1 Corinthians 9:23

And this I do for the Gospel's sake that I might be partaker thereof with you.

Here Paul's policy of self-denial is explained in detail. Taking up the thought of 1 Corinthians 9:1 again, he states: For, while I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all men, in order that I might gain the more. A true servant of Christ uses his liberty in the Gospel in no other way but for the edification of his neighbor and for the praise of God. Paul was free, he was not bound to any man's arbitrary rule, but went his way independent of the judgment of men, actuated and controlled entirely by the Spirit of Christ that lived in him. But this liberty he asserted in a very peculiar way, from the standpoint of man, namely, in complete self-denial. Through love every Christian is the debtor of his neighbor, places himself at the service of his neighbor, has his true spiritual welfare in mind at all times, Romans 13:8. And Paul's sole aim was to gain all the more souls for Christ by this service. This was a seeking for gain which could not but win the approval even of those that were inclined always to suspect his motives. With characteristic energy and wisdom he applied himself to this task, by making a careful analysis of the situation and laying his plans accordingly. To the Jews he became as a Jew in order to win the Jews; without denying or setting aside one word of the eternal truth, he accommodated his methods to the circumstances, always with the intention of winning souls for Christ, Acts 16:3; Acts 18:18; Acts 21:23 ff. To those under the Law, whether they belonged to the Jewish nation or to the Gentiles (mainly circumcised Gentiles), he became as one under the Law, in order to gain those under the Law; he was willing to conform to the customs, modes of life, and methods of instruction in vogue among them, so long as these matters were really things indifferent. To those without the Law, to the heathen in the strict sense of the word, he became as without the Law, although for his own person he was bound under the Law of Christ, in order to gain those without the Law; when in a heathen community, Paul did not practice the Jewish customs, a fact which would merely have antagonized the Gentiles; he omitted all reference to regulations of the Old Testament which were strictly Jewish in character. And this he did because he was in the Law of Christ, his Redeemer, the Fulfiller of the Law, being his life. The love of Christ was the motive for all his actions, a life implanted in Him and anxious to demonstrate itself in the service of the Gentiles; in the midst of the idolatry of heathenism, Paul found points of contact for the application of the Word of Grace. To the weak the apostle became weak in order to gain the weak; his loving insight enabled him to understand the scruples and weaknesses of those that had not made much headway in Christian knowledge. See 2 Corinthians 11:29. Every true servant of Christ must learn from the apostle not to despise any one, nor to permit disgust over foolish weaknesses to enter his heart. There may be much spiritual incapacity, but the ability to hear the story of the Gospel will remain in most cases; and the object is to gain the weak also. And therefore Paul summarizes: To all men I have become all things in order by all means to save some. In this way the practical wisdom of Paul's pastoral love and self-denial shone forth. It was not duplicity, as his enemies alleged, 2 Corinthians 1:12; 2 Corinthians 4:2; 2 Corinthians 12:16; Galatians 1:10, but the expression of a heart which acted under the discipline of the sanctifying Spirit. And it was all done for the sake of the Gospel, in order that he might be a joint-partaker with it. Every new soul won for Christ exhibited to the apostle the glory of the Triune God and the beauty of the Redeemer, and in the communion of all these saints the blessings of the Gospel reacted upon him, permitted him to partake more fully of the Gospel's vitalizing effects. The faithful servant of the Gospel will himself reap the rich benefits of his work.