# 1 Corinthians 09 📖: Giving Up Rights for the Gospel [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-1 Corinthians Overview]] | [[1 Corinthians 08]] | [[1 Corinthians 10]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### The Rights of an Apostle **Principle**: Faithful ministries are worthy of respect. [[#Verse 01.]] Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?  [[#Verse 02.]] If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you, for you are the confirming sign of my apostleship in the Lord.  [[#Verse 03.]] This is my defense to those who examine me. [[#Verse 04.]] Do we not have the right to financial support?  [[#Verse 05.]] Do we not have the right to the company of a believing wife, like the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?  [[#Verse 06.]] Or do only Barnabas and I lack the right not to work?  [[#Verse 07.]] Who ever serves in the army at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not consume its milk?  [[#Verse 08.]] Am I saying these things only on the basis of common sense, or does the law not say this as well?  [[#Verse 09.]] For it is written in the law of Moses, “**_Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain_**.” God is not concerned here about oxen, is he? [[Deuteronomy 25]] [[#Verse 10.]] Or is he not surely speaking for our benefit? It was written for us, because the one plowing and threshing ought to work in hope of enjoying the harvest.  [[#Verse 11.]] If we sowed spiritual blessings among you, is it too much to reap material things from you?  [[#Verse 12.]] If others receive this right from you, are we not more deserving? But we have not made use of this right. Instead we endure everything so that we may not be a hindrance to the gospel of Christ.  [[#Verse 13.]] Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple eat food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar receive a part of the offerings? [[#Verse 14.]] In the same way the Lord commanded those who proclaim the gospel to receive their living by the gospel.  [[#Verse 15.]] But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing these things so that something will be done for me. In fact, it would be better for me to die than—no one will deprive me of my reason for boasting! [[#Verse 16.]] For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason for boasting, because I am compelled to do this. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!  [[#Verse 17.]] For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward. But if I do it unwillingly, I am entrusted with a responsibility.  [[#Verse 18.]] What then is my reward? That when I preach the gospel I may offer the gospel free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights in the gospel. [[#Verse 19.]] For since I am free from all I can make myself a slave to all, in order to gain even more people.  [[#Verse 20.]] To the Jews I became like a Jew to gain the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) to gain those under the law.  [[#Verse 21.]] To those free from the law I became like one free from the law (though I am not free from God’s law but under the law of Christ) to gain those free from the law.  [[#Verse 22.]] To the weak I became weak in order to gain the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that by all means I may save some. [[#Verse 23.]] I do all these things because of the gospel, so that I can be a participant in it. [[#Verse 24.]] Do you not know that all the runners in a stadium compete, but only one receives the prize? So run to win.  [[#Verse 25.]] Each competitor must exercise self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. [[#Verse 26.]] So I do not run uncertainly or box like one who hits only air.  [[#Verse 27.]] Instead I subdue my body and make it my slave, so that after preaching to others I myself will not be disqualified. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Corinth hosted the Isthmian Games every two years, one of the four great athletic festivals of Greece. 2. Victors at the Isthmian Games received a wreath, at times made of pine and at times of withered celery, which quickly faded (9:25). 3. Athletes at the Olympic Games swore that they had trained faithfully for ten months before competing. 4. In 9:9 Paul quotes Deuteronomy 25:4, "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain," which is also quoted in 1 Timothy 5:18. 5. Jesus taught that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living from it (9:14; Luke 10:7). 6. Barnabas, like Paul, worked to support himself in ministry (9:6). 7. Peter (Cephas) traveled in ministry with his wife (9:5). Mark 1:30 mentions his mother-in-law. 8. Ancient boxers wrapped their hands in leather straps. Paul does not box like someone "beating the air" (9:26). 9. "Disqualified" in 9:27 (*adokimos*) means failing the test, like an athlete ruled out of the contest. 10. Paul's refusal of financial support set him apart from traveling teachers who lived off wealthy patrons. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the One whose gospel Paul refused to hinder, giving up his rights so more people might be won (9:12, 19). Just as Jesus came to serve, not to be served (Mark 10:45), Paul became all things to all people. ## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Paul gave up his right to be paid so he would not hinder the gospel (9:12). What rights might you lay down to help others hear about Jesus? 2. Paul became all things to all people to save some (9:22). How do we adapt to others without compromising the truth? 3. Paul disciplines his body like an athlete (9:24-27). What spiritual disciplines help you run to win? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 16: Paul is compelled to preach; woe to him if he does not preach the gospel. - 📖 verse 19: Though free, Paul made himself a slave to all to win more people. - 📖 verse 22: Paul became all things to all people so that by all means he might save some. - 📖 verses 24-25: Run to win, for we compete for an imperishable crown. ## 🔗 Related Passages - 🔗 [[Acts 09#Verse 03.|Acts 9:3-6]] - Paul sees the risen Lord (9:1). - 🔗 [[2 Timothy 02#Verse 03.|2 Timothy 2:3-6]] - Soldier, athlete, and farmer (9:7). - 🔗 [[Deuteronomy 25#Verse 04.|Deuteronomy 25:4]] - Do not muzzle the ox (9:9). - 🔗 [[1 Timothy 05#Verse 18.|1 Timothy 5:18]] - Do not muzzle the ox (9:9). - 🔗 [[Numbers 18#Verse 08.|Numbers 18:8-31]] - Priests share in the offerings (9:13). - 🔗 [[Deuteronomy 18#Verse 01.|Deuteronomy 18:1-5]] - Priests share in the offerings (9:13). - 🔗 [[Luke 10#Verse 07.|Luke 10:7]] - The worker deserves his wages (9:14). - 🔗 [[Jeremiah 20#Verse 09.|Jeremiah 20:9]] - A fire shut up in my bones; we cannot stop speaking (9:16). - 🔗 [[Acts 04#Verse 20.|Acts 4:20]] - A fire shut up in my bones; we cannot stop speaking (9:16). - 🔗 [[Acts 16#Verse 03.|Acts 16:3 and 21:20-26]] - Paul accommodates Jewish customs for the gospel (9:20). - 🔗 [[Philippians 03#Verse 14.|Philippians 3:14]] - Press on toward the goal; run with endurance (9:24). - 🔗 [[Hebrews 12#Verse 01.|Hebrews 12:1]] - Press on toward the goal; run with endurance (9:24). - 🔗 [[2 Timothy 04#Verse 08.|2 Timothy 4:8]] - The crown of righteousness and of life (9:25). - 🔗 [[James 01#Verse 12.|James 1:12]] - The crown of righteousness and of life (9:25). ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[1 Corinthians 09 - SOAP|Christianity is a Call to Servanthood]] ## 📂 Internal Notes