1 Corinthians
Chapter 9 – Christian liberty regarding service for Christ
9:10-11 – Paul mentions this again in the Epistle to the Galatians. If folk have given you spiritual blessings, spiritual riches, then you should share your carnal blessings with them. Suppose you go down to eat at a certain restaurant. You don’t walk down the street and around the corner into another restaurant to pay your bill; you pay the restaurant that fed you. Yet many people do that sort of thing with their spiritual food. They get their spiritual blessings in one place, and they give their offerings in another place.
9:16 – I understand Paul’s feeling. To be frank with you, necessity is laid on me also. I dare not stop giving out the Word of God. Of course, I would not lose my salvation if I stopped, but I continue because I feel an inner compulsion, and also I love to teach and preach the gospel.
9:25 – The awards that God gives won’t swell your bank account down here and remain here when you leave; they will be for your eternal enrichment.
9:27 – The translation “castaway” is unfortunate. The Greek word is adokimos, which means “not approved.” Paul is thinking of the judgment seat of Christ where the rewards are given. In his Second Epistle to the Corinthians he will talk about the fact that we shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ where awards are given. Paul says that he is out on that racetrack trying to run so that he will get a reward. That is the reason he preaches the gospel as he does. Paul has liberty. This is the choice that he has made.
I think every Christian ought to work for a reward. We do not work for salvation; that is a gift given by the grace of God. Brothers and Sisters, if you are going to get a reward, you will have to work for it. If you are going to get a reward, then you had better get out on the racetrack and start moving.