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First Corinthians 9:13-23

Some leaders in the church in Corinth were questioning Pauls authority as an apostle, as a means of
promoting themselves and their thinking in the assembly. They have pointed to the fact that Paul worked at
his trade to earn his keep, and insinuated it meant he didnt think himself worthy of being supported for his
ministry.
We saw last time that Paul made it very plain to the Corinthian believers that as an apostle, he had every
right to that support, but that he laid his right aside so as not to hinder the gospel of Christ. This pertained
to Paul and certain other missionaries that were involved in foundational work; preaching the gospel where
the name of Christ had never been heard.
Taking support from listeners would suggest that Paul was a preacher for hire; just another traveling
teacher, bringing in just another new wind of doctrine. The good news would be just news; and Gods free
gift of salvation in Christ, apparently not so free.
As Paul continues, he will now go back to the right of missionaries to support, and then continue in his
explanation as to why he laid that right aside.
[Read First Corinthians 9:13-23]
So we see that in addition to explaining his conduct in not taking material support, Paul goes on to explain
his conduct in other respects, as well - specifically, his social conduct among Jews and Gentiles. Well
discuss why Paul is doing this shortly.
But first, lets return to Pauls thought in verse 13. He has drawn in one final example which demonstrates
the apostles right to be supported through his work. And this example proves Pauls point above all the
others hes given.
This is a single illustration, expressed in two different ways. First, there are those who minister the holy
things. The word minister in the Greek is a general word for work, or labor. Here it is used to refer to
those who are employed in the sacred rites.
Who fits that job description? A priest. Paul indicates that the priest eats of the things of the temple,
meaning he derives his sustenance from the temple; literally, he eats of the temple.
Expressing it a little differently, Paul indicates that the priest serves at Gods altar, and that he therefore
shares of some of whats being offered on the altar; literally, he partakes of the altar.
Paul is asking the Corinthian believers if they do not know this. What does that tell you? That they should
know it, and probably do know it. Even though most of them were pagan Gentiles, Paul would have taught
them these things from the OT Scriptures, when he was in their midst.
Now, who gave the priests the right to eat of the offerings, brought by the people? The LORD did; it was
written into the Law (Lev 2:3, 10; 7:8, 31-36). This was the way the LORD God made provision for those
whose work was to minister in the temple; He provided for them, through the temple; He shared the
offerings with them (Num 18:8-24).

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And once again, Pauls illustration goes just a little deeper. Paul and his fellow missionaries are the ones
who minister the holy things, in their preaching of the gospel. Do they not therefore have the right to
support from the temple, in which they minister? Remember, Paul has called the church in Corinth the
temple of God (1 Cor 3:16). The temple is to make the provision.
And as a priest, Paul ministered the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable,
sanctified by the Holy Spirit (Rm 15:16). So the church in Corinth is the temple, and the believers are the
offering. Did not Paul therefore have the right to share in that offering to God, by reaping their material
blessings?
So the LORD God had commanded it in the Law of Moses, for the priests. And so the Lord Jesus had
commanded it, for those who preach the gospel - in verse 14, that they should live from the gospel. Paul is
referring to something that Jesus spoke to His apostles, when He was in their midst. Well take a quick look
at that.
Turn to Matthew chapter 9. Jesus was in Galilee, preaching in the cities and villages. He was moved with
compassion when He saw that the multitudes were like sheep without a shepherd. He spoke of this to his
disciples.
[Matthew 9:37-10:1, 5-10]
9:37-38 No sooner did Jesus tell them to pray, than He sent them out.
10:1 So Jesus gave them power that the Father had given to Him - power greater than that found in the
natural realm; supernatural power. This was a foretaste of when the Body of Christ would be anointed with
the Holy Spirit, and endued with power from on High (Lk 24:49, Acts 1:8, 2:1-4). The manifestation of this
power in miraculous works would authenticate their preaching as being Gods Word.
Matthew then names the twelve apostles who Jesus is sending out, as laborers into His harvest. Then in
verse 5, Jesus gives them instructions for the work.
v. 5-7 Why were they not to go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans? Because Israel, the nation that God had
made for Himself, was privileged to be the first to hear the good news that their Messiah had come: Jesus.
The message of salvation would go out to the other nations later.
The disciples were to preach that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, because God was about to lay His
Cornerstone for His heavenly kingdom of sons.
v. 8 They had freely received this power; they were to freely extend it to others - a pattern for the spiritual
graces, that would be later given to the Body of Christ.
v. 9-10 Or as Paul paraphrased it, those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. In addition,
Luke writes of seventy disciples that were sent out, to whom Jesus said virtually the same thing: the
laborer is worthy of his wages (Lk 10:7); they have the right to be supported.
[Return to First Corinthians 9]

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As we continue in verse 15, we find Paul once again renouncing his right to support.
v. 15 Paul has set aside his right; but now he wants to make it absolutely clear to the Corinthians that he
hasnt written all of this in order to enlist their support; quite the opposite. To show the strength of his
conviction about this, he speaks in hyperbole here: hes rather die, than take their support. And now, Paul
reveals a personal motive for this: it would make his boasting void; hed have no right to boast.
What does Paul mean by that? We tend to think of boasting as something prideful. The word in the Greek
carries the meaning of glorying; of exulting, or rejoicing. So it doesnt necessarily have a negative
connotation, as in the English. It depends upon what one glories, or boasts in.
Now, the Corinthians gloried in themselves (1 Cor 1:29); they gloried in Greek wisdom, and those who
taught it (3:21). They also gloried in their abilities (4:7). They even boasted in their tolerance of sin (5:6)!
All of that glorying was not good.
But Paul gloried in something quite different. And as we continue in our passage, we find out what that
was.
v. 16-17 We have to think this through very carefully to understand what Paul is saying. In other letters,
we can observe that Paul glories in several things: he glories in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal
6:14); he glories in the ministry that the Lord gave him (2 Cor 10:8,13); and he glories in assemblies of
believers demonstrating faith (2 Cor 9:2, 2 Th 1:4).
All of those things involve Paul, indirectly; but they are not of Paul, personally; they are not the result of
his own choices, in life. They are the Lords doing, or the result of the faith of other believers.
What Paul is writing about here is something that he glories in that is the result of his own personal
choosing. He rejoices in it, because it comes from his own direct contribution to the Lords work; and his
contribution did indeed benefit that work - of reconciling men to God.
But first, Paul declares what he does not boast, or glory in, in verse 16. What is that? Preaching the
gospel. And Paul states why he does not boast in preaching the gospel - why? Because necessity is laid
upon him; that is, he must do it. In fact, Paul says, if he does not preach the gospel, woe is me! Paul would
be judged for that.
So our question is, what does Paul mean? In what sense is he being compelled to proclaim the gospel? In
what sense will he be judged if he does not do it?
Our answers come from what Paul says next, in verse 17. He had just said that he has to preach the gospel;
but here he says that he could do it willingly, or unwillingly. Now we know that Paul preached the gospel
willingly - we could say his heart was in it. But even if he were to do it unwillingly, he would still do it.
He was compelled to do it - because Paul was entrusted with a stewardship.
Paul had written back in chapter 4 of being a steward of the mysteries of God. A steward was often a slave;
a servant who was entrusted with managing the household for his master. The steward was responsible for
distributing things to the family as they had need of them.

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Paul had been chosen by the Lord to distribute to the Gentiles the gospel truths - the mysteries of God,
revealed in His Christ. When was Paul chosen for this work? Before he was even born. In His
foreknowledge, God had always planned to call Paul to this work (Rm 1:1-2, Gal 1:15-16, 1 Tim 1:1); a
divine election. So was it based on anything Paul had done? No.
The call came to Paul personally from the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus; a divine calling, to be and
apostle. And the Lord chose the realm of Pauls ministry - predominantly, Paul would be sent to the
Gentiles. Paul didnt choose either of those things, did he? No; he was appointed to them; a divine
appointment.
And who prepared Paul, for his ministry? Who equipped him? His Master. Through the Spirit, the Lord
graced Paul as a prophet; a teacher; an evangelist; a pastor. So Paul didnt equip himself - he was divinely
empowered.
Nor did Paul teach himself, nor was he taught his gospel. Instead, God revealed His Son in Paul (Gal 1:16)
- through the Spirit - divine revelation - so that Paul could understand the real meaning of all the Scriptures
he learned, from his youth.
Remember that a steward is a servant, often a slave. A slave must be prepared by the master for service chosen for the work, equipped for the work, and taught how to do the work. And with that preparation, the
slave is now ready to fulfill his service to the master.
Now, a slave can serve his master unwillingly - in forced servitude. And he must do at least what the
master has given him to do; he must do his duty; fulfill his responsibility to the master. This is what Paul
means when he writes about preaching the gospel against his will; he would still be compelled, by all that
the Lord had invested in him, to do it.
And woe to Paul if he didnt! A master expects obedience from a servant. Paul would never want to meet
with the Masters disapproval!
But this was not the way Paul served his Master, anyway. He served willingly. Paul often called himself a
bondservant of Jesus Christ (Rm 1:1); he freely laid down his will, to serve his Master. What was the
motivation of a bondservant? Love for the master.
And so it was, with Paul. Out of love for his Master, Paul not only willingly fulfilled his responsibilities in
his stewardship of the gospel, he willingly went beyond what was required; he labored more abundantly (1
Cor 15:10).
Well see how he did this in a moment; but first, notice that Paul says he will have a reward for this; for his
willingness. So heres an important question: did Paul actually do his work for the sake of the reward?
No. His motivation was not the reward, but what? Love. Love for the Master. Although a reward has its
attraction, only love can direct the will, in the first place.
On the other hand, we can now understand the source of Pauls rejoicing: for in his willingness, out of love
for the Master, he will have a reward, from the Master. And Paul gloried in that.
What is the reward, of which Paul speaks? Its the reward that awaits all believers. Its that which is of
Christ, and only Christ; the thinking of Christ, that which the believer has laid hold of, and believed, out of
which he then built his life, in the here and now.

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Thats the only thing of enduring value that the believer will take from this life; the glory of his Lord,
which will shine out through his ever-living body, for all eternity. Each believer will receive his own
reward, according to his own labor (1 Cor 3:8, 9-15). Paul labored more abundantly; the glory of the Lord,
ever seen through the body of Paul, will be great.
Paul goes on to speak of his reward.
v. 18 In this context, Paul is referring to the source of his reward; the basis upon which Paul will be
rewarded. And what is it? That Paul presented the gospel of Christ without charge; that is, that the gospel
got a free hearing, when Paul proclaimed it.
We have already seen how Paul labored to support himself, so that new listeners would observe that the
gospel of grace came to them with no strings attached. Did that come at personal cost to Paul? Great
personal cost. It resulted in him toiling day and night, as he labored and preached. But that was Pauls
labor of love; and for that, his Master would greatly reward him.
Our text gives Pauls explanation for what he did as being that he might not abuse his authority in the
gospel. The idea is that Paul did not want to exceed his authority in the ministry that the Lord gave to him,
in particular - preaching to those who had never heard of Christ. He had a right to support, but to take it in
the circumstances of his ministry would create a hindrance to the gospel.
And it wasnt just about giving up his right for support. Paul wanted the Corinthian believers to know that
he was willing to give up his personal freedom, as well.
v. 19-22 We find Paul once again explaining himself to the Corinthian believers; how he conducted himself
differently, depending upon whom he was with. You can imagine that Pauls detractors would have used
this to suggest that Paul was inconsistent; perhaps even that he was a hypocrite. Who would consider
believing the message of a hypocrite?
So Paul defends his actions, explaining his motives, so that believers in Corinth will see that his conduct is
actually perfectly consistent - for he always exercises his freedom under the constraint of love. This gives
Paul the added opportunity of playing his refrain once again concerning love for others - that which so
many in Corinth were lacking.
So this continues on the idea from verse 18, of removing anything that would hinder the gospel of Christ.
For that, Paul was willing to give up his freedom. He first points out that he is free from all men - why is
that? He has one Master - Christ. He is the bondservant of Christ only - he is beholden to no man.
But despite this, Paul willingly made himself a servant to all. In what respect does Paul mean this? Like a
slave to a master, Paul is willing to yield himself to all men; he freely chooses to labor for them, in order to
promote their welfare. And Paul complies with these human masters, as far as he can, in good conscience.
For he still serves a higher Master; his heavenly Master.
Paul goes on to show that this service of his takes various forms, depending on the human master;
depending on the human masters habits, his customs, his opinions. Paul accommodates these differences
to the extent that he can, while always remaining obedient to his heavenly Master.

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And Paul expresses his purpose in this voluntary servitude, of his; in verse 19, what is it? That he might
win the more. Win more what? Win more souls to Christ. We see at the end of this passage that Paul is
speaking of salvation (v. 22). So then, in this passage, are these human masters that Paul is serving
believers, or unbelievers? Unbelievers, who need to be saved; who need to be won to Christ.
Paul goes on to name four categories of unbelievers, to make his point. What are they? In verse 20, we
have the Jews; and also we have those under the law. Then in verse 21, we have those who are without law.
And finally, in verse 22, we have the weak. And remember, these are all unbelievers.
The law clearly implies to the Law of Moses, here. So of course, we would think of those under the Law as
Jews; and those without Law as Gentiles. But in that Paul is clearly distinguishing four groups here, we
can know he is intending more of a differentiation than that.
So lets think that through. Paul appears to be distinguishing one group of Jews from another here based on
whether they are under the Law - we have Jews under the Law, and just - Jews.
Now, those who are really under the Law (v. 20) are carrying it - every jot and tittle - throughout every
aspect of their lives. They are the strict observers of the Law. These easily correspond to the Jews of Judea
- the native-born, Hebrew Jews, who were raised in strict adherence to the Law.
Paul knows these Jews and their ways well. Paul was raised at the feet of Gamaliel in Jerusalem, a Hebrew
of Hebrews. Concerning the Law, Paul was a Pharisee (Phil 3:5); he kept it perfectly - or so he thought, at
the time.
Through Christ, Paul was freed from the Law (Rm 7:6). Nevertheless, Paul was willing to go back to
keeping the Law when in the company of Hebrew Jews. He returned to Jerusalem for the feasts of the LORD,
as required in the Law. And Paul was particularly observant of the Law when he went up to Jerusalem,
including attending the temple and even taking vows (Acts 21:20-26).
Why did Paul do this? So as not to offend the Jews; so as not to provoke them, and create a barrier in their
minds against taking in the gospel. Paul served them in this way, restricting his own freedom, so that they
might hear the truth, and be saved.
The group of Jews with whom Paul begins the passage were therefore, shall we say, more casual observers
of the Law. These would correspond to the foreign-born Jews, who were raised in a Hellenist culture.
They identified with being a Jew more as a matter of nationality than of the Law. And their broader
cultural experience tended to give them a more liberal perspective on life.
Paul would have encountered many of these Jews in Corinth. And for those who had not opposed the
gospel from the first, he would have gone to great lengths to keep a dialog open with them.
Paul would have observed their food restrictions, and attended synagogue on the Sabbath with them, for
those who were so inclined. He would have reasoned with them - Hellenist style - about the Law, and how
it was fulfilled in the coming of Jesus. So he would serve them, if by any means he might win them to
Christ.
The next two groups are correspondingly both Gentiles. We have those without Law, and the weak. And
they easily describe two groups we have already seen in Corinth.

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Although all Gentiles were considered to be without Law, in that the Gentiles did not possess the Law of
Moses, there was a particularly lawless group, in Corinth - who thought they were free to do anything.
Who would these unbelieving Gentiles be? Those who were of the Epicurean persuasion - who thought it
didnt matter what one did in the body, since it will perish. And in Corinth, it was very evident that it didnt
matter to them, as they indulged every lust and desire imaginable.
And how did Paul conform to that? Did he join in? Of course not; and Paul makes that plain, in his
response. Paul was not without law toward God; he still obeyed His Master, Christ. But Paul was as free
as he could be, in terms of the free-wheeling culture and customs of these Gentiles.
He ate what they ate; he visited their homes, and joined in their gatherings - apart from the pagan temple.
He willingly spent time with them, in frequent and close contact - which he would have considered defiling
according to his previous manner of life.
But Pauls willingness gave them the opportunity to see freedom in a whole new light - being free from sin
in Christ - and that was attractive; in fact, it was something that might draw them to Pauls Master.
The last group that Paul speaks of is the weak. The word means without strength or powerless. Now,
Paul had just spoken about a weak brother in chapter 8; a former pagan Gentile, who is fearful of doing
anything associated with his former life, because he is unsure. His conscience is weak, powerless to inform
him; and he hasnt yet learned to live by the Spirit.
But in this passage, this isnt a weak brother; this is an unbeliever. Still, if Paul is using the word in a
similar way, to mean one who is powerless, we can see it might be someone who recognizes theyre
powerless over sin; they have no strength, in themselves to rule over it.
Such a person would live trying not to violate their conscience - which might even render it oversensitive,
concerning doubtful things. Such a person would try to rein in their flesh, in a legalistic way - but they
dont know of the Law of Moses, since theyre not Jews. So instead, they practice denying themselves,
depriving their flesh, in order to keep their over-reactive conscience clear. Such a person would be drawn
to an ascetic lifestyle.
We can see that this corresponds to another group of Gentiles in Corinth - those who pursued Stoicism.
The Stoics practiced denying the body its basic needs, to free them in their pursuit of the spiritual. That
didnt work; but Paul was not unwilling to abstain when in their company, in order to reach them, in their
world of deprivation - and share with them the riches of Christ, and the power of a whole new life in Him.
Pauls detractors in Corinth tried to paint this as hypocrisy; but in Pauls explanation, we can see that it is
no less that love. Paul was willing to limit his own freedom for the sake of any and all others - to conform
to their ways, in order to remove every obstacle possible between them and the gospel - that I might by all
means save some. Paul was willing to sacrifice anything for the gospel of Christ.
v. 23 It is with this concluding verse that we discover that Paul did not think that his willing sacrifice was
his alone to make. Here he is inviting the Corinthian believers to partake of the gospel in this way, also sacrificially - denying themselves, out of love for others.
Now, in one sense, the believers in Corinth did not have Pauls precise ministry; theyre not traveling
missionaries. And yet, in another sense, they did have his ministry - after all, as believers they joined the
kingdom of priests, and became ministers of reconciliation. And so did we.

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Having trusted in the Lord to be saved, we are now the Lords bondservants; we are free to become a
servant of all, as Paul did.
The question is, are we willing to serve our fellow man - unbelievers - in this way - when it involves
personal sacrifice? When it costs us our comfort, our security, our time, our toil, and even the approval of
family and friends?
It was worth it to Paul - for the sake of the gospel. Is it worth it to us?
Reading: 1 Cor 9; Heb 12:1-4; 2 Tim 2:1-10, 4:1-8.