Lessons #275 and 276
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Defense of Paul’s apostleship and rights (1 Cor 9:1-14)
1Am 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 must work for a living? 7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk? 8 Do I say this merely from a human point of view? 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 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.
There is the question of how to interpret this ninth chapter of 1 Corinthians in relation to the previous chapter 8 or the following chapter 10 since there is no connective used in the beginning of the chapter to link it to the previous chapter. Thus, some take the position that the passage is a digression from the subject of food offered to idols of the previous chapter and of the tenth chapter. Others take the position that because of several vocabulary links, such as the words “free,” “right”, and “weak,” between the three chapters that the ninth chapter is to be understood as related both to the eighth and tenth chapters where chapter 9 helps to understand the key issued raised in the eighth chapter. We take the position that the ninth chapter is a digression to other subjects that in the end are necessary to assuage any surprise of some in Corinth regarding the apostle’s willingness to forgo his right to eat meat to help a weak believer. In effect, although the apostle digressed to different subjects that on the surface may not appear to relate to his messages of tempering knowledge with love in debatable subject matter and being cautious in the believer’s use of freedom in a way that would cause a weak believer to sin, but his digression is intended to support his messages of the previous chapter where a believer’s right should not trump over love for other believers.
Be that as it may, the section of 1 Corinthians 9:1-14 that we are about to consider is concerned with two major issues: Paul’s apostleship and his rights as an apostle. That his apostleship is a concern in this section is evident in his use of the words, “apostle” and “apostleship” in verse 2. The concern of his right deals with his right of support and right of marriage. That the apostle was concerned with his rights, is conveyed also in the words he used. According to the NIV, the apostle used the word “right” twice in this section. He used it first in connection with food and drink in verse 4 that speak to the apostle’s support since support in his time would come primarily in terms of the items mentioned in verse 4. The second usage of the word “right” is in verse 5 about the subject of marriage that others were involved but for which there is no indication that the apostle was involved.
The passage indicated that there were those in Corinth who levied charges against him concerning the two subjects of apostleship and specifically the right of support for him from the Corinthians. This might have been because the apostle began the epistle by referencing his apostolic authority in the first verse of the first chapter of his epistle. Furthermore, he has indicated in verse 16 of the fourth chapter that the Corinthians should imitate him. These two factors probably caused some to question his apostolic authority since they would not have considered him an apostle in the sense of the Twelve in Jerusalem. Thus, the apostle had to answer these critics in the section we are concerned. His answer to them is to be recognize as his defense to the charges connected to the two subject matters in the passage. This being the case, we can summarize the section before we begin its analysis. The apostle first defends his apostleship in verses 1 to 3. Although we have included verse 3 as part of his defense of his apostleship but most commentators do not. However, we did so to account for the verse that in a sense is the bridge between the two topics of the section we have before us. We will say more later about verse 3. The apostle’s defense of his apostleship is followed by his defense of his right to support and his right to marriage in verses 4 to 14. The apostle provided five assertions or declaration in support of his rights. His first assertion given in verses 4 to 6 is that he and Barnabas have the right of support and specifically himself of right of marriage as the other apostles and other gospel workers. His second assertion is that people get reward from their services as he argued in verses 7 to 10. His third assertion given in verses 11 and 12 is that his work in Corinth gives him more right of support by them than any other person. In verse 13, the apostle made the fourth assertion in support of his defense, which is that OT example indicates workers in the temple were supported by food brought to the temple. His fifth assertion given in verse 14 is that the Lord instructs support for gospel workers. We will deal with these assertions in detail at the appropriate time.
We have summarized the content of the passage before us as being concerned with the subject of Paul’s apostleship and rights. So, some of us may wonder what that has to do with us at the present time. This being the case, it is important for us to derive from the passage a message that is relevant to us. Based on the apostle’s defense provided in the passage we are studying; we derive a message we believe the Holy Spirit wants us to communicate to you. This message is that ministers of the gospel of Christ have the right of support from believers. This is a message that believers should take to heart since it implies that every believer should endeavor to support ministers of the gospel of Christ, especially those from whose ministry they benefit. I realize that some Christians think that ministers should fend for themselves. That kind of thinking is contrary to the Scripture. As we will note later in this study, the Lord’s instruction about the support of ministers of the gospel implies that a believer who does not support the ministry of God’s word is living in disobedience. Therefore, the message of this section obligates you to ensure that you support the ministry of the word of God. By the way, it is not the amount of the support that is an issue but the obedience of the instruction. That aside, we begin with the first subject of Apostle Paul’s defense of his apostleship given in verse 1 to 3.
Defense of Paul’s apostleship (1 Cor 9:1-3)
1Am 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.
This section contains four rhetorical questions the apostle fired in rapid successions; three of which convey there were those in Corinth that questioned if Paul was a legitimate apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. Later, we will deal with three questions that addressed the legitimacy of Paul’s apostleship, but we deal first with a question that is difficult to understand what was behind it. Before we do this, we should note that the four rhetorical questions are negative in form and so are equivalent to strong positive statements. This understanding is reflected in the translation of the CEV that reads I am free. I am an apostle. I have seen the Lord Jesus and have led you to have faith in him.
The question that is difficult to understand what is behind it is the first question of 1 Corinthians 9:1 Am I not free? The problem is with the word “free.” The word “free” is translated from a Greek adjective (eleutheros) that may mean “free” in the sense of not being bound socially and political and so opposite of being a slave as it is used by Apostle Paul to indicate that the Lord will reward believers for doing good, irrespective of their social standing in Ephesians 6:8:
because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
The word may mean “free” in the sense of not under control of someone or not under obligation to another as Apostle Paul used it to indicate that a woman is not under obligation of marriage law once the husband dies, as we read in Romans 7:3:
So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.
The sentence she is released from that law is literally she is free from the law. It is with the meaning “free” in the sense of not being under obligation or restrained and so able to act at will that the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 9:1.
The sense of the word “free” that we have given as not being under obligation or restrained and so able to act at will, raises a question as to what the apostle would have had in mind that caused him to write the first question to the Corinthians. There are at least three possible things the apostle could have had in mind. First, he could have had in mind that of freedom to eat any meat including the one offered in the temple of idols since he knew that idols are nothing. However, he did not use that freedom so not to confuse believers in Corinth to imply he saw nothing wrong with idolatry. Second, the apostle could mean that he is free to marry. We say this because it is our Greek word that the apostle used to describe the freedom a believing widow has to remarry as he stated in 1 Corinthians 7:39:
A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord.
Another reason it is possible the apostle had in mind the freedom to be married is his question in 1 Corinthians 9: 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? Third, the apostle could have had in mind the issue of being supported by the local church in Corinth or by the churches of Christ. As we have said, it is difficult to be certain which of these the apostle had in mind. However, judging that he did not pursue further the subject of marriage he raised in the passage we are considering, would indicate that that was not his concern since he mentioned it in passing as his first question was without elaboration. Consequently, it is probably the right to be supported as an apostle that he did not apply to the Corinthians that was in his mind.
Be that as it may, the primary concern of Paul in the passage we are studying was with those who questioned his apostleship. This we know because of the next question of the apostle in 1 Corinthians 9:1 Am I not an apostle? The question implies that there were some in Corinth that charged that he was not truly an apostle. So, what is it these individuals asserted Paul was not? To answer this, requires brief examination of the word “apostle.”
The word “apostle” is translated from a Greek word (apostolos) that generally pertains to messengers. Thus, it is used of messengers without extraordinary status hence means “delegate, envoy, messenger” as it is used in the Lord Jesus’ teaching recorded in John 13:16:
I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
The word may be used of messengers with extraordinary status, especially of God’s messenger or envoy so may mean “apostle.” Thus, in the NT, the word “apostle” is indeed used both in restricted and general senses. In a restricted sense, the word is used to refer to the twelve disciples of the Lord Jesus whom He chose from among His disciples and designated them with that title, as we read in Luke 6:13:
When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:
The apostles are often described as “the Twelve apostles.” In a general sense, the word apostle is used to describe a group of highly honored believers with a special function as God’s envoys. It is in this sense that Paul and Barnabas were described as apostles, as recorded in Acts 14:14:
But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting:
Paul and Barnabas were called apostles here certainly because the Holy Spirit sent them to their mission, as recorded in Acts 13:4:
The two of them [Barnabas and Saul i.e. Paul], sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 9:1, the word “apostle” is used in the sense of an envoy of the Lord Jesus Christ, commissioned directly by Him. Hence, Paul applied the word to himself to indicate that he was invested with the authority to speak on behalf of the Lord Jesus since He commissioned Paul to the preaching of the gospel as the apostle narrated and Luke recorded in Acts 26:15–16:
15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you.
Those in Corinth that questioned that Paul was an apostle probably were saying that he was not an apostle in the sense of Jesus Christ sending him to preach the gospel like the Twelve Apostles. Some of those in that congregation would have known that Paul was not among the original disciples of Jesus Christ. In fact, they knew that he was once a persecutor of the church of Christ as per his own testimony in his epistle to the Galatians in Galatians 1:22–24:
22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they praised God because of me.
Thus, it is entirely possible that some in the local church in Corinth knew of the previous activities of Paul in persecuting the church so they would question if he were truly an apostle. Of course, it is also possible that some knew that in his first missionary journey that he and Barnabas were sent out by the church in Antioch. This being the case, some of those in Corinth would contend that the church in Jerusalem even did not send him in his missionary activities so they questioned if he had the authority of a special envoy sent out by the Lord Jesus Christ to preach the gospel. This line of questioning of the authority of Paul as envoy of the Lord Jesus is reflected in the third question of 1 Corinthians 9:1.
The third question of Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:1 addressed his personal experience with the Lord Jesus. His question is Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? The word “seen” is translated from a Greek word (horaō) that may mean “to perceive” mentally or spiritually as the word is used to describe what Apostle Peter became aware about Simon the Sorcerer, as stated in Acts 8:23:
For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.
Peter did not just mean to see an object with the eyes. No! He meant he perceived the spiritual state of Simon as being filled with bitterness at the success of Philip’s preaching and the ability of the apostles to confer the Spirit. The word may mean “to see” in the sense of perceiving with the eyes as it is used to describe those who saw the Lord Jesus after His resurrection as Apostle Paul stated in Acts 13:31:
and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 9:1, the word is used in the sense of “to perceive by sight” to refer to the vision of the Lord Jesus Christ that Apostle Paul had on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians. Thus, the question of Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:1 Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? is intended to convey that he was commissioned by the Lord Jesus as His envoy to preach the gospel. The apostle had at some point indicated that although he had seen the Lord Jesus but his commission to be His envoy is also confirmed by Ananias, as we read in Acts 22:14–16:
14 “Then he said: ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. 15 You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’
The question of Paul of 1 Corinthians 9:1 Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? is intended not only to indicate that he was commissioned by the Lord Jesus but also to indicate that he met one of the conditions the Holy Spirit stated through Peter regarding one that is to be counted an apostle of Jesus Christ in the sense of the Twelve apostles as stated in Acts 1:21–22:
21Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
There are two conditions Apostle Peter stated regarding the person to fill the office that was occupied by Judas Iscariot. A first condition is that of being a disciple of Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry since there were other disciples of Jesus Christ other than the twelve that became His apostles to the Jews. This condition is derived from the phrase of Acts 1:22 beginning from John’s baptism. The second condition is that of having witnessed the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is implied in the clause to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. The only way a person could have met this condition is to have seen the resurrected Christ since resurrection preceded His ascension into heaven as that is what is implied in the verbal phrase was taken up from us. Furthermore, the second condition of having seen the resurrected Christ is confirmed in the function given in the expression must become a witness with us of his resurrection. Paul did not meet the first condition, but he met the second because the resurrected Lord Jesus appeared to him in a vision when he was on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians. He referenced this fact late in 1 Corinthians 15:8:
and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
Therefore, as we have concluded in a previous study, Paul was not the twelfth apostle. Nonetheless, he was an apostle in different class from the Twelve. He had two things in common with the Twelve. He saw the resurrected Jesus Christ in a vision although the Twelve saw Him literally after His resurrection. The Twelve were specially chosen by the Lord Jesus to be His apostles, so was Paul chosen as the Lord’s emissary and so an apostle. The point is that Paul probably used the question Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? to draw attention to the fact that He was an apostle although not necessary in terms of the Twelve but in the sense that the resurrected Lord Jesus commissioned him as an apostle as He did the Twelve. This being the case, the third question of 1 Corinthians 9:1 is intended to defend any criticism that Paul was not sent to the mission field as an envoy of Jesus Christ, that is, an apostle. This brings up to the fourth question that is part of his defense of his apostleship.
The fourth question of the apostle in 1 Corinthians 9:1 is Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? The question is intended to convey to the critics of the apostle in Corinth that the local church in Corinth exists because of his activity as an apostle that preached the gospel to them. This fact is reflected in the phrase the result of my work in the Lord. The expression “result of my work” is translated from a Greek word (ergon) that may mean “work” in the sense of that which one does as regular activity as Apostle Paul used it to describe the activity of Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:30:
because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me.
The word may mean “deed” as that which displays itself in activity of any kind as Apostle Paul used it to describe sinful activities that believers should reject in Romans 13:12:
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
The word may mean “product” or “undertaking” as that which is brought into being by work as it is used in the command of the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul in Romans 14:20:
Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.
The phrase the work of God is translated in the TEV as what God has done since the literal phrase the work of God refers probably to the church, which is the result of God’s work through Jesus Christ. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 9:1, the word means “work” in the sense of a product produced or accomplished through the effort or activity or agency of a person. Thus, the apostle implied in his fourth question that the Corinthian local church existed through his preaching. True, those in the local church in Corinth were the elect of God but they needed to hear the gospel to become saved since it is through the preaching of the gospel that people come to saving faith as the apostle indicated in Romans 10:17:
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
Anyway, the apostle’s third question to the Corinthians is simply to make the point that he functioned as an apostle in Corinth hence the founding of the local church in Corinth.
The founding of the church in Corinth was done through Jesus Christ. It is this fact the apostle recognized in the last phrase of 1 Corinthians 9:1 in the Lord. This phrase appears again in verse 2. However, its usage in verse 1 indicates that the result of the apostle’s ministry in Corinth was through Jesus Christ.
It is our assertion that the fourth question was intended to convey to the Corinthians that their local church was founded, and they are believers in Christ because of Paul’s ministry to them. So, to ensure that no one misses this point, the apostle puts an argument that Corinthians could not escape or have any adequate explanation. His argument is that other believers might not accept him as an apostle, but the Corinthians should because of his activity in preaching the gospel to them and founding of their church. The argument of the apostle to the Corinthians, specifically his critics, is given in a conditional clause of 1 Corinthians 9:2 Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you!
Apostle Paul did not deny that he was an apostle to other believers other than those in Corinth as the clause Even though I may not be an apostle to others may imply. For one thing, he recognized that he is the apostle to the Gentiles, as we read in Romans 11:13:
I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry
He made similar statement in Galatians 2:8:
For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles.
He, of course, recognized that he was commissioned by the Lord as an apostle because of the elect in various mission field he went as implied in what he wrote in Titus 1:1:
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness—
Therefore, when the apostle wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:2 Even though I may not be an apostle to others, he was merely assuming that some could think he was not an apostle to other Gentile local churches beside that in Corinth. Those who think that way would certainly be wrong but for the sake of what the apostle states in the rest of verse 2, he obliged those who think that way in order to refute their thought. It is because the translators of the NIV recognized the apostle was not stating something that could be construed as true that we have the clause of the NIV Even though I may not be an apostle to others that literal reads If to others I am not (an) apostle. The word “if” in the literal translation is translated from a Greek particle (ei) that may be used as a marker of a condition, real, hypothetical, actual, or contrary to fact. Here the apostle used it to present a hypothetical situation. He is an apostle to Gentiles as he was aware, implying that he could not have been an apostle only to the Corinthians but for the sake of the argument he was advancing, he assumed it to be true although that was not necessarily the case.
To convey that the apostle assumed something that was not the truth for the sake of his argument, the apostle stated that he was an apostle to the Corinthians as in the clause of 1 Corinthians 9:2 surely I am to you! Although the translators of the NIV used the word surely that indicates emphasis, but the apostle used a Greek particle (ge) that may be translated “indeed, surely” but it may be used for weak emphasis. Here, because of the hypothetical situation the apostle used in the beginning clause of the verse, it is probably better to use the meaning “at least” in the translation of the Greek particle. The point is that the apostle would be saying if he were not considered an apostle by others which, of course, is not true but at least for the Corinthians he ought to be considered an apostle. The particle is thus the means that the apostle in effect stated that he was sure he is an apostle to the Corinthians.
The apostle was not making a flimsy claim of being an apostle to the Corinthians. Therefore, he justified his claim by referencing the spiritual status of the Corinthians as the confirmation of his apostleship as we read in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 9:2 For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
The apostle described the Corinthians with the phrase the seal of my apostleship. What is it that the apostle meant in this description? To begin with, the word “seal” is translated from a Greek word (sphragis) that may mean “inscription” as the impression made by a signet as the word is used in 2 Timothy 2:19:
Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”
The word may mean “seal, signet” that refers to “an engraved object used to make a mark denoting ownership, approval, or closure of something (normally done by pressing into heated wax and usually attached to a document or letter)” as it is used in Revelation 7:2:
Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea:
Although the word may be translated “seal” it may refer to “that which confirms or authenticates hence may mean attestation, confirmation, certification” as it is used in relation to the significance of Abraham’s circumcision in Romans 4:11:
And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.
The phrase a seal of the righteousness is translated in the REB as hallmark of that righteousness while the NCV translated it as to show that he was right with God. Thus, “seal” in this passage of Romans 4:11 may be interpreted as “something that confirms.” In our passage of 1 Corinthians 9:2, the word means “seal” in the sense of “indication” or “a confirmation, proof, or authentication of a status.” Thus, the phrase of 1 Corinthians 9:2 the seal of my apostleship may read as the confirmation of my apostleship.
The word “apostleship” that is translated from a Greek word (apostolē) appears four times in the Greek NT; it refers to the office of one who has been commissioned and sent as a special messenger hence means “office of an apostle, apostleship” as that is the sense of the word in Galatians 2:8:
For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles.
The phrase my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles is more literally apostleship to the circumcision. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 9:2, it is used in the sense of “the office of an apostle,” that is, the office of an envoy that was directly commissioned by the Lord Jesus.
Based on the meanings of the Greek words we considered and the Greek syntax, when the apostle described the Corinthians in the phrase the seal of my apostleship, he meant that they are those who confirm or authenticate his office as an apostle of Jesus Christ. That the Corinthians are saved confirms that the apostle had carried out his function as an apostle of Jesus Christ since the Lord commissioned him to lead those in spiritual darkness to light as he stated in Acts 26:17–18:
17I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
The confirmation of the office of Paul as an apostle by the Corinthians is related to Jesus Christ as in the last phrase of 1 Corinthians 9:2 in the Lord. The word Lord refers to Jesus Christ. The phrase in the Lord is subject to three different interpretations because of the possible meanings of the Greek preposition (en) used. It could be interpreted to mean “in the sphere of the Lord,” implying that the office of an apostle held by Paul exists in the sphere of Christ. Another possible interpretation of the Greek phrase is to read the phrases as “by the Lord,” implying that the office of an apostle that Paul occupied was the one appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ. Still another interpretation is to read the Greek phrase as “because of the Lord.” This reading implies that Paul occupies the office of an apostle because of the Lord Jesus Christ. All three interpretations make sense and state things that are true regarding the office of an apostle of Jesus Christ. This may be a case where the Holy Spirit wants us to recognize that Paul occupied the office of an apostle in the sphere of the Christian community since he was appointed to that office by the Lord Jesus Christ and because Jesus Christ called him. This should, of course, remind us that those who are pastors of local churches, that can be truly called the church of Christ, occupy that office in the community of believers because of Jesus Christ gave them that office. It is true that the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul indicates that individuals may desire the office of pastor or overseer as we read in 1 Timothy 3:1:
Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task.
However, we should recognize that such a desire to occupy the office of an overseer or a pastor if it is not because of human arrogance of wanting to be in such a position or not because one wants to follow in the footsteps of the father should be recognized as part of the Lord working in a person to desire to do His will as stated in Philippians 2:13:
for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
This aside, every pastor should recognize that the office he occupies is because of the Lord and that the Lord appointed him to it. Therefore, he would be held responsible by the Lord for how he functions in that office. This should not be surprising to you since everyone that is a teacher of the word of God would be held accountable before the Lord, as implied in James 3:1:
Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
Be that as it may, there is one more fact that we need to consider about the phrase Apostle Paul used in 1 Corinthians 9:2 in the Lord. It is that in this passage, the apostle used the phrase to convey the deity of Jesus Christ. This is because when the apostle considered his commission as an apostle who was sent to preach the gospel, he would be thinking of God who called him. The apostle described his commission as coming from Jesus Christ and God the Father as we read, for example, in Galatians 1:1:
Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—
The apostle later in the same epistle indicated that God called him to preach the gospel, as we read in Galatians 1:15–16:
15 But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man,
Apostle Paul was called by the Lord Jesus Christ when he was on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians, so he must have recognized Christ as God. Of course, he described the One who called him as God in Titus 1:3:
and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,
When the apostle used the phrase God our Savior, he must mean Jesus Christ since later in the same epistle he clearly described Jesus Christ as God in Titus 2:13:
while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
Anyway, the point is that when Paul wrote the phrase of 1 Corinthians 9:2, the context implies that he recognized the deity of Jesus Christ in the phrase in the Lord.
The apostle through the three questions of verse 2 defended his apostleship. His defense consists of two facts. He saw the resurrected Christ and the Corinthians are the confirmation of his apostleship. Following this, the apostle makes a reference to his defense of his apostleship in what he stated in 1 Corinthians 9:3. This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me.
There is the problem of how we should interpret verse 3. Is the apostle speaking of only what he had already written in the first two verses or does he include what he was to write beginning in verse 4? The question is tantamount to how we should understand the demonstrative pronoun this in verse 3. It could refer to what preceded or what follows. It is likely that the apostle wrote verse 3 as a bridge between the two issues that are the concern of the passage of 1 Corinthians 9:1-14. This means that the pronoun this refers both to what has already been written and what the apostle is yet to write beginning in verse 4. This makes sense because of two key words used in the Greek text.
The first key word is the word “defense” that is translated from a Greek word (apologia) that may mean “defense” as the content of what is said in answer or reply to an accusation that is presumed to be false, as the word is used when Apostle Paul responded to the Jewish accusations levied against him in Acts 22:1:
“Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.”
The word may mean “defense” as the act of making a defense in court as Apostle Paul used it to refer to his appearance in court in Rome in 2 Timothy 4:16:
At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.
The word may mean “defense” in a general sense of making a case for a position or truth as it is used in the responsibility expected of believers about defending their faith in 1 Peter 3:15:
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 9:3, the word means “defense” in the sense of “a statement (in written form) that is made to reply to an accusation.”
The second key word in the Greek of 1 Corinthians 9:3 is translated in the NIV with the clause who sit in judgment. The expression “who sit in judgment” is translated from a Greek word (anakrinō) that may mean “to examine” in the sense of conducting a judicial hearing so means “to hear a case” as Pilate used it to describe his judicial investigation regarding accusations of the Jews against Jesus Christ as narrated in Luke 23:14:
and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him.
The word may mean to engage in careful study of a question hence “to examine, question” as it is used to describe the activities of the Bereans who examined the Scripture after Apostle Paul preached in their city, as recorded in Acts 17:11:
Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
The meaning of the Greek word of “to question” is used by Apostle Paul regarding eating of meat in the house of an unbeliever that invites a believer to a meal, as in 1 Corinthians 10:27:
If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience.
The verbal phrase without raising questions is literally questioning nothing. The word may mean to examine with the view of finding fault and so means “to judge, call to account, discern” as it is used in 1 Corinthians 14:24:
But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all,
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 9:3, it has the meaning of “to question” or “to examine closely and thoroughly.”
The two Greek words demand the interpretation that the pronoun this in 1 Corinthian 9:3 refers to what preceded and what follows. Although there is no strict sentence order in the Greek, the fact the demonstrative pronoun was the last Greek word in verse 3 was probably because the apostle was thinking of what he wrote previously and what he was about to write. Those in Corinth who were involved in questioning the apostle, questioned not just his credential as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ but his right to be supported as the other apostles. It is for this reason that we contend that the apostle meant for us to understand verse 3 as a bridge that connects the two issues of his defense.
The approach of Apostle in defending his apostleship has application first to pastors and then to all believers. Pastors who face situation where the congregation questions the authenticity of their ministry among them should labor to teach the word of God to impact the congregation. So, if anyone is inclined to question his authenticity, he just have to point to the impact of the word of God in the lives of people in the congregation that he pastors. The application of the apostle’s defense to every believer is this. If people doubt the authenticity of your claim as a Christian then silence them by pointing to your lifestyle. Of course, if your lifestyle does not agree with what you proclaim you will have problem doing this. Anyway, let remind you of the message of the section we are expounding which is Ministers of the gospel of Christ have the right of support from believers.
12/18//20