the fruit of the crop, and a shepherd drinks the “milk of the flock.” Even an ox should be allowed to eat from the grain that he threshes (verse 9).
Arguing from the lesser to the greater, it only stands to reason that the Gospel preacher, who has a much more important job than all of these, should expect compensation as well. He fights the most important battles as a soldier in the Lord’s army; he tends to the needs of the church of Jesus Christ which is the Lord’s spiritual vineyard and flock; and he feeds them the far superior spiritual food. The faithful preacher deals in matters of life and death, heaven and hell. “The worker is worthy of his wages” (1 Timothy 5:18).
“If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 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” (verses 11-12). Paul had every right to expect monetary compensation from them for dedicating his life to serving their spiritual needs. But he gave up that right so that it would not appear to the brethren that he was in it for the money. He would do anything (within reason) to keep from hindering the power and the spread of the Gospel.
Paul, like Jesus, gave up his rights in order to serve God and his fellow man to the fullest. In what ways can we do the same?
Please read 1 Corinthians 9:15-18 for tomorrow.
Have a blessed day!
- Louie Taylor
