1 Corinthians 9 - Introduction

IX.

The assertion in the last verse of 1 Corinthians 8 of his willingness to sacrifice for ever his own right to eat meat, about which he had himself no conscientious scruple, out of a tender regard to the spiritual welfare of others, seems to have reminded the Apostle that another act of self-sacrifice on his part had not only been unappreciated, but made the grounds of an unworthy attempt on the part of some (probably the Jewish Christians) to depreciate and even call in question his apostolic dignity and authority. At Corinth (Acts 18:3), and elsewhere (Acts 20:34, and 1 Thessalonians 3:7; 1 Thessalonians 3:9), the Apostle, instead of depending upon the Church for support, had laboured as a tent-maker. Cilicium, a kind of cloth used for tent-coverings, took its name from Cilicia, where the goats out of whose hair it was made were found in abundance; and the manufacture of it was naturally the handicraft which a native of Tarsus in Cilicia would, according to general custom, have learnt in his boyhood. The followers of St. Peter, with maliciously ingenious logic, argued from this practice of St. Paul’s that his dignity and authority were thereby proved to be somewhat inferior to that of St. Peter and the Lord’s brethren, who were supported by the Christian Church. It is to this subject the Apostle now turns, and the chapter (9) is occupied with his reply to their insinuations. If we remember that so long an epistle could not have been written at a single sitting, but probably occupied many days in its composition, such change in subject and style as we have an example of in the last verse of 1 Corinthians 8 and the first verse of this chapter, will not seem so abrupt and startling as at first sight they may appear. This chapter deals with its subject in a style eminently characteristic of the Apostle. While in the earlier part the style is argumentative, with here and there flashes of sarcasm or of passionate appeal, towards the end it is full of earnest and loving pathos. The subject of the entire chapter is “The vindication of his personal conduct as an Apostle,” and this is arranged in the following order: —

I.

1 Corinthians 9:1. THE ASSERTION OF HIS RIGHTS AS AN APOSTLE, AND HIS VOLUNTARY ABNEGATION OF THEM.

(1)

1 Corinthians 9:1. The assertion of his apostolic dignity.

(2)

1 Corinthians 9:4. The assertion of his right to be supported by the Church, and that he did not avail himself of it.

This right is maintained from the following considerations: —

(a)

1 Corinthians 9:4. The fact that others and their wives are so supported.

(b)

1 Corinthians 9:7. An appeal to the facts of ordinary life, illustrated by the cases of a soldier, a vine-keeper, and a shepherd.

(c)

1 Corinthians 9:8. A reference to the principles of Jewish law.

(d)

1 Corinthians 9:11. The treatment of other Christian teachers.

(e)

1 Corinthians 9:13. The support of the Jewish priesthood.

(f)

1 Corinthians 9:14. The command of Christ Himself.

(3)

1 Corinthians 9:15. The cause and motive of the Apostle’s voluntary abnegation of this right.

II.

1 Corinthians 9:19. IN OTHER MATTERS AS WELL AS IN THIS, THE APOSTLE WAS INFLUENCED BY A REGARD FOR OTHERS.

(1)

1 Corinthians 9:19. The various forms which this self-sacrifice assumed for their sakes.

(2)

1 Corinthians 9:22. The bearing of it on himself personally.