Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary (4 vols)

2 Thessalonians 3:9

2 Thessalonians 3:9. Not because we have not power. This is the idea which Paul expands in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, chap. 9; where he shows at large the reasonableness of ministerial work being paid for, proves that the principle on which ministers claim support is found both in nature and in revelation, and asserts his own right to claim maintenance at the hand of those for whom he laboured in things spiritual. His reasons for declining to receive regular assistance, while he thus strongly asserted his right to it, were these: 1st. That he might preserve his independence, and preclude the possibility of misconstruction. 2d. That he might be an ensample of industry. 3d. That he might have means of charity (Acts 20:34). And there are still laymen who use the profits of their industry for the welfare of others, as well as clergymen who give much more than they receive. This is especially desirable in countries where the Gospel is preached for the first time, and Mr. Bowen of Bombay may be cited as an illustration of the conduct of the apostle: ‘His labours among the heathen are abundant, and they are emphatically labours of love, unrequited and unacknowledged by any earthly society, since he prefers to give his services without fee or reward; living upon a few rupees a month, and thereby removing one argument from the mouth of the heathen, who are slow to allow the disinterestedness of their religious teachers.'

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Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary (4 vols)

2 Thessalonians 3:9

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