1 Corinthian (Class Version)

Chapter 9

1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?

2 Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

3 This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me.

4 Don't we have the right to food and drink?

5 Don't we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas?

6 Or is it only I and Barnabas who work for a living?

7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk?

8 Do I say this merely from a human? Doesn't the Law say the same thing?

9 For it is written in the Law of Moses: "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." Is it about oxen that God is concerned?

10 Surely he says this for us, doesn't he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.

11 If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?

12 If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.

13 Don't you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar?

14 In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

15 But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast.

16 Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

17 If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.

18 What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights in preaching it.

What is Paul's purpose in this segment? Is he defending his apostleship? Is he trying to raise support from the Corinthians?

He's not defending his apostleship and he's not trying to raise support. He is declaring his rights as an apostle in order to set the example for them of what it means to lay down our rights for the sake of others.

Notice v.4-5 – when Paul asks the question about the right to eat and drink he doesn't just mean in general, but he is saying that he has the right to receive support from the Corinthian Believers so that he can eat and drink also, none of the Believers were challenging Paul's right to have a wife, but if he did have a wife then his support needs would go up – thus, what he's asking is, "don't I have the right to take a wife knowing that the church will support the both of us?". These are rhetorical questions that have an obvious answer: yes, he has the right

As Paul continues on (v.7-12) he asks 9 questions – most of these questions are illustrations for the same point: that he has the right to be supported by them – notice: a soldier is paid to serve in the military – a farmer receives support from his plants and animal.