9:22,23
“To the weak I became weak”. Some of the Corinthians wanted to demonstrate how clever or strong they were. We all need to beware of this tendency. He became “all things to all people”. This does not mean becoming a man pleaser, but avoiding unnecessary obstacles. His goal was to see as many as possible saved. He lived for the sake of the gospel. The Corinthians needed a change of heart.
9:24.25
Paul now gets to what, in a sense, is the nub of the matter. The Corinthians need to exercise self-discipline. We are saved purely by grace, but God creates and saves us as people with agency and responsibility. So, as Paul puts it here, we need to “run in such a way as to get the prize”. Paul likens the race to sporting events of the time. Anyone aiming to win the race goes into strict training. We know that in everyday life that if we want to achieve anything we have to work hard. The same applies to the Christian life, except that we are doing it for an eternal prize, not a mere temporal one.
9:26,27
Paul then speaks about making sure that his body does what it is supposed to. Given the situation in Corinth, sexual immorality may be one area where this is applied, but it applies much more generally. Following Christ is not a game, it is not something that we play at, but something that we take seriously. The race has eternal consequences for us and for others. This is not a matter of earning our salvation, but it is what God saved us for. We are born again. Onesimus, the runaway slave in Philemon, was once useless, but after coming to Christ he became useful. The same applies to us. Through the Holy Spirit we can do something useful with our lives.
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