Outline:
V. Liberty in the Church (8:1-11:1)
Section 1: A Pattern of Self-Denial (vv. 1-18)
I like the way Matthew Henry explains this verses, so I will simply quote him:
It is not new for a minister to meet with unkind returns for good-will to a people, and diligent and successful services among them. To the cavils of some, the apostle answers, so as to set forth himself as an example of self-denial, for the good of others. He had a right to marry as well as other apostles, and to claim what was needful for his wife, and his children if he had any, from the churches, without labouring with his own hands to get it. Those who seek to do our souls good, should have food provided for them. But he renounced his right, rather than hinder his success by claiming it. It is the people’s duty to maintain their minister. He may wave his right, as Paul did; but those transgress a precept of Christ, who deny or withhold due support. (Matthew Henry’s Commentary)
Section 2: Serving All Men (vv. 19-23)
The latter part of verse 22 basically sums up this entire section:
I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
I kind of want to shy away from quoting other people as often as I do, but I found a John Piper sermon that deals with these verses, and there is a part of it that I would like to share.
In freedom, for love’s sake, you try to overcome unnecessary, alienating differences that cut you off from unbelievers. In freedom, for love’s sake, you learn the Maninka language and translate the Bible. In freedom, for love’s sake, you eat dinner together the way they eat dinner. In freedom, for love’s sake, you dress pretty much like the middle class American natives. In freedom, for love’s sake, you get into their politics and their sports and their businesses.
And all the while you keep a vigilant watch over your heart to see if you are in the law of Christ. Here are two tests of how you are doing in this delicate balancing act. I close with these:
- Are you becoming more worldly minded than they are becoming spiritually minded? If so, you have probably crossed the line of the law of Christ. Christ does not call you to lose your holiness, but to gain theirs.
- Is your passion for winning your friends and family growing, or is it shrinking as you become all things to them? If it is shrinking, then you are not in the law of Christ at that point.
Here is the sum of the matter: Christ died to set us free. Free from the wrath of God, and free from the loveless limits of the law. Free for love and eternal life. Are we using our freedom to make this good news plain? Or are we so separatistic that we have no connection with unbelievers; or are we so worldly they don’t know we have anything radically different to offer? (“Becoming All Things to All Men to Save Some”)
I think that last sentence is one that we really have to think about. Christians tend to either be on the separatistic side of the spectrum or on the way opposite side of the spectrum, which is worldliness. We either have our own little “Christian bubbles,” where we only associate with Christians and participate in Christian things, or we blend in so much with the world that no one can tell that there is something different about us. I think I fall more into the separatistic side of the spectrum. It is easy for me to fall into the “I read and pray everyday, listen to sermons, wear Christian T-shirts, and only listen to Christian music, so I’m a good Christian” mindset. Are those things good? Yes, definitely. However, being a Christian is so much more than that. We are called to “go… and make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19). We cannot do that if we stay in our “Christian bubble.” We have to go out and interact with the lost, or else we will not reach them, as we are called to do. We have to learn about those we are called to reach, so that we will most effectively be able to reach them. Really for me, I just need to go out and reach the lost period, as that is something that I have never done.
Section 3: Striving for a Crown (vv. 24-27)
As a sports fan, I really like and relate to these verses. I will go verse-by-verse explaining them.
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. (v. 24)
The runner who wins the race is going to be the one who trained arduously and gave every last ounce of effort during the race. The winner does not run half-heartedly, but runs with all the strength and energy that he or she has. To connect this to the Christian walk, we are to run hard, so to speak, and give it everything we have. There is so room for running a half-hearted lazy race. If we run in such a way, we might not finish the race and, therefore, not receive the prize—eternal life.
Let’s make it clear here that it is not our “running of the race” that saves us. If we do not finish the race, it is proof that we were never saved to begin with. Our “running zealously” is the proof that we are saved. Works do not save (Ephesians 2:8-9), but faith without works is dead (James 2:20). We are saved by faith, and our works prove that our faith is authentic.
And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. (v. 25)
We see here the importance of obtaining the prize, and again, how to obtain it. Runners compete for a prize that is perishable, but we “compete” for a prize that will never perish. How should we live in order to obtain this crown? With self-control. Again I will refer to a John Piper sermon that I found:
What Paul is saying here is that there are impulses that we have to control if we are going to run like a winner and receive the crown of righteousness. The impulses we have to control are the impulses to do things that will weaken our zeal for God: our earnestness in prayer, our hunger for Scripture, our longing to love, our passion for holiness.
The serious athlete doesn’t ask about how to just get by in his training. He asks about what will bring about maximum performance. So the mature Christian asks, what will make me most useful for the kingdom? What will stir up my zeal for God most? What will intensify my earnestness in prayer? What will trigger more hunger for God’s Word? What will strengthen my longing to love? What will fan the flames of my passion for holiness?
And then the Christian takes note of all the impulses and all the habits and practices of his life that weaken his zeal for God and his joy of faith, and he sets about to take control of them and put them out of his life. (“Olympic Spirituality, Part 2″)
And now onto verses 26 and 27, which show the severity of this self-control:
26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
In the interest of time, I will continue to quote from “Olympic Spirituality, Part 2″:
Here he could hardly be more out of sync with contemporary American life. ” . . . I box in such a way as not beating the air, but I buffet my body and make it my slave.” The body is not evil in itself. God created it. And he will raise it from the dead to exist forever. But the body is the base of operations for sin, and sin uses it to give rise to many impulses that are destructive to spiritual life.
Therefore Paul says that when he exercises self-control, it is like boxing, and the enemy to be struck is the body, and when he swings, he does not miss and hit the air. He connects, and pommels his body, and makes it his slave. He will not be mastered by the appetites and impulses and cravings and lethargy of the body. “The body is for the Lord” (1 Corinthians 6:13). So Paul means to make his body serve the glory of the Lord.
This is exactly the spirit of Jesus when he said, If your eye leads you to sin, pluck it out, or if your hand leads you to sin, cut it off. For it’s better to enter eternal life blind in one eye and maimed in one hand than to go to hell with both (Matthew 5:29–30). Paul said, It’s better to beat my body into submission than to be disqualified from the race.
Now gouging out the eye does not overcome lust, and cutting off the hand does not conquer theft or battery. The point is: fight these impulses with that kind of seriousness. Both Jesus and Paul mean: there are impulses that must be put to death. And the fight to put them to death is like a boxing match with direct blows to the face.
I will conclude by recommending the second sermon I quoted (I do not know about the first, as I barely looked at it), as the parts that I read were really good, and I like the ending of the sermon. Here is the link again: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByScripture/19/803_Olympic_Spirituality_Part_2/
Olympic Spirituality, Part 2
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