The Bible — World English Bible
1 Corinthians 9
In brief
In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul defends himself against those who question his authority as an apostle. He had the right to be supported financially by the churches, but he chose not to use it so that nothing would hold back the gospel. From this comes a principle: being free also means being able to become the servant of all in order to win some, without changing the message. The chapter ends with the image of the stadium: the Christian life takes discipline and endurance, like an athlete aiming for the prize.
The chapter in 4 parts
1Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus Christ, our Lord? Aren’t you my work in the Lord?
2If to others I am not an apostle, yet at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
3My defense to those who examine me is this:
4Have we no right to eat and to drink?
5Have we no right to take along a wife who is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?
6Or have only Barnabas and I no right to not work?
7What soldier ever serves at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard, and doesn’t eat of its fruit? Or who feeds a flock, and doesn’t drink from the flock’s milk?
8Do I speak these things according to the ways of men? Or doesn’t the law also say the same thing?
9For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it for the oxen that God cares,
10or does he say it assuredly for our sake? Yes, it was written for our sake, because he who plows ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should partake of his hope.
11If we sowed to you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we reap your fleshly things?
12If others partake of this right over you, don’t we yet more? Nevertheless we didn’t use this right, but we bear all things, that we may cause no hindrance to the Good News of Christ.
13Don’t you know that those who serve around sacred things eat from the things of the temple, and those who wait on the altar have their portion with the altar?
14Even so the Lord ordained that those who proclaim the Good News should live from the Good News.
15But I have used none of these things, and I don’t write these things that it may be done so in my case; for I would rather die, than that anyone should make my boasting void.
16For if I preach the Good News, I have nothing to boast about; for necessity is laid on me; but woe is to me if I don’t preach the Good News.
17For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.
18What then is my reward? That when I preach the Good News, I may present the Good News of Christ without charge, so as not to abuse my authority in the Good News.
19For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more.
20To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those who are under the law;
21to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law.
22To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.
23Now I do this for the sake of the Good News, that I may be a joint partaker of it.
24Don’t you know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run like that, that you may win.
25Every man who strives in the games exercises self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.
26I therefore run like that, not aimlessly. I fight like that, not beating the air,
27but I beat my body and bring it into submission, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.
Key verses
For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more.
Paul states the paradox of the chapter: free from all, he chooses to make himself a servant to all. Christian freedom is not the right to do whatever we want, but the ability to give ourselves so that others may be won to Christ.
To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. Now I do this for the sake of the Good News, that I may be a joint partaker of it.
Paul sums up his missionary method: meet each person where they are, the weak as well as the strong, out of love and not calculation. What changes is the way he approaches people; the gospel itself stays the same.
Don’t you know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run like that, that you may win. Every man who strives in the games exercises self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.
Paul compares the Christian life to a race in the stadium. The athlete imposes strict discipline for a prize that fades; the believer aims for a crown that does not fade. He invites us to run for real, with a goal and a method.
but I beat my body and bring it into submission, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.
Paul says he keeps his body and his desires under control so that he does not miss the essential after preaching to others. It is a call to watchfulness and to consistency between what we announce and how we live.
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Frequently asked questions about 1 Corinthians 9
What does “I have become all things to all men” mean in 1 Corinthians 9?
Paul explains that he adapts to each person's culture, language and convictions, with Jews as well as with those who do not know the law, to remove whatever might get in the way of hearing the gospel. He does not change the message or his essential convictions: he changes how he reaches people, out of love and in order to win some.
Why does Paul give up his rights in 1 Corinthians 9?
Paul first points out that he has the right to be supported by those to whom he announces the gospel. If he does not use it, it is so that no one can see it as an obstacle or a pretext for accusation. He shows that Christian freedom can choose to limit itself out of love, without the right itself being called into question.
What is the message of 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 about the race?
Paul compares the Christian life to a race in the stadium. He invites us to run with purpose, to impose discipline on ourselves and not to let ourselves go, as an athlete trains for a prize. The difference lies in the prize: for the believer, it is a lasting crown. Christians do not agree on how to understand that prize and what Paul fears losing in verse 27; the text calls above all for watchfulness.
Articles quoting 1 Corinthians 9
World English Bible translation — public domain.