The sincerity of the strong emphatic language of the apostle in this passage is not to be questioned. His whole life is a proof that it was with him as he here affirmed. A law, a vow, was upon him; and there was no discharge, no intermission, until his fight was fought and his course was run.

I. THE SPECIAL OBLIGATION LAID UPON THE APOSTLE.

1. In what it originated. There is no room for doubt upon this point. Christ himself had met Paul on the way to Damascus, and at the same time that he shed Divine light upon the mind of the persecuting Pharisee Saul, he converted him into the apostle of the Gentiles, and gave him the "marching orders" upon which he was henceforth to act. "Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles." The tones of that voice rang in his ears throughout the whole of the ministry which was thus inaugurated.

2. How it was fulfilled. The record makes it plain that the obligation was not only recognized, but practically fulfilled, in a spirit of cheerfulness, gratitude, confidence, and devotion. Such is the explanation of a life so different from the ordinary life of men; a life which Paul himself acknowledged to be one of toil, of privation, of suffering, and persecution. "Necessity was laid upon him." In Asia and in Europe, to Jews and to Gentiles, he offered with warmth and cordiality the unsearchable riches of Christ.

3. The opening which this obligation left for voluntary devotion and sacrifice. Paul says plainly that he had no choice as to preaching; preach he must; woe is to him if he refrains from doing so! Yet his ardent, generous nature desired to do something over and above what was required. This was the explanation of his refusing to receive pay and maintenance from his converts. He had a right to this, even as his fellow labourers; but he put this right in abeyance; he voluntarily declined what he might have claimed, and thus left himself somewhat in which to glory.

II. THE GENERAL OBLIGATION LAID UPON THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. The acknowledgment here made by the apostle is one which may appropriately be made by the whole Church of Christ.

1. An obligation of authoritative command. The Lord Jesus, who is the Saviour of the world, is the Monarch of his Church. His order is, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." It is only open to us either to dispute his authority or to obey his direction.

2. A moral obligation of gratitude. Jesus himself has unfolded the law: "Freely ye have received; freely give." If we have a just sense of our indebtedness, first to the love and sacrifice of Christ, and then to the self denying labours of those whom he has sent to labour for our spiritual good, we shall feel the gracious constraint leading us to such efforts as he himself has enjoined.

3. An obligation enforced by many illustrious examples of devotion. They who read of the heroic enterprises of Christian evangelists, and of the noble fortitude of Christian martyrs who have died at the hands of those they sought to save, may well gird themselves to the labours to which they are invited by the spirit of benevolence, as well as commissioned by him whose authority is ever binding and whose recompense is ever sure. - T.

I. WHEREIN IT CONSISTS.

1. A willing service.

2. Without respect to fee or reward.

3. He may receive but must not bargain for it.

II. ITS IMPORTANCE.

1. If pure, Christ will reward him.

2. If impure, his service is merely professional and has its reward.

III. ITS PRESENT RECOMPENSE.

1. Freedom from all imputation of mercenary motives.

2. The free dispensation of the gospel.

3. The consciousness of his own integrity.

(J. Lyth, D. D.)

His preaching was no ground of boasting (ver. 16). If he preached willingly, i.e., if it were optional with him to preach or not to preach, then it would be a ground of boasting; but if he did it unwillingly, i.e., if it were not optional with him (as was in fact the case), he was only discharging an official duty, and had nothing to boast of. That Paul preached the gospel willingly, that he esteemed it his highest joy and glory, is abundantly evident (Romans 1:5; Romans 11:13; Romans 15:15-16; 1 Corinthians 15:9-10; Galatians 1:15, 16; Ephesians 3:8). The difference, therefore, here expressed between "willing" and "unwilling," is not the difference between cheerfully and reluctantly, but between optional and obligatory. He says he had a "dispensation" or stewardship committed to him. Stewards were commonly slaves. There is a great difference between what a slave does in obedience to a command, and what a man volunteers to do of his own accord. And this is the difference to which the apostle refers. So Paul was commanded to preach the gospel, and he did it with his whole heart; but he was not commanded to refuse to receive a support from the churches. The former, therefore, was not a ground of boasting, not a thing for which he could claim the reward of special confidence; the latter was. He could appeal to it as a proof, not only of his obedience, but of the purity of the motive which prompted that obedience. A physician may attend the sick from the highest motives, though he receives a remuneration for his services. But when he attends the poor gratuitously, though the motives may be no higher, the evidence of their purity is placed beyond question. Paul's ground of glorying, therefore, was not preaching, for that was a matter of obligation; but his preaching gratuitously, which was altogether optional. He gained something by it. He gained the confidence even of his enemies. But as preaching was not optional but obligatory, he did not gain confidence by it. The principle on which the apostle's argument is founded is recognised by our Lord in Luke 17:10.

(C. Hodge, D. D.)

Rev. T. Hancocks, of Chatham, formerly a Pastors' College student, relates the following reminiscence of Mr. Spurgeon, introduced by the late president into one of his lectures to his students, and which is particularly interesting in the light of his last will and testament: Men sometimes say, "Spurgeon's making a good thing of it." To which I reply, "You are perfectly right, for I serve a Master who is no miser, but who rewards me daily with both hands." But if they mean that I am saving money — well, they will know when I'm gone. I give away all I can get, and could wisely use more.

I. ITS NATURE. Freedom —

1. As far as possible from personal obligation.

2. In the declaration of Divine truth.

3. In the conscientious discharge of duty.

II. ITS USE. In the service of all —

1. By patient toil.

2. By forbearance.

3. By Christian compliances.

III. ITS MOTIVE.

1. Christ's honour.

2. In the gain of souls.

(J. Lyth, D. D.)

The services of men on earth embrace a large variety. There is the service of the agriculturist, the mechanic, the mariner, the merchant, the scientist, the legislator, the king, &c. Men esteem these services as differing widely in respectability and honour; but the service referred to in the text stands infinitely above all. Four thoughts are suggested concerning this service.

I. It is a service for the GAINING OF MEN. "That I might gain the more." The "more" what? Not the gaining the more wealth, fame, or pleasure; but the gaining of men. Christ says, "Thou hast gained thy brother." There is a way of winning a man. Morally man is lost. No work in the universe is higher than this — to gain a man, to recover him to the true spirit and mission of life.

II. It is a service INDEPENDENT OF MEN. "Though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all." Oh, how this high service has been degraded by the crowds of craven and mercenary souls that have pushed themselves into it! I am "free from all men," says Paul. "I made myself servant." I was not made by human authority, I was not pushed into it by others, "I made myself." A man by God's grace must make himself for the work.

III. It is a service for UNIVERSAL MAN. "Unto all." All men, not to any particular tribe, sect, or nation, but to all, rich and poor, high and low, cultured and rude.

(D. Thomas, D. D.)

Barnabas, Cephas, Christians, Corinthians, Paul, PeterCorinthAdministration, Commission, Committed, Discharging, Dispensation, Entrusted, Gladly, Gospel, Intrusted, Nevertheless, Orders, Preach, Receive, Reward, Simply, Stewardship, Trust, Unwillingly, Voluntarily, Wages, Willing, Willingly1. He shows his liberty;
7. and that the minister ought to receive a living by the Gospel;
15. yet that himself has of his own accord abstained,
18. to be neither chargeable unto them,
22. nor offensive unto any, in matters indifferent.
24. Our life is like unto a race.

1 Corinthians 9:17

     5556   stewardship
     8208   commitment, to God
     8354   trustworthiness

1 Corinthians 9:1-18

     5504   rights

1 Corinthians 9:3-18

     5109   Paul, apostle

1 Corinthians 9:4-18

     5216   authority, nature of

1 Corinthians 9:15-18

     8820   self-confidence

1 Corinthians 9:16-17

     8426   evangelism, motivation

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

     6696   necessity

Third Sunday Before Lent
Text: First Corinthians 9, 24-27; 10, 1-5. 24 Know ye not that they that run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? Even so run; that ye may attain. 25 And every man that striveth in the games exerciseth self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 26 I therefore so run, as not uncertainly; so fight I, as not beating the air: 27 but I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

How the victor Runs
So run, that ye may obtain.'--1 COR. ix. 24. 'So run.' Does that mean 'Run so that ye obtain?' Most people, I suppose, superficially reading the words, attach that significance to them, but the 'so' here carries a much greater weight of meaning than that. It is a word of comparison. The Apostle would have the Corinthians recall the picture which he has been putting before them--a picture of a scene that was very familiar to them; for, as most of us know, one of the most important of the Grecian …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

'Concerning the Crown'
'They do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we are incorruptible.'--1 COR. ix. 25. One of the most famous of the Greek athletic festivals was held close by Corinth. Its prize was a pine-wreath from the neighbouring sacred grove. The painful abstinence and training of ten months, and the fierce struggle of ten minutes, had for their result a twist of green leaves, that withered in a week, and a little fading fame that was worth scarcely more, and lasted scarcely longer. The struggle and the discipline …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

The Sin of Silence
'For though I preach the Gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the Gospel! 17. For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward.'--1 COR. ix. 16, 17. The original reference of these words is to the Apostle's principle and practice of not receiving for his support money from the churches. Gifts he did accept; pay he did not. The exposition of his reason is interesting, ingenuous, and chivalrous. He strongly asserts his right, even …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

A Servant of Men
'For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. 20. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; 21. To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. 22. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Preach the Gospel
Now, these words of Paul, I trust, are applicable to many ministers in the present day; to all those who are especially called, who are directed by the inward impulse of the Holy Spirit to occupy the position of gospel ministers. In trying to consider this verse, we shall have three inquiries this morning:--First, What is it to preach the gospel? Secondly, Why is it that a minister has nothing to glorify of? And thirdly, What is that necessity and that woe, of which it is written, "Necessity is laid …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855

The Heavenly Race
And now, in entering upon the text, I shall have to notice what it is we are to run for: "So run that ye may obtain;" secondly, the mode of running, to which we must attend--"So run that ye may obtain;" and then I shall give a few practical exhortations to stir those onward in the heavenly race who are flagging and negligent, in order that they may at last "obtain." I. In the first place, then, WHAT IS IT THAT WE OUGHT TO SEEK TO OBTAIN? Some people think they must be religious, in order to be respectable. …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858

"Now the God of Hope Fill You with all Joy and Peace in Believing," &C.
Rom. xv. 13.--"Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing," &c. It is usual for the Lord in his word to turn his precepts unto promises, which shows us, that the commandments of God do not so much import an ability in us, or suppose strength to fulfil them, as declare that obligation which lies upon us, and his purpose and intention to accomplish in some, what he requires of all: and therefore we should accordingly convert all his precepts unto prayers, seeing he hath made …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Bunyan -- the Heavenly Footman
John Bunyan was born in the village of Elstow, near Bedford, England, in 1628. Because of his fearless preaching he was imprisoned in Bedford jail from 1660 to 1672, and again for six months in 1675, during which latter time it is said his wonderful "Pilgrim's Progress" was written. While his sermons in their tedious prolixity share the fault of his time, they are characterized by vividness, epigrammatic wit, and dramatic fervor. The purity and simplicity of his style have been highly praised, and …
Various—The World's Great Sermons, Vol. 2

Against Vain Judgments of Men
"My Son, anchor thy soul firmly upon God, and fear not man's judgment, when conscience pronounceth thee pious and innocent. It is good and blessed thus to suffer; nor will it be grievous to the heart which is humble, and which trusteth in God more than in itself. Many men have many opinions, and therefore little trust is to be placed in them. But moreover it is impossible to please all. Although Paul studied to please all men in the Lord, and to become all things to all men,(1) yet nevertheless …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

Apostles To-Day?
"Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are ye not my work in the Lord?"--1 Cor. ix. 1. We may not take leave of the apostolate without a last look at the circle of its members. It is a closed circle; and every effort to reopen it tends to efface a characteristic of the New Covenant. And yet the effort is being made again and again. We see it in Rome's apostolic succession; in the Ethical view gradually effacing the boundary-line between the apostles and believers; …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Though in Order to Establish this Suitable Difference Between the Fruits or Effects of virtue and vice,
so reasonable in itself, and so absolutely necessary for the vindication of the honour of God, the nature of things, and the constitution and order of God's creation, was originally such, that the observance of the eternal rules of justice, equity, and goodness, does indeed of itself tend by direct and natural consequence to make all creatures happy, and the contrary practice to make them miserable; yet since, through some great and general corruption and depravation, (whencesoever that may have …
Samuel Clarke—A Discourse Concerning the Being and Attributes of God

An Essay on the Scriptural Doctrine of Immortality
AN ESSAY ON THE SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINE OF IMMORTALITY BY THE REV. JAMES CHALLIS, M.A., F.R.S., F.R.A.S. PLUMIAN PROFESSOR OF ASTRONOMY AND EXPERIMENTAL PHILOSOPHY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, AND FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE. Anagke gar moi epikeitai ouai gar moi estin, ean me euaggelzumai --1 Cor. ix. 16 RIVINGTONS London, Oxford, and Cambridge MDCCCLXXX RIVINGTONS London . . . . . . Waterloo Place Oxford . . . . . . Magdalen Street Cambridge . . . . Trinity Street [All rights reserved] …
James Challis—An Essay on the Scriptural Doctrine of Immortality

Concerning Christian Liberty
CHRISTIAN faith has appeared to many an easy thing; nay, not a few even reckon it among the social virtues, as it were; and this they do, because they have not made proof of it experimentally, and have never tasted of what efficacy it is. For it is not possible for any man to write well about it, or to understand well what is rightly written, who has not at some time tasted of its spirit, under the pressure of tribulation. While he who has tasted of it, even to a very small extent, can never write, …
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation

The Edict of Banishment, 1729-1736.
But Zinzendorf was not long allowed to tread the primrose path of peace. As the news of his proceedings spread in Germany, many orthodox Lutherans began to regard him as a nuisance, a heretic, and a disturber of the peace; and one critic made the elegant remark: "When Count Zinzendorf flies up into the air, anyone who pulls him down by the legs will do him a great service." He was accused of many crimes, and had many charges to answer. He was accused of founding a new sect, a society for laziness; …
J. E. Hutton—History of the Moravian Church

But He Speaks More Openly in the Rest which He Subjoins...
9. But he speaks more openly in the rest which he subjoins, and altogether removes all causes of doubting. "If we unto you," saith he, "have sown spiritual things, is it a great matter if we shall reap your carnal things?" What are the spiritual things which he sowed, but the word and mystery of the sacrament of the kingdom of heaven? And what the carnal things which he saith he had a right to reap, but these temporal things which are indulged to the life and indigency of the flesh? These however …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

Hence Arises Another Question; for Peradventure one May Say...
23. Hence arises another question; for peradventure one may say, "What then? did the other Apostles, and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas, sin, in that they did not work? Or did they occasion an hindrance to the Gospel, because blessed Paul saith that he had not used this power on purpose that he might not cause any hindrance to the Gospel of Christ? For if they sinned because they wrought not, then had they not received power not to work, but to live instead by the Gospel. But if they had received …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

We are not Binding Heavy Burdens and Laying them Upon Your Shoulders...
37. We are not binding heavy burdens and laying them upon your shoulders, while we with a finger will not touch them. Seek out, and acknowledge the labor of our occupations, and in some of us the infirmities of our bodies also, and in the Churches which we serve, that custom now grown up, that they do not suffer us to have time ourselves for those works to which we exhort you. For though we might say, "Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? Who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

And He Comes Back Again, and in all Ways...
10. And he comes back again, and in all ways, over and over again, enforceth what he hath the right to do, yet doeth not. "Do ye not know," saith he, "that they which work in the temple, eat of the things which are in the temple? they which serve the altar, have their share with the altar? So hath the Lord ordained for them which preach the Gospel, to live of the Gospel. But I have used none of these things." [2500] What more open than this? what more clear? I fear lest haply, while I discourse wishing …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

But Now, that as Bearing with the Infirmity of Men He did This...
12. But now, that as bearing with the infirmity of men he did this, let us hear what follows: "For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. To them that are under the law, I became as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law." [2505] Which thing he did, not with craftiness …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

There Resulteth Then from all These this Sentence...
41. There resulteth then from all these this sentence, that a lie which doth not violate the doctrine of piety, nor piety itself, nor innocence, nor benevolence, may on behalf of pudicity of body be admitted. And yet if any man should propose to himself so to love truth, not only that which consists in contemplation, but also in uttering the true thing, which each in its own kind of things is true, and no otherwise to bring forth with the mouth of the body his thought than in the mind it is conceived …
St. Augustine—On Lying

The Great Synod Has Stringently Forbidden any Bishop, Presbyter...
The great Synod has stringently forbidden any bishop, presbyter, deacon, or any one of the clergy whatever, to have a subintroducta dwelling with him, except only a mother, or sister, or aunt, or such persons only as are beyond all suspicion. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon III. No one shall have a woman in his house except his mother, and sister, and persons altogether beyond suspicion. Justellus. Who these mulieres subintroductæ were does not sufficiently appear...but they were neither wives …
Philip Schaff—The Seven Ecumenical Councils

1 Corinthians 9:17 NIV
1 Corinthians 9:17 NLT
1 Corinthians 9:17 ESV
1 Corinthians 9:17 NASB
1 Corinthians 9:17 KJV

1 Corinthians 9:17 Bible Apps
1 Corinthians 9:17 Parallel
1 Corinthians 9:17 Biblia Paralela
1 Corinthians 9:17 Chinese Bible
1 Corinthians 9:17 French Bible
1 Corinthians 9:17 German Bible

1 Corinthians 9:17 Commentaries

Bible Hub