For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.
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1 Corinthians 9:19-22 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus Christ, our Lord? Aren’t you my work in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, yet at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. My defense to those who examine me is this: Have we no right to eat and to drink? Have we no right to take along a wife who is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? Or have only Barnabas and I no right to not work? What soldier ever serves at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard, and doesn’t eat of its fruit? Or who feeds a flock, and doesn’t drink from the flock’s milk? Do I speak these things according to the ways of men? Or doesn’t the law also say the same thing? For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it for the oxen that God cares, or does he say it assuredly for our sake? Yes, it was written for our sake, because he who plows ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should partake of his hope. If we sowed to you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we reap your fleshly things? If others partake of this right over you, don’t we yet more? Nevertheless we didn’t use this right, but we bear all things, that we may cause no hindrance to the Good News of Christ. Don’t you know that those who serve around sacred things eat from the things of the temple, and those who wait on the altar have their portion with the altar? Even so the Lord ordained that those who proclaim the Good News should live from the Good News. But I have used none of these things, and I don’t write these things that it may be done so in my case; for I would rather die, than that anyone should make my boasting void. For if I preach the Good News, I have nothing to boast about; for necessity is laid on me; but woe is to me if I don’t preach the Good News. For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. What then is my reward? That when I preach the Good News, I may present the Good News of Christ without charge, so as not to abuse my authority in the Good News. For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. Now I do this for the sake of the Good News, that I may be a joint partaker of it. Don’t you know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run like that, that you may win. Every man who strives in the games exercises self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore run like that, not aimlessly. I fight like that, not beating the air, but I beat my body and bring it into submission, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.
Parallel Translations
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For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more.
To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those who are under the law;
to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law.
To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.
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For though I be fre from all men yet have I made my silfe servaunt vnto all men that I myght wynne the moo.
Vnto the Iewes I became as a Iewe to winne the Iewes. To the that were vnder the lawe was I made as though I had bene vnder the lawe to wynne the that were vnder the lawe.
To them that were without lawe became I as though I had bene without lawe (when I was not without lawe as perteyninge to god but vnder a lawe as concerninge Christ) to wynne the that were without lawe.
To the weake became I as weake to wynne the weake. In all thinge I fassioned my silfe to all men to save at the lest waye some.
Show all 3 translations
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For though I bee free from all men, yet haue I made my selfe seruant vnto all men, that I might winne the moe.
And vnto the Iewes, I become as a Iewe, that I may winne the Iewes: to them that are vnder the Lawe, as though I were vnder the Lawe, that I may winne them that are vnder the Lawe:
To them that are without Lawe, as though I were without Lawe, (when I am not without Lawe as pertaining to God, but am in the Lawe through Christ) that I may winne them that are without Lawe:
To the weake I become as weake, that I may winne the weake: I am made all thinges to all men, that I might by all meanes saue some.
Cross-references (55)
- 1 Corinthians 10:33 (vv19, 22) even as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved.
- Galatians 5:13 (v19) For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don’t use your freedom for gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another.
- Romans 15:1 (v22) Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
- Acts 16:3 (v20) Paul wanted to have him go out with him, and he took and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts; for they all knew…
- 1 Corinthians 9:19 (v22) For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more.
Show all 52 cross-references
- Matthew 18:15 (v19) “If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your…
- Romans 2:12 (v21) For as many as have sinned without the law will also perish without the law. As many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
- Romans 11:14 (vv20, 22) if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh, and may save some of them.
- Romans 2:14 (v21) (for when Gentiles who don’t have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves,
- Galatians 3:2 (v21) I just want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith?
- Galatians 5:18 (v20) But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
- James 5:19-20 (v19) Brothers, if any among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his…
- Matthew 20:26-28 (v19) It shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. Whoever desires to be first among you…
- 1 Timothy 4:16 (v19) Pay attention to yourself and to your teaching. Continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear…
- Matthew 5:17-20 (v21) “Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill. For most certainly, I tell you,…
- 1 Corinthians 7:19-22 (v21) Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God. Let each man stay in that calling in…
- 1 Corinthians 9:20-22 (v19) To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those who are…
- Galatians 6:1 (v22) Brothers, even if a man is caught in some fault, you who are spiritual must restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to…
- 2 Timothy 2:10 (v19) Therefore I endure all things for the chosen ones’ sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal…
- Acts 21:20-26 (v20) They, when they heard it, glorified God. They said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have…
- Romans 15:2 (v19) Let each one of us please his neighbor for that which is good, to be building him up.
- 2 Corinthians 4:5 (v19) For we don’t preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake,
- Proverbs 11:30 (v19) The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. He who is wise wins souls.
- John 13:14-15 (v19) If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example,…
- Acts 17:2-3 (v20) Paul, as was his custom, went in to them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating…
- Romans 1:14 (v19) I am debtor both to Greeks and to foreigners, both to the wise and to the foolish.
- 1 Corinthians 8:13 (v22) Therefore if food causes my brother to stumble, I will eat no meat forever more, that I don’t cause my brother to stumble.
- 1 Corinthians 9:1 (v19) Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus Christ, our Lord? Aren’t you my work in the Lord?
- Titus 2:2-12 (v21) that older men should be temperate, sensible, sober minded, sound in faith, in love, and in perseverance: and that older women likewise be…
- 1 Peter 3:1 (v19) In the same way, wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; so that, even if any don’t obey the Word, they may be won by the behavior of…
- Psalms 119:32 (v21) I run in the path of your commandments, for you have set my heart free.
- Acts 16:4 (v21) As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered the decrees to them to keep which had been ordained by the apostles and elders…
- Acts 18:18 (v20) Paul, having stayed after this many more days, took his leave of the brothers, and sailed from there for Syria, together with Priscilla and…
- Romans 3:19 (v20) Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world…
- Romans 6:14-15 (v20) For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law,…
- Romans 7:22 (v21) For I delight in God’s law after the inward man,
- Romans 7:25 (v21) I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! So then with the mind, I myself serve God’s law, but with the flesh, sin’s law.
- Romans 8:4 (v21) that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
- Romans 13:8-10 (v21) Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not…
- Galatians 2:3-4 (v21) But not even Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. This was because of the false brothers secretly…
- Galatians 2:12-14 (v21) For before some people came from James, he ate with the Gentiles. But when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing those who…
- Galatians 4:5 (v20) that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children.
- Galatians 4:21 (v20) Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, don’t you listen to the law?
- Galatians 5:1 (v19) Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and don’t be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
- Galatians 5:13-14 (v21) For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don’t use your freedom for gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another.…
- Galatians 5:22-23 (v21) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things…
- Ephesians 6:1-3 (v21) Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with a promise:…
- 1 Thessalonians 4:1-2 (v21) Finally then, brothers, we beg and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, that…
- 1 Corinthians 7:16 (vv19, 22) For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
- Acts 15:28 (v21) For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay no greater burden on you than these necessary things:
- Acts 21:25 (v21) But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written our decision that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep…
- Hebrews 8:10 (v21) “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days,” says the Lord; “I will put my laws into their mind,…
52 distinct cross-references across this passage (55 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (26 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv19, 21, 22 19. Though I was free from all. Εκ πάντων,…
19. Though I was free from all. Εκ πάντων, that is, from all, may be taken either in the neuter gender or in the masculine. If in the neuter, it will refer to things; if in the masculine, to persons I prefer the second He has as yet shown only by one particular instance how carefully he had accommodated himself to the weak. Now he subjoins a general statement, and afterwards enumerates several instances. The general observation is this — that while he was not under the power of any one, he lived as if he had been subject to the inclination of all, and of his own accord subjected himself to the weak, to whom he was under no subjection. The particular instances are these — that among the Gentiles he lived as if he were a Gentile, and among the Jews he acted as a Jew: that is, while among Jews he carefully observed the ceremonies of the law, he was no less careful not to give occasion of offense to the Gentiles by the observance of them.
He adds the particle as, to intimate that his liberty was not at all impaired on that account, for, however he might accommodate himself to men, he nevertheless remained always like himself inwardly in the sight of God. To become all things is to assume all appearances, as the case may require, or to put on different characters, according to the diversity among individuals. As to what he says respecting his being without law and under the law, you must understand it simply in reference to the ceremonial department; for the department connected with morals was common to Jews and Gentiles alike, and it would not have been allowable for Paul to gratify men to that extent. For this doctrine holds good only as to things indifferent, as has been previously remarked.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv20, 22 The word (Law) in this place, must be restrained…
The word (Law) in this place, must be restrained to the ceremonial Law.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv19–22 19 For though I be free from all men,…
19 For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
Ver. 19. That I may gain the more] The Greek word for gain signifieth also the joy and delight of the heart in gaining. It signifies also craft or guile, such as is that of the fox; which when he is very hungry after prey, and can find none, he lieth down and feigneth himself to be a dead carcase, and so the fowls fall upon him, and then he catcheth them. So must a minister deny himself to gain his hearers. κερδος because κεαρ ηδει
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv19–22 For though I be free from all men; the…
For though I be free from all men; the word men is not in the Greek, but is supplied by our interpreters. Some make things the substantive, and restrain it to the things of the ceremonial law. It may be understood both of men and things; he was born no man’s servant, nor by God’s law made a servant to any men’s humours, and as free as to many other things, as he was to have taken maintenance of the churches, for the pains he bestowed amongst them.
Yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more; yet (saith he) observe my practice, that I might gain men to Christ, (so the apostle several times calleth converting souls, bringing them in love with the gospel, and into a road that may bring them to heaven, which we ought to account the greatest gain in the world, as it appeareth from Dan 12:3), I have become, or made myself, the servant of all; not the servants of their lusts and corruptions, (that is the way to lose men’s souls, and destroy them, not to gain them), but a servant to their weaknesses and infirmities, so far as they were not sinful: I have denied myself in my liberty, and determined myself to that part in my actions, which I saw would most oblige, profit, and endear them to me, and to bring them more in love with the gospel.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v19 In these verses our apostle proceeds to show the…
In these verses our apostle proceeds to show the Corinthians farther, how mightily he did abridge himself of his Christian liberty, which was the argument he was insisting upon.
For, says he, though I be free from all men, as being a servant to none, yet have I made myself as a servant to all, that I might gain the more to embrace the gospel.
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To the unconverted Jews he became as a Jew, circumcising Timothy for their sakes, Act 16:3 that he might gain the Jews.
To them who in their opinion were yet under the obligation of the ceremonial law, he carried himself as a person under that law, and accordingly he purified himself in the temple, Act 21:26.
To them that were without law, that is, the Gentiles, who were without the ceremonial law, he became as a person without law, abstaining from the use of all ceremonies as they did.
But yet, not being without law of God, but under the law of Christ; that is, as to the moral law of God, which was not abolished, but reinforced by Christ he did never account himself free from that, nor durst do any thing contrary to the eternal rule of righteousness; and all this, that he might gain them that are without law.
To the weak converts, either among Jews or Gentiles, he became as weak, by abstaining from what might hurt their weak consciences, that so he might gain the weak.
Finally, he became all things to all men, by compliance with them in all lawful and indifferent things, that he might gain as many as possibly he could.
And all this he did for the gospel’s sake, that the gospel might be the better esteemed, and farther propagated, and he might himself partake of the promises and rewards of it, together with them to whom he preached it, and had effectually entertained it.
Behold here the humility and charity of this great apostle; his ready condescension to the pitiable weaknesses of all men; his compliance with them in all lawful and indifferent things, for the glory of God, and the advantage of the gospel: a rare and singular pattern for all ministers and private Christians to imitate and follow.
Now from this example of St. Paul’s becoming all things to all men, and making himself a servant unto all,
we learn, 1. One great duty of a gospel minister is not to be a slave to any, but a servant to all; not a servant to their lusts, but to their weaknesses and infirmities.
Our apostle did not turn, as the flattering and false apostles did, with the tide and times, nor conform to them in what was sinful. He did not symbolize with all colours; nor was he a man for all hours or humours; For, says he, if I please men, (he means in any thing that is sinful) I am no more the servant of Christ, Gal 1:10. But wisely considering the case and state of all men, he did accommodate his ministry for the gaining of as many as possibly he could.
Some are all things to all men, that they may gain by all; a spirit not only unworthy of a minister, but of a man. But St. Paul complied with all men, and made himself the servant of all, that Christ might thereby gain, his gospel gain, yea, and they themselves gain; which hints to us
a second observation, The great end which the holy apostle aimed at, in this his compliance with, and condescension towards, the weaknesses of his people: This I do for the gospel’s sake.
As if he had said, "Though I thus stoop and yield to all men, it is to serve my Master, not myself. Think not that I thus put myself into all forms towards men for my own preferment in the world; but that Christ may be preferred in the hearts and acceptations of all men.
I please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved." 1Co 10:33.
Behold here the noble mark which this minister of Christ had in his eye, the saving of souls. That he might hit it, he wisely observed the temper and state of his people, striving to render himself agreeable and acceptable unto all, that he might by all means save some; yet had he also an eye to himself in all this; he had respect to the recompence of reward, as lawfully he might.
This I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker thereof with you; that is, that I may have a share myself in the promised rewards of the gospel which I have preached to you.
Blessed be God, it is lawful for all the ministers and members of Christ to do good out of hope of reward; and that his glory and our own happiness are so inseparably connected and knit together, that by promoting the former we secure the latter.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v19 The apostle takes occasion from what he had before…
The apostle takes occasion from what he had before discoursed to mention some other instances of his self-denial and parting with his liberty for the benefit of others.
I. He asserts his liberty (Co1 9:19): Though I be free from all men. He was free-born, a citizen of Rome. He was in bondage to none, nor depended upon any for his subsistence; yet he made himself a servant to all, that he might gain the more. He behaved as a servant; he laboured for their good as a servant; he was careful to please, as a servant to his master; he acted in many cases as if he had no privileges; and this that he might gain the more, or make the more converts to Christianity. He made himself a servant, that they might be made free.
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II. He specifies some particulars wherein he made himself a servant to all. He accommodated himself to all sorts of people. 1. To the Jews, and those under the law, he became a Jew, and as under the law, to gain them. Though he looked on the ceremonial law as a yoke taken off by Christ, yet in many instances he submitted to it, that he might work upon the Jews, remove their prejudices, prevail with them to hear the gospel, and win them over to Christ. 2. To those that are without the law as without law that is, to the Gentiles, whether converted to the Christian faith or not. In innocent things he could comply with people's usages or humours for their advantage. He would reason with the philosophers in their own way. And, as to converted Gentiles, he behaved among them as one that was not under the bondage of the Jewish laws, as he had asserted and maintained concerning them, though he did not act as a lawless person, but as one who was bound by the laws of Christ. He would transgress no laws of Christ to please or humour any man; but he would accommodate himself to all men, where he might do it lawfully, to gain some. Paul was the apostle of the Gentiles, and so, one would have thought, might have excused himself from complying with the Jews; and yet, to do them good, and win them over to Christ, he did, in innocent things, neglect the power he had to do otherwise, and conformed to some of their usages and laws. And though he might, by virtue of that character, have challenged authority over the Gentiles, yet he accommodated himself, as much as he innocently might, to their prejudices and ways of thinking. Doing good was the study and business of his life; and, so that he might reach this end, he did not stand on privileges and punctilios. 3. To the weak he became as weak, that he might gain the weak, Co1 9:22. He was willing to make the best of them. He did not despise nor judge them, but became as one of them, forbore to use his liberty for their sake, and was careful to lay no stumbling-block in their way. Where any, through the weakness of their understanding, or the strength of their prejudices, were likely to fall into sin, or fall off from the gospel into heathen idolatry, through his use of his liberty, he refrained himself. He denied himself for their sakes, that he might insinuate into their affections, and gain their souls. In short, he became all things to all men, that he might by all means (all lawful means) gain some. He would not sin against God to save the soul of his neighbour, but he would very cheerfully and readily deny himself. The rights of God he could not give up, but he might resign his own, and he very often did so for the good of others.
III. He assigns his reason for acting in this manner (Co1 9:23): This I do for the gospel's sake, and that I may be partaker thereof with you; that is, for the honour of Christ, whose the gospel is, and for the salvation of souls, for which it was designed, and that he and they might communicate in the privileges of it, or partake together of them. For these ends did he thus condescend, deny himself as to his liberty, and accommodate himself to the capacities and usages of those with whom he had to do, where he lawfully might. Note, A heart warmed with zeal for God, and breathing after the salvation of men, will not plead and insist upon rights and privileges in bar to this design. Those manifestly abuse their power in the gospel who employ it not to edification but destruction, and therefore breathe nothing of its spirit.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv19–22 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew,....…
And unto the Jews I became as a Jew,.... That is, in religion; or with respect to some religious observances peculiar to the Jews, for he himself was really a Jew by nature; who became as one unto them in this sense, when he for their sakes circumcised Timothy at Derbe, or Lystra, purified himself at Jerusalem, shaved his head at Cenchrea, observed their sabbath, and abstained from some sorts of food forbidden in the law; and his end in so doing was, not to confirm them in such usages, but that he might hereby have the greater influence over them, and by little and little bring them off of these things, or, as he says,
that I might gain the Jews; bring them over to Christ, and off of a dependence on their own righteousness, for justification before God:
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to them that are under the law, as under the law; the Vulgate Latin version adds, "when I was not under the law", and so the Alexandrian copy and some others; by whom seem to be meant the same persons as before; though some have thought that the Samaritans are intended, and others the Sadducees: but if any as distinct from the former are designed, they should rather seem to be the converted Jews; who though they believed in Christ, looked upon themselves to be still under the law, and therefore observed it; with whom the apostle on certain occasions complied, as if he was under it too, that he might have the greater share in their affections and credit; hoping in time that by such means he might be able to prevail upon them to relinquish these things, and wholly attend to the Gospel and ordinances of Christ, or, as he says,
that I might gain them that are under the law; meaning the Jews, who were observers of the law of Moses.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv19–22 I made myself the servant of all - I…
I made myself the servant of all - I acted with as self-denying a regard to their interest, and as much caution not to offend them, as if I had been literally their servant or slave. Where is the preacher of the gospel who treads in the same steps?
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv19–22 Verse 19. For though I be free] Although I…
Verse 19. For though I be free] Although I am under no obligation to any man, yet I act as if every individual had a particular property in me, and as if I were the slave of the public.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv19–20 1Co 9:19. For though I be free from all…
1Co 9:19. For though I be free from all men — Not bound to do that which seems unlawful, inconvenient, or disadvantageous to myself, to please any man; yet have I made myself a servant unto all — Addicting myself to the most fatiguing duties, that I might advance their happiness; or complying with the persuasions and inclinations of others in things indifferent. The original expression, εμαυτον εδουλωσα, is literally, I have enslaved myself to all; an expression peculiarly beautiful and proper as used here by the apostle. “Slaves wrought for their masters without hire, and were careful to comply with their humours. And the apostle, while preaching the gospel, reduced himself to the condition of a slave, both by serving all men without hire, nay, without requiring a maintenance from them, and by complying with their prejudices in all cases wherein he could do it without sin.” In other words, he acted with as self-denying a regard to their interests, and as much caution not to offend them, as if he had been absolutely in their power, as a slave is in that of his master. Where is the preacher of the gospel who treads in the same steps? That I might gain the more — To true religion and salvation; in which, as he might have added, I have found a noble equivalent for all I could do or bear. By the word κερδησω, translated I might gain, the apostle intimates, that his converting men to Christ was a part of the gain or hire, which he proposed to obtain by preaching the gospel.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv19–22 For though I be free - I am a…
For though I be free - I am a freeman. I am under obligation to none. I am not bound to. give them my labors, and at the same time to toil for my own support. I have claims like others, and could urge them; and no man could demand that I should give myself to a life of servitude, and comply with their prejudices and wishes, as if I were a “slave,” in order to their conversion; compare 1Co 9:1; see the notes at 1Co 6:12.
From all men - (ἐκ πάντων ek pantōn). This may either refer to all “persons” or to all “things.” The word “men” is not in the original. The connection, however, seems to fix the signification to “persons.” “I am a freeman. And although I have conducted like a slave, yet it has been done voluntarily.”
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I have made myself the servant of all - Greek, “I have ‘enslaved myself’ (ἐμαυτὸν ἐδούλωσα emauton edoulōsa) unto all.” That is:
(1) I labor for them, or in their service, and to promote their welfare.
(2) I do it, as the slave does, without reward or hire. I am not paid for it, but submit to the toil, and do it without receiving pay.
(3) Like the slave who wishes to gratify his master, or who is compelled from the necessity of the case, I comply with the prejudices, habits, customs, and opinions of others as far as I can with a good conscience. The “slave” is subject to the master’s will. That will must be obeyed. The whims, prejudices, caprices of the master must be submitted to, even if they are “mere” caprice, and wholly unreasonable. So Paul says that he had voluntarily put himself into this condition, a condition making it necessary for him to suit himself to the opinions, prejudices, caprices, and feelings of all people, so far as he could do it with a good conscience, in order that he might save them. We are not to understand here that Paul embraced any opinions which were false in order to do this, or that he submitted to anything which is morally wrong. But he complied with their customs, and habits, and feelings, as far as it could lawfully be done. He did not needlessly offend them, or run counter to their prejudices.
That I might gain the more - That I might gain more to Christ; that I might be the means of saving more souls. What a noble instance of self-denial and true greatness is here! How worthy of religion! How elevated the conduct! How magnanimous, and how benevolent! No man would do this who had not a greatness of intellect that would rise above narrow prejudices; and who had not a nobleness of heart that would seek at personal sacrifice the happiness of all people. It is said that not a few early Christians, in illustration of this principle of conduct, actually sold themselves into slavery in order that they might have access to and benefit slaves, an act to which nothing would prompt a man but the religion of the cross; compare the note at Rom 1:14.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv19–21 Free as to all. That is, whereas I was…
Free as to all. That is, whereas I was under no obligation to any man, yet I made myself the servant of all, &c. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv19–22 free from all men--that is, from the power of…
free from all men--that is, from the power of all men.
gain the more--that is, as many of them ("all men") as possible. "Gain" is an appropriate expression in relation to a "reward" (Th1 2:19-20); he therefore repeats it frequently (Co1 9:20-22).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv19–22 19. Free… made myself servant—Greek, εμαυτον εδουλωσα. Free from…
19. Free… made myself servant—Greek, εμαυτον εδουλωσα. Free from all, I have enslaved myself to all, is his terse, antithetic language. It presents his independence of soul and body by nature; the enslavement of both to all by grace. Yet in that very enslavement he finds a dignity, a reward, a glory.
Gain the more—A prize above all other earthly gain. To submit to the whim and caprice of others is a hard trial to the flesh and spirit. It reduces a high-spirited man from a freeman to a slave. If done for self-interest, it is a sordid debasement. If so done as to sacrifice truth and righteousness it is a crime. If by such conformity we confirm a caprice, a falsity, a superstition, it is an error and a danger. But if done for a high moral purpose, with careful limitations for rectitude, with the aim of delivering from falsity and superstition, then it is a high attainment, worthy the chief of the apostles. This is a renunciation of self, not of a mere mystic kind, or that shows itself in self-mortifications or self-flagellations, but in renouncing self-gratification for human good. It is thus that Paul, Luther, and Wesley have become the objects of reverence to mankind.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv19–22 19. made myself servant] Literally, enslaved myself.
19. made myself servant] Literally, enslaved myself.
the more] Not necessarily more than other people, but as our version implies, more than he would otherwise have gained.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv19–22 (19) For.—The question is here answered. His reward was…
(19) For.—The question is here answered. His reward was to gain the greater number of converts—Jews (1Co_9:20), Gentiles (1Co_9:21), weak ones (1Co_9:22). The only reward he sought for or looked for in adopting that course of conduct, for pursuing which they taunted him with selfishness, was, after all, their good.
The word “For,” introducing the answer, would seem to imply that the reward must be a greater one. “For” though an Apostle, I became a slave of all that I might gain the greater number. The words “greater number” probably include the two ideas, viz., a greater number than he could have gained had he used his rights as an Apostle, and also a greater number of converts than was gained by any other Apostle.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv19–22 For though I be free; rather, though I was…
For though I be free; rather, though I was free. He has voluntarily abandoned this freedom. The true rendering of the verse is, For being free from all men, (Gal_1:10) I enslaved myself to all. In acting thus he obeyed his own principle of not abusing his liberty, but "by love serve one another". (Gal_5:13)
Vers. 19-23.
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Ministerial pliancy and adaptation.
In great natures we sometimes meet with a remarkable combination of firmness and yielding. To do a great work in this world, a man needs a powerful will, a resolution not easily moved, at the same time that he displays a flexibility of disposition, and a readiness to adapt himself to different characters and to changing circumstances. Without the determination which approaches obstinacy, he will not keep the one aim before him; without the pliancy needed in dealing with men, he will not be able to secure the aim. Thus the same Apostle Paul who said, "This one thing I do," is here found professing that it was his principle and his practice to become all things to all men.
I INSTANCES OF MINISTERIAL ADAPTATION. Paul"s was a very varied life and ministry; he was brought into association with all sorts and conditions of men. Himself a Jew by birth, he was yet the apostle of the Gentiles, and he was equally at home with those of either race. Himself a scholar, he was prepared to deal with rabbis and with philosophers; yet he delighted to minister to the rudest barbarians. In this passage Paul mentions three instances of his pliancy.
1. To the Jews he was a Jew, i.e. he openly honoured the Divine Law given to Moses; and not only so, in certain circumstances he observed the ceremonies of his nation. This is evident in his circumcising Timothy, and in his shearing his hair and fulfilling a vow.
2. To those without the Law, outside its pale and regimen, he became as one of themselves, i.e. he was superior to many of the petty prejudices and indifferent to many of the customary observances of his fellow countrymen. How he adapted himself to the Greeks may be seen from his preaching upon the Areopagus at Athens.
3. To the weak he became as weak; e.g. in the matter treated in the preceding chapter, he had shown his consideration and condescension in refraining from eating what might possibly be ceremonially defiled.
II THE PURPOSES SOUGHT BY THIS COURSE OF MINISTERIAL ADAPTATION. He was "free" in so far as, by refusing support from his converts, he left himself at liberty to act as he thought fit; yet he made himself "a slave" for the sake of those whose welfare he sought. The aim he set before him was one which justified the use of the means he describes.
1. He desired to gain some. Whatever he might lose, it was his hope and purpose to "win souls a rich recompense and an abundant compensation for all his losses.
2. He desired to save some. This is a stronger expression, for it implies the peril to which the hearers of the gospel were exposed whilst they remained in unbelief, and it implies the happiness, security, and dignity to which those were brought who received the Word.
3. He did what he did for the gospel"s sake. For his own advantage he would never have submitted to all which he willingly endured because of his attachment to the truth in Christ Jesus.
4. Yet there was a personal aim before him. He hoped to be partaker himself with his converts of the blessings of the great salvation. His own interests were bound up with theirs, and it was ever his hope to share in the joys of that time when "he that soweth and he that reapeth shall rejoice together. T.
Vers. 19-23.
The principle of accommodation.
Paul"s resolve to preach the gospel without charge was but one instance of the general rule which guided his life. Though under obligation to none, he yet became the servant of all things to all men." He accommodated himself to the Jews (ver. 20), as when he circumcised Timothy (Act_16:3) and purified himself in the temple. (Act_21:26) He accommodated himself to the Gentiles (ver. 21), by refusing to impose the Law of Moses (Gal_2:5) and by meeting them on their own ground. (Act_17:22-31) He accommodated himself to the weak (ver. 22), as when he abstained from meat because of their scruples. (1Co_8:13) Consider
I ACCOMMODATION AS A RULE OF MINISTERIAL PRACTICE. There is a high sense in which every minister of Christ is called to become "all things to all men." We are to adapt ourselves to the circumstances, modes of thought, and even the harmless prejudices of those among whom we labour. In dealing with human souls, we must not stand upon points of etiquette, but be ready when occasion requires to sacrifice our preferences and sometimes our rights. This principle will cover matters of dress and modes of living, as also our choice of recreation and amusement. William Burns, missionary to China, adopted the Chinese dress that he might the more easily gain access to the people. On the same ground we shall present the truth in language which our hearers understand, whether they are children or adults. This happy faculty of adaptation has frequently proved of great service to the gospel.
II LIMITS TO BE OBSERVED IN FOLLOWING THIS RULE. The highest things may frequently be mistaken for the lowest. Christian accommodation may be confounded with time serving, but nothing is more unlike. The man whose principles are flexible, who trims and carves to serve his purpose, who is a devout Christian in this company and a railing scoffer in that, may be said to be "all things to all men;" but such a man is a mere jelly fish character, a mass of moral pulp. For such accommodation as Paul practised there is needed the highest principle, the strongest consistency; and in order to this, certain limits are to be observed.
1. It must not lead us to do or tolerate that which is sinful. This limit is transgressed by Jesuit missionaries when they suffer their converts to retain part of their old idolatrous worship.
2. It must not lead us to keep back any essential truth because it is unpopular. This were cowardice and infidelity to cur trust.
3. It must not lead us to do anything which would compromise the Christian name. "Let not your good be evil spoken of". (Rom_14:16)
III MOTIVES THAT PROMPT US TO FOLLOW THIS RULE. These are:
1. A desire to save others. It is not a wish to please men, but a desire to remove every hindrance to the reception of the gospel. With this end in view, we shall not find it difficult to become "all things to all men." A human soul is not too dearly won at the cost of a little self sacrifice. In this aspect the rule we are considering is but a faint copy of the great accommodation the incarnation and work of Jesus Christ.
2. A regard to our personal salvations. (Ver. 23.) Paul connects his work "for the gospel"s sake" with his being a "joint partaker" of its blessings. In work for the good of others we must not be unmindful of our own good; and there is nothing more conducive to our spiritual benefit than faithful, self denying service for Christ. "Continue in these things; for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee". (1Ti_4:16)
B.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v20 Unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that…
1Co_9:20-22
Unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews.
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The flexibility of Christianity
In Pauls hands the Christian ministry was like the Gift of Tongues. The gift was one; but it fell upon the ear of the Roman in Latin, upon the ear of the Egyptian in Coptic. Not a bad emblem of the manner in which the dispensation should adapt itself to the various forms of human character and phases of human society. While never sacrificing truth or principle, yet, so far as truth and principle admitted it, the apostle wore the guise and spoke in the accents of the persons whom he addressed. Recognising circumcision as a national mark of distinction, while utterly denying its necessity to salvation, he circumcised Timothy. Owing allegiance as a Jew to the Mosaic ritual, so long as God suffered it to exist, he took legal vows, and was scrupulous in paying them. Among Gentiles, he drew illustrations from the Grecian games, although they were heathen festivals; he quoted truths which had been proclaimed by heathen poets, and founded his appeals on natural religion. How totally different in its topics, as well as in its form, is his address on Mars Hill from that in the synagogue at Antioch! The genius of the gospel was free. It was felt, from the first, that its fixed truths were capable of being presented in aspects almost innumerable. Note then:--
I. The plastic character of Christianity. This is seen in--
1. Its documents.
(1) The history of our Lord has been transmitted to us by four distinct authors, who evidently write from four points of view, and address distinct classes of readers.
(2) Peter, Paul, James and John--men of widely different characters and circumstances--were all employed in the doctrinal writings of the New Testament, and thus Christian doctrine comes to us distilled through the alembics of four human minds. If God had desired to teach a Christian minister that he should study the age, characters, society, with which he has to deal, how could He have done it otherwise?
2. Its precepts, how broadly they are stated, and with an obvious avoidance of those particulars which might limit their application. Take, e.g. Pray without ceasing--evidently a principle and not a rule, and, because a principle capable of application to an infinite variety of circumstances.
3. Its doctrines. The Fatherhood of God; the Incarnation, the sacrifice of the Cross, the gift of the Spirit, the brotherhood of men in Christs Church, and the resurrection; these are evidently doctrines whose import is as wide as the race, and which correspond to the instincts of the human heart, under whatever garb it beats.
II. How this character should determine the conduct of our clergy in setting it forth.
1. It is in vain to hope to revive any type of Christianity which has obviously had its day.
(1) Let us not attempt to revive mediaevalism; all that was true, deep, and touching in that really survives still, only the fashion of it has passed away to return no more. Let us cherish its devout spirit, and endeavour to imbue with it our circle of society, while we throw off its superficial costume, which, like all mere costume, must in the nature of things become antiquated.
(2) Let us not seek to revive the precise form of the Evangelicalism of seventy years ago. Here again there was much which, because it was the very truth of God, can never pass away. But while we endeavour to inhale its spirit, let us not entangle ourselves in its trammels, which are not adapted to the present day.
2. But to pass to more positive counsels. Ours is an age--
(1) Of much superficial knowledge on the subject of religion. For a thousand persons who discuss religion freely in society there is not one who ever digested a spiritual truth. Now in dealing with this state of mind you must not content yourself with a few Sunday platitudes; the people will tell you that they know all that as well as you. You must oppose erudition to their flimsy knowledge, and be a man of thought as opposed to their superficiality.
(2) Of latitudinarianism which is making the most insidious inroads on the faith. Now an indignant repudiation of scepticism, with but a partial insight into its real views is little likely to reclaim the sceptic. Let us seek to appreciate his difficulty, and to draw forth from the repository of Divine truth a solution of it: and in doing so it may be that we shall occasionally have to retract--not indeed one iota of Scriptural truth--but our notions of what the Scripture has said. Might it not be well too if our clergy would acquaint themselves, not merely with the general platform on which infidelity is conducting its attacks, but specially with those sciences whose progress is always attended with much danger in minds which are not well settled in the faith? But remember that our Lord bids us, as scribes, instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, to bring forth out of our treasury things new and old--old in the substance, which must always abide; new in the form, which ever changes with time and with the manners of men. Mark the emphatic word his treasury. It is not from any repository of truth external to ourselves. No amount of learning in a Christian minister can for a moment compensate for the absence of an experimental religion. Gods Word must be brought forth from our own treasury, not stolen from that of our neighbours. Prayer must go hand in hand with study. (Dean Goulburn.)
Being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ.--
The Christian law
I. Its nature.
1. Moral.
2. Given by God.
3. Confirmed by Christ.
4. Written by the Holy Spirit on the heart.
II. Its authority.
1. Comprehends the whole law.
2. Extends to the heart.
3. Is enforced by love. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.--
All things to all men
1. St. Paul was a cosmopolitan in the best sense, the world was his country, mankind his brethren, truth his business, the church his family, and Christ his Lord. His catholic impartiality credited alike Jew and Greek with whatever amount of truth they severally held.
2. Love is the true expositor of the text. It is the sterling politeness which gracefully bends itself into all things within the perpendicular of truth and equity, to all men in order to their profit and salvation. Like a tender mother, lisping to her babe, reading with her boys, sympathising with the early trials of her girls, following with her wistful prayers the absent ones, nor ceasing a maternal interest in the elder branches settled in life, and so in her motherly heart is all things to all members of her family so the earnest Christian has a large-hearted family power of interestedness in whatever concerns the soul of every fellow-being. Being all things to all men, only to gain them to Christ, implies a sacred uniformity of purpose, which--
I. Sanctions nothing inconsistent with divine conformity. All things to all men--
1. Sanctions no versatility which is evangelical with low church, sacramental with high church, indefinite with broad church, and indifferent with no church; though it does imply a courteous, loving, conciliatory tone of address to every church, always with a view to gaining them for the Church of Christ.
2. Implies no sinking the Christian to meet the worldling. The Christian is no chameleon, taking his hue from every incident he feeds on; but rather like the sunlight of his heavenly Father--the evil and the good are the better for his shining. Apply the rule to places of amusement. Can we imagine ourselves meeting Christ there, as He sat at the festival in Cana, &c.? We can realise His presence on occasions of innocent festivity; but there are others at which, if we could suppose His eye falling upon us, as it did on Peter in the hall of his denial, we should be ashamed to meet Him. I noticed in France pictures of the Crucifixion in streets and public galleries, in Hotel de Ville and Palais de Justice, but never one in a Cafe Chantant or the opera. As believers, you are Christs living images, and would be as much out of place in a Casino or a playhouse. There is a rubicon between the carnal and the spiritual man which needs no Caesar to cross it from one side (that is, from the church to the world); but it requires a Christ to ford it, from the world to the church. Attempt it alone, and like Peter on the lake, you would sink in the act, unless His mighty hand bear you through.
3. Is no text for the pusillanimous concessions implied in the maxim, When you are at Rome, do as Rome does. Paul did not; he was as much Paul, the apostle of Jesus Christ in Caesars household as in his own. Still he who gave Roman officers their respect, and magistrates their titles, who gathered sticks with the barbarians, and received the grateful courtesies of Publius, taught us to eschew rudeness or eccentricity in circumstantials, and to be peculiar only in essentials. In whatever shape you are gratuitously singular, you will be unpopular, and therefore the less useful. Hence, cultivate a conciliating not a litigious tone--suggest, rather than challenge. A well-oiled and tempered blade cuts deeper than a hacked or rusty one. Be as much at home with people as you can, that they may be at their ease with you. Let things indifferent be indifferent, that none of your earnestness and usefulness may be spent on trifles, but all concentrated on the main thing--saving souls and glorifying their Saviour.
II. Justifies anything becoming a manly Christianity. By this is not meant a Christianity indigenous to man; but a robust, open-hearted, large-minded view of sinners, and of the means to be employed for their salvation. All things to all men.
1. Means religious toleration having proved all things, hold fast that which is good. Stand out for your own convictions. Be strong and quit you like men. At the same time, fidelity to your own opinions is perfectly compatible with the most respectful toleration of those of others. You believe in election; another man sees only open universal salvation. Be it so. You both believe in Christ and in His Holy Spirit: then work and pray together on those grounds in which you agree, and you will get nearer to God and to each other than by incessant debate upon your points of difference,
2. Implies the use of all lawful means of preaching the word in season and out of season, e.g., if a Romanist wont listen to our translation of the Bible, converse with him out of his own. The Douay version obscures some doctrines, but it cant extinguish Christ. On the same ground controversy is justified. Let the obvious love of souls, and loyalty to Christ so distinguish the spirit ill which you wield controversial weapons that men may see they are not carnal, but mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds.
3. Suggests a gentle forbearance with mens tempers, infirmities, and even sins. Much self-denial is needed for the duty of reproof, both as to the mode of doing it, and the doing it at all. Bearing one anothers burdens, and so fulfilling the law of Christ is not the least self-denying form of taking up the cross. To bear with the magnanimity of Christian love the irritating annoyances and petty insults of an ungodly circle is no easy trial; but its effect upon those around us, though imperceptible, is real.
4. Imports the diligent use of many means, notwithstanding few results. There is a noble contentedness in expending all our means on the prospect of only some return.
Conclusion--
1. Neither all things to all men, nor anything to any man, is either safe or possible without God. You dare not be all things to some men, lest, burning incense with Korah, you be swallowed up with his company. Evil communications corrupt good manners. Your life must be your testimony, where direct association would only compromise or quench it.
2. Make Christ your model. Set the Lord alway before you. Let your first question be, What would He have done? He was in the best sense, and ever will be, all things to all men, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all. And He would be nothing to any man except to save him. (J. B. Owen, M. A.)
Compromises
As a general rule compromises of every description are to be regarded with distrust. Taken at the best they are of the nature of sacrifices, as each party is supposed to give up something which he considers of more or less importance. And this is not all. A plan or policy which is the result of a compromise is not a single plan or policy, but a mixture of plans, a mixture of policies. Now the several parts, instead of aiding and sustaining each other, will be very likely to interfere with and obstruct each other. Accordingly, if a compromise is called for, the first question we should ask ourselves is, whether the occasion for making it may not be avoided altogether. Many of our associations are entirely voluntary. But all our associations are not voluntary in the sense here intended. The family, for example, is not a voluntary, but a necessary association; and so likewise, in a certain sense and to a certain extent, is the neighbourhood, the Church, the State. Every man must live in society. I do not say in this or that society, but in some society. Concessions, then, we must make; but what concessions? How far can we carry the spirit of compromise without trenching at the same time on the laws of Christian truth and righteousness? To this question I reply, first, by observing that we are in no danger of trenching on the laws of Christian truth and righteousness so long as our compromises do not involve anything more than the giving up of our own tastes, our own convenience, our own innocent pleasures, our own interests, even our own rights, out of regard to others, and in the spirit of Christian concession and self sacrifice. To say that we have a right to give up our rights may sound to some like contradiction; but it is a contradiction in sound, in appearance, only. Indeed, not to give up our rights is to give up nothing; for why talk about giving up what we have no right to retain if we would? At the same time it is proper to add that our right to give up our rights depends on their being ours exclusively. We have no right to give up our neighbours rights without their consent, express or implied. A parent, for example, might be willing to give up one or more of his own rights if he were sure the loss would fall on him alone; but if, on the contrary, he knows that, directly or indirectly, it will fall on the whole family, he will feel that they also have a voice in the matter. Again, a right may be held in common, and require to be maintained in common, and all therefore may be in some sense pledged to its defence in common, as in the case of civil or religious liberty. Here, as before, no individual can honestly act as if he alone were interested in the event. And this brings me to what may be called the pinch of the question. Have we a right, under any circumstances whatever, to go contrary to our duty for the sake of peace, or to meet those we must act with half-way, or on the plea that in a choice of evils we should take the least, or in the hope that in the end virtue and humanity will be gainers by such a course? Thus stated, it seems to me that the question answers itself. We have no such right. But we must not think that the annunciation of a moral truism like this will go far to clear up the great practical difficulty we are considering. The question disappears in one form, it is true, but only to come up in another. In a sharp collision of opinions and interests, of rights and duties, of reciprocal benefits and mutual obligations, may not my duty itself become changed? Let me suppose a case. A community, bound together by a multitude of reciprocal affections, interests, and obligations, fall into irreconcilable difference respecting a single question, and that a moral one. What are they to do? Some may think to cut the matter short by insisting that the party which is right ought not to give up, ought not to make the smallest concessions. And this is true, supposing it to be known and conceded which party is right; but unhappily this is the very point in dispute. The question is not what the party shall do is right, but what the party shall do which thinks itself right. And if you still answer, Not concede one jot nor tittle, then you have no ground of complaint against your opponents for not conceding one jot nor tittle to you, for they also think themselves right. If, therefore, we persist in shutting our eyes on these obvious facts, that is to say, pay no regard to the judgment and the consciences of others, but proceed to act on our own as if we were infallible, when we know we are not, the mistake, if we fall into one, does not make wrong to be right even for us; nay, is no excuse for the wrong. It is not mistake, properly so called, but obstinacy; and obstinacy is no excuse for delinquency of any kind. Another ground sometimes taken is, that where two parties are at variance, only one can be right; and consequently that a compromise supposes a departure from the right course on one side or the other. This, however, does not follow. I admit that where two parties are at variance, both cannot be right; but it does not follow that either is so, that is, wholly right. Both parties cannot be right, but both parties may be wrong; at least more or less so. And if so, it would seem that each party has something of wrong to give up, and the compromise that should consist of mutual concessions of this sort would evidently result, not in a departure from right on either side, but in an approximation to right on both sides. I have spoken of compromises in general, not of any particular compromise. I am aware that there is often less difficulty in laying down general principles than in applying them with the limitations and qualifications which the circumstances of the case require. Still something is gained by clearly apprehending the principles--the applications must be left to the occasion as it arises; and let me add, that a right application of the principles in the most perplexing circumstances will mainly depend, not on a morbid sensitiveness to the question at issue, nor yet on casuistical subtlety, but on downright honesty of purpose, a sound understanding, and a truly generous and magnanimous spirit. (J. Walker, D. D.)
Apostolical sympathy
This is an expression which might easily be mistaken, and has been so before now; as though St. Paul recommended, by his advice and example, a sort of craft in religious matters--pretending to agree with men when you really do not, humouring them in bad ways, concurring with them tea certain length in what you know or fear to be wrong; but all the while for their benefit, and with a view of doing, on the whole, more good in the end. Are not many marriages made by this rule, or, at least, defended by this excuse? and how do they commonly turn out? A much lighter error, but yet an error of the same kind, was that which St. Paul himself had once to correct in St. Peter, when, rather than give present dissatisfaction to certain Jewish converts which were there, he separated himself from the Gentile Christians (Gal_2:11), and so encouraged a division in the Church, and encouraged also the low notion that believers were still under the law of Moses. But this of St. Paul in the text is very different; it is an example, not a warning. And the difference may be put in one word: it is not accommodation which St. Paul encourages, but sympathy. He does not say that he practised what would please others, to win them, but he says that he always had an eye to them; he put himself into their place. He thought with himself, Were I a heathen, or a Jew, a young man or an old, an advanced or an imperfect Christian, a rich man or a poor, a master or a servant, what would my thoughts and feelings and fancies be when such and such holy truths or Divine commandments were made known to me? And according to what his wise and charitable heart, guided by the Holy Spirit, told him, of the needs and feelings of other persons, so he ordered his ways towards them, and his manner of speaking to them, and dealing with them. To take the instances which the apostle himself had been enumerating just before the text: Unto the Jews, first, I became, says he, as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews. How was this? for we know how earnestly St. Paul opposed himself to the Jewish prejudice, that circumcision and keeping the ceremonies of the law were at all necessary to salvation. How, then, did he become as a Jew to the Jews? Look at that letter of his, in which he most opposes their ceremonies; look at the Epistle to the Romans, and see how he speaks of them there. I also am an Israelite. I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren. Look in the Acts of the Apostles (Act_16:2; Act_28:17; Act_22:17) and see what trouble he took, how he went out of the way to show them that he reverenced the Mosaical ceremonies, and did not hold them wicked, though he would not have them reckoned part of the Christian law. As to the Gentiles, them also he mentions just before the text, saying, To them which are without law I became as without law, that I might gain them that are without law. That is, he put himself in the place of the Gentiles, and said and did what their condition required; as when, writing to the Corinthians, he so greatly slighted human wisdom, which he knew they were inclined to think too much of; also as when, speaking to the Athenians, he made use of their own poets, their own altars, their own customs, and the like; whereby to bring them to attend to the truth of Christ. But towards the people of Derbe and Lystra, who were in the very act of idolising himself, he spake with all vehemence, as the case required, seeing it was the only thing which could hinder them from offering sacrifice to him. In neither case did he flatter or beguile, or at all encourage them in anything wrong, no not with a view of greater good hereafter, as we, in our short-sighted self-sufficient plans, are so often tempted to do; but he used that gift which God gave him, of entering into their minds and feelings to edify them, whether by soothing or contradiction, as might be needed. And as it was with him in respect to Jew or Gentile, so also in respect of rich and poor, and the other distinctions of life; to masters and servants, husbands and wives, in short, all sorts of people, he speaks as one who had the power, by the Divine Spirit which was in him, to feel not only with them but for them--not only what they would like, but what their condition would most require. Now St. Paul was a representative, what we may in some sense call a type, of the Church or kingdom of Christ in action and warfare. His teaching seems especially recorded as the completest standard and model of her teaching. May it then be truly said that the Church is made all things to all men? Surely it may; the mystical body of our Lord Jesus Christ, animated by His Spirit, has a word of seasonable instruction, and an aid of seasonable grace, for every one, even the meanest of His members. Surely there is no person, rich or poor, young or old, good or bad, wise or foolish, for whom the Church, as she speaks in our Prayer Book, has not a word of comfort or censure, of warning or encouragement, in their season. And as this is the temper of St. Paul himself, and of the Church which he served, so also should it be the temper of each particular Christian, among his own friends and acquaintance, and all whom the Providence of God puts in his way. He will account it a part of charity to become all things to all men; to enter into their notions and feelings, not for any vain fancy of pleasing them and obtaining their good word, hut for their profit, if haply by Gods mercy he may be permitted to do something towards the salvation of a brother. And truly it is a strange power which Gods Holy Spirit gives to faithful, self-denying persons, to enter into the thoughts and tempers and passions of those for whom they are concerned, even of those who are most unlike themselves; guarding them by a kind of instinct against those sins and temptations which would seem to be furthest from their own feeling and knowledge; as God and good angels guard them, knowing, and in a manner feeling for the sinner, without any sort of communion in the sin. Once more; if it be asked what is the way by which frail, imperfect men may be enabled to understand the thoughts of the wicked so as to perceive their tendency, and to pray and strive against them, the answer is, we must be very single in our aims-not looking, much less turning, back after we have once given in our names to Jesus Christ to be His soldiers and servants. (J. H. Newman, D. D.)
By all means save some
I. Why is this passion for saving others implanted in the breasts of the saved? For Gods glory.
(1) It is greatly to the glory of God that He should use humble instruments for the accomplishment of His grand purposes. When Quintin Matsys had executed a wonderful well-cover in iron, it was the more notable because he had little more than his hammer.
(2) It brings glory to God also that He should take us sinful men and make us partakers of His compassionate and loving nature. That an angel should cleave the air to perform his message is simple enough, but that a Saul, an enemy of Christ, should live and die for the winning of souls to Jesus, is a memorable illustration of the grace of God.
(3) In this way the Lord gets great glory over the Arch-enemy, for He can say to Satan, I have defeated thee, not by the sword of Michael, but by the words and prayers of My humble servants. Then is the enemy smitten in the house of his former friends. Satan desired to sift Peter as wheat, but Peter sifted him in return on the day of Pentecost.
2. For the churchs good. The passion for winning souls--
(1) Expends the Churchs energy in a healthy manner. There is a certain quantity of steam generated in the community, and if we do not let it off in the right way, it will blow up and do infinite mischief. Talents unused are sure to rust, and this kind of rust is a deadly poison to peace, an acrid irritant which eats into the heart of the Church.
(2) Draws forth the strength of the Church, awakens her latent energies, and arouses her noblest faculties. Many a commonplace man has been rendered great by being thoroughly absorbed by a noble pursuit, and what can be nobler than turning men to Christ?
(3) Knits us together. I have been blest of God to the salvation of my hearer, but that hearer was first brought here by a friend, and so we become sharers in the joy. And, moreover, when new converts are brought into the Church, the fact that they are brought in by instrumentality tends to make their fusion with the Church an easy matter.
3. For the good of the individual possessing it.
(1) It makes us Godlike.
(2) It provides a vent for love to God as well as to men. Loving God makes us sorrow that all men do not love Him too.
(3) It revives our first love. When I see an inquirer penitent for sin, I recollect the birthday of my own soul.
(4) It strengthens faith. If you begin to doubt the gospels power, go to work among the poor and ignorant.
(5) It draws forth all the faculties of a man. One strong passion will frequently bring the whole man into play, like a skilful minstrel whose hand brings music from every chord. If we love others, we shall become wise to attract them, and discover in ourselves talents which else had been hidden in the ground.
(6) It gives the highest joys beneath the stars.
II. How does this passion exercise itself? Differently in different persons, and at different periods.
1. By tender anxiety. The moment a man is saved he begins to be anxious about his relatives, and that anxiety leads him at once to pray for them.
2. In the intense joy exhibited when news reaches us of their conversion.
3. In private efforts, sacrifices, prayers, and agonies for the spread of the gospel. A word may often bless those whom a sermon fails to reach, and a personal letter may do far more than a printed book.
4. In the more public agencies of the Church.
5. In adapting ourselves to the condition and capacity of others for their good. Paul became a Jew to the Jews. He did not preach against Judaism, but showed them Jesus as the fulfiller of its types. When he met with a heathen he did not revile the gods, but taught him the true God. He did not carry about with him one sermon for all places, but adapted his speech to his audience. If you have to talk to children, be children, and do not expect them to be men. If you have to comfort the aged, enter into their infirmities, and do not speak to them as if they were still in the full vigour of life. Are you called to labour among the educated? Then choose out excellent words. Do you work among the illiterate? Speak their mother tongue. Are you cast among people with strange prejudices? Do not unnecessarily jar with them, but take them as you find them. All men are not to be reached in the same way, or by the same means.
III. Why is not this passion more largely developed among Christians? Is it not that we have but very little grace? That is the fountain of all the mischief. But to come to particulars.
1. One-sided views of gospel doctrines. God will save His own. Yes, but His own do not talk in that fashion; they do not say, Am I my brothers keeper? Since idleness wants an excuse, men dare to abuse this sacred truth to stultify their consciences.
2. Worldliness. Men are too fond of gain to care for saving souls.
3. Want of faith. Men do not believe that God will bless their efforts, and therefore they make none.
4. Want of sympathy with God.
IV. How can this passion be more fully aroused?
1. By our obtaining a higher life. I do not believe in a mans trying to pump himself up beyond his level. The man must be up, and then all that comes out of the man will have risen. If love to God glows in your soul, it must show itself in your concern for others.
2. By full cognisance of mens misery and degradation. How differently one feels after seeing with ones own eyes the poverty, filth, and vice of this city. Your fellow-countrymen are living in neglect of your Saviour, and in jeopardy of their immortal souls; if you did but realise this it would quicken you by all means to save some.
3. By a sense of our own solemn obligations. If we are what we profess to be, we are redeemed by the hearts blood of the Son of God; do we not owe something to Christ for this? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
All things dared for souls
In Switzerland, where land is very precious because rock abounds and the rugged soil is chary in its yieldings, you see the husbandman looking after a little tuft of grass growing on one of the edges of a lofty cliff. From the valley he had caught a sight of it, and thought of clambering up to where it grew, but the rock was all too steep. From a ledge nearer the top of the precipitous wall he looked down, but could see no pathway to the coveted morsel of green. That armful of grass would feed his goat, or help to fill the cottage loft with winter fodder for the cow. Every armful is an item, and he cannot forego that tempting clump. He looks, and looks, and looks again, but looks in vain. By and by he fetches his bold boy, who can follow wherever a chamois can climb, but the boy after a hard scramble comes back with the tidings, Father, it cannot be done. Fathers answer is, Boy, it must be done. It is only an armful, and would not be worth a farthing to us, but to the poor mountaineer even a farthing or a farthings worth is precious. The grass waves its flowers in the breeze and scorns the daring climbers from below; but where there is a will, there is a way; and what cannot be reached from below may be gained from above. With a rope slung round him, or firmly grasped in his accustomed hand, with a stout stake or tree to hold it up above, the Switzer is let down till he gets to the jutting crag; there he stands with his sickle, reaps the grass, ties it into a bundle, puts it under his arm, and climbing back again, joyfully returns with his little harvest. Poor pay, you think, for such dangerous toil; but, fellow worker for Jesus, I wish we were as venturesome for souls, and as careful of them, as these poor peasants are concerning miserable bundles of grass. I wish that we sometimes looked up or down upon apparently inaccessible spots, and resolved to reach immortal souls who are to be found there, and pined to bring them to Christ. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Soul saving our one business
It is a grand thing to see a man thoroughly possessed with one master-passion. Lives with many aims are like water trickling through innumerable streams, none of which is wide enough or deep enough to float the merest cockleshell; but a life with one object is like a mighty river flowing between its banks, bearing to the ocean a multitude of ships, and spreading fertility on either side. Note--
I. Pauls great object in life--To save some.
1. Some preach with the view of amusing men. But Paul did not lay himself out to please the public and collect the crowd.
2. Others think that the object of Christian effort should be to educate men. Education is an exceedingly valuable thing, but if the Church thinks that it is sent into the world merely to train the mental faculties, it has made a very serious mistake. Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost, and on the same errand has He sent His Church.
3. Paul did not try to moralise men. Dr. Chalmers, in his first parish, preached morality, and saw no good; but as soon as he preached Christ crucified, grace prevailed. He who wishes for perfumes must grow the flowers; he who desires to promote morality must have men saved.
4. What did Paul mean by saying that he desired to save some?
(1) That some should be born again; for no man is saved until he is made a new creature in Christ Jesus.
(2) That some might be cleansed from their past iniquity through the merit of Christs sacrifice. No man can be saved from his sin except by the atonement.
(3) That they might also be purified and made holy; for a man is not saved while he lives in sin.
II. The apostles reasons for electing such an object.
1. The honour of God. Did you ever think over the amount of dishonour that is done to the Lord in London in any one hour of the day?
2. The extreme misery of this our human race. It would be a very dreadful thing if you could get any idea of the aggregate of the misery of London at the present moment in the hospital and the workhouse.
3. The terrible future of impenitent souls. But if they be saved, observe the contrast.
III. The great methods which the apostle used.
1. The simple preaching of the gospel. He did not attempt to create a sensation by startling statements, neither did he preach erroneous doctrine in order to obtain the assent of the multitude. To keep ,back any part of the gospel is not the true method for saving men. Give the people every truth baptised in holy fire, and each truth will have its own useful effect upon the mind. But the great truth is the Cross, the truth that God so loved the world, &c.
2. Much prayer. A great painter said he mixed his colours with brains. A preacher ought to mix truth with prayer. When a man was breaking granite by the roadside, a minister passing by said, Ah, my friend, your work is just like mine; you have to break stones, and so do I. Yes, said the man, and if you manage to break stony hearts, you will have to do it as I do, go down on your knees.
3. An intense sympathy which made him adapt himself to each case. He was all things to all men, that he might by all means save some. Mr. Hudson Taylor finds it helpful to dress as a Chinaman, and wear a pigtail. This seems to me to be a truly wise policy. To sink myself to save others is the idea of the apostle. Never may any whim or conventionality of ours keep a soul from considering the gospel. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Sacrifice for souls
All things are easy which are done for the love of God and of the souls which He loves. A lady who had a most sensitive ear for music--so much so, that a note out of tune caused her intense discomfort--joined one of our English Sisterhoods. Being visited one day by a friend, she was found placidly seated in an outhouse, in the midst of a most horrible din, raised by a number of lads whom she was forming into a drum and fife band. How can you possibly endure this noise? asked her friend. Oh, was the sweet reply, its very good for souls!
Adaptation essential to persuasion
It is said that Kossuth had an inimitable power of adaptation: a keen sense of the fitness of things. So adroit was his oratory that coming to a new country he would soon master its language, had forensic arguments for the bar, prose and poetry for women, statistics for merchants, and an assortment of local allusions for the respective towns and villages in which he pleaded his cause. (H. O. Mackey.)
Adaptation essential to soul winning
While Edward Irving was assistant to Dr. Chalmers he called upon a shoemaker, a thorough-going infidel of a most disagreeable temper. All who had previously called upon him were met by cold shoulder and a Hump! Irving, knowing his man, took up a piece of patent leather, and expatiated on it. This he could do admirably, as his father was a tanner, and he knew the process well. The shoemaker did not look up, but said roughly, What do you ken about leather? Irving, unabashed, went on, and described how shoes were being made by machinery. Then the shoemaker slackened up his work, and looked up, and said, Od, youre a decent kind o a fellow; do you preach? Next Sabbath the shoemaker was at church. On the Monday Irving met him in the Gallow Gate, and walked arm-in-arm with him along the street. He was overcome, and became a friend instead of a foe to Christianity; and ever after, when taunted with his change, justified himself by saying, Hes a sensible man, yon; he kens about leather. (Mrs. Oliphaut.)
Adaptation in a minister
We use the language of the market, said Whitefield, and this was much to his honour; yet when he stood in the drawing-room of the Countess of Huntingdon, and his speech entranced the infidel nobleman whom she brought to hear him, he adopted another style. His language was equally plain in each case, because it was equally familiar to the audience: he did not use the ipsissima verba, or his language would have lost its plainness in the one case or the other, and would either have been slang to the nobility or Greek to the crowd. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Wisdom of adaptation
He alone is wise who can accommodate himself to all the contingencies of life; but the fool contends, and is struggling like a swimmer against the stream.
Wisdom needed for usefulness
In order to reach mens hearts on Divine things Lord Haddo strove to cultivate the art of conciliating even the careless and indifferent, by talking to them, in the first instance, on subjects in which they would be interested; and in this taught a precious lesson, which all who are engaged in evangelistic labour would do well to learn and exemplify. When acting as a regular district visitor in Whitechapel, London, he happened to visit a currier, to whom he was unknown, and his knowledge of the various processes of tanning and the preparation of leather, elicited the remark, Ah, I see you are in the trade yourself, sir. (A. Duff, D. D.)
The law of spiritual accommodation
(Text and 1Co_10:33). Here is the supreme secret of service to human souls; and the two passages must be taken together to get the beauty of the whole thought. It is an accommodation--
I. To all men; to Jew, to Gentile; to weak, to strong--
1. By way of identification; as though himself just what they were. This means an Englishman becoming an Irishman to save an Irishman; a man of culture becoming an ignorant fool to save a fool--going down to the slums to save the inmates of the slums--becoming a slave to save slaves.
2. By way of self-denial and self-oblivion; not seeking ones own pleasure or even profit, that others may be saved. A renunciation of self-gratification and even self-advancement and advantage for their sakes.
II. In all things--wherever it implies no wrong. The question is, What will remove a stumbling-block out of others way? What will serve others? (1Co_9:19).
III. In order to save others. Everybody may not be benefited. Duty is ours; results are Gods. But what is offered to Him is not lost, although it may seem to be wasted. We never get to the true platform of service until what we do we do unto the Lord, and are not disturbed by its apparent unfruitfulness. He values it just as highly, without regard to obvious results. (Hom. Monthly.)
Pauls versatility
There are those to whom it is painful to have to accost a stranger even on pressing business; and most men arc only quite at home in their own set--among men of the same class or profession as themselves. But the life he had chosen brought Paul into contact with men of every kind, and he had constantly to be introducing to strangers the business with which he was charged. He might be addressing a king or a consul the one hour and a roomful of slaves or common soldiers the next. One day he had to speak in the synagogue of the Jews, another among a crowd of Athenian philosophers, another to the inhabitants of some provincial town far from the seats of culture. But he could adapt himself to every man and every audience. To the Jews he spoke as a rabbi out of the Old Testament Scriptures; to the Greeks he quoted the words of their own poets; and to the barbarians he talked of the God who giveth rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. When a weak or insincere man attempts to be all things to all men, he ends by being nothing to anybody. But, living on this principle, Paul found entrance for the gospel everywhere, and at the same time won for himself the esteem and love of those to whom he stooped. (J. Stalker, D. D.)
Fish must be angled for with the right bait
Speaking of fishing in Persian rivers, a recent traveller says, The river Lar is famed for its speckled trout, and we encamped on its banks, well provided with the best rods and flies the English market could afford. We found the trout fickle enough as elsewhere, and could never tell when or where to find them. Some days coy and hard to please, and other days abundant. We soon discovered that a trait peculiar to these Persian trout was an indifference, amounting to contempt, for the daintiest flies we coaxingly threw in their way. But when we baited our hooks with young grasshoppers or frogs we discovered the favourite weakness of these epicures of the Lar. (H. O. Mackey.)
Moral identification with others--a qualification of the evangel
This verse is sometimes taken as expressive of the accommodating spirit of the apostle. Hence he is regarded as acting in a somewhat Jesuitical way, taking men as it were by guile. Such a view is utterly untrue. From his very constitution, he could not bend to any temporising expediency. All that the apostle means is, that he endeavoured to put himself into the place, or rather into the views and feelings, of those whom he endeavoured to win to Christ. Now this is both right and wise. As a debater, whether in politics, philosophy, or religion, he only acts fairly and with power who acts in this way. This power implies--
I. A highly imaginative temperament. The phlegmatic man, whose nature is incapable of taking fire, who moves with the creeping legs of logic rather than on the wings of moral intuition, would find it all but impossible to realise another mans experiences.
II. A knowledge of human life. It is necessary that we should make ourselves acquainted not merely with the outward circumstances of men, but with their inner life--their modes of thought, their strongest proclivities. This requires study of men, not as they appear in books, but as they appear in their circle, and men, not in the mass, but in their individual character and idiosyncrasies.
III. A passionate love for souls. Nothing but the constraining love of Christ can invest man either with the disposition or the power for such a work--a work requiring self-sacrifice, patience, tenderness, invincible determination, and hallowed devotion. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Power of tact
A little management will often avoid resistance, which a vast force will strive in vain to overcome. (Colton.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv19–22 19–23. For though I be free, etc. He shows…
19–23. For though I be free, etc. He shows why he used this self denial. In order that he might gain souls, he was willing to become the servant of all, and to deny himself all things.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv19–22 19. “Being free from all, I rendered myself a…
19. “Being free from all, I rendered myself a slave unto all that I may gain the more.” This glorious spiritual freedom, which we enjoy in the Omnipotent Sanctifier, delights to condescend for Jesus’ sake, become servant to all, that we may win the more to shine in our crown of rejoicing in the coming eternity.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v19 1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians
A SERVANT OF MEN
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1Co 9:19 - 1Co 9:23.
Paul speaks much of himself, but he is not an egotist. When he says, ‘I do so and so,’ it is a gracious way of enjoining the same conduct on his readers. He will lay no burden on them which he does not himself carry. The leader who can say ‘Come’ is not likely to want followers. So, in this section, the Apostle is really enjoining on the Corinthians the conduct which he declares is his own.
The great principle incumbent on all Christians, with a view to the salvation of others, is to go as far as one can without untruthfulness in the direction of finding points of resemblance and contact with those to whom we would commend the Gospel. There is a base counterfeit of this apostolic example, which slurs over distinctive beliefs, and weakly tries to please everybody by differing from nobody. That trimming to catch all winds never gains any. Mr. Facing-both-ways is not a powerful evangelist. The motive of becoming all things to all men must be plainly disinterested, and the assimilation must have love for the souls concerned and eagerness to bring the truth to them, and them to the truth, legibly stamped upon it, or it will be regarded, and rightly so, as mere cowardice or dishonesty. And there must be no stretching the assimilation to the length of either concealing truth or fraternising in evil. Love to my neighbour can never lead to my joining him in wrongdoing.
But, while the limits of this assumption of the colour of our surroundings are plainly marked, there is ample space within these for the exercise of this eminently Christian grace. We must get near people if we would help them. Especially must we identify ourselves with them in sympathy, and seek to multiply points of assimilation, if we would draw them to Jesus Christ. He Himself had to become man that He might gain men, and His servants have to do likewise, in their degree. The old story of the Christian teacher who voluntarily became a slave, that he might tell of Christ to slaves, has in spirit to be repeated by us all.
We can do no good by standing aloof on a height and flinging down the Gospel to the people below. They must feel that we enter into their circumstances, prejudices, ways of thinking, and the like, if our words are to have power. That is true about all Christian teachers, whether of old or young. You must be a boy among boys, and try to show that you enter into the boy’s nature, or you may lecture till doomsday and do no good.
Paul instances three cases in which he had acted, and still continued to do so, on this principle. He was a Jew, but after his conversion he had to ‘become a Jew’ by a distinct act; that is, he had receded so far from his old self, that he, if he had had only himself to think of, would have given up all Jewish observances. But he felt it his duty to conciliate prejudice as far as he could, and so, though he would have fought to the death rather than given countenance to the belief that circumcision was necessary, he had no scruple about circumcising Timothy; and, though he believed that for Christians the whole ancient ritual was abolished, he was quite willing, if it would smooth away the prejudices of the ‘many thousands of Jews who believed,’ to show, by his participation in the temple worship, that he ‘walked orderly, keeping the law.’ If he was told ‘You must,’ his answer could only be ‘I will not’; but if it was a question of conciliating, he was ready to go all lengths for that.
The category which he names next is not composed of different persons from the first, but of the same persons regarded from a somewhat different point of view. ‘Them that are under the law’ describes Jews, not by their race, but by their religion; and Paul was willing to take his place among them, as we have just observed. But he will not do that so as to be misunderstood, wherefore he protests that in doing so he is voluntarily abridging his freedom for a specific purpose. He is not ‘under the law’; for the very pith of his view of the Christian’s position is that he has nothing to do with that Mosaic law in any of its parts, because Christ has made him free.
The second class to whom in his wide sympathies he is able to assimilate himself, is the opposite of the former-the Gentiles who are ‘without law.’ He did not preach on Mars’ Hill as he did in the synagogues. The many-sided Gospel had aspects fitted for the Gentiles who had never heard of Moses, and the many-sided Apostle had links of likeness to the Greek and the barbarian. But here, too, his assimilation of himself to those whom he seeks to win is voluntary; wherefore he protests that he is not without law, though he recognises no longer the obligations of Moses’ law, for he is ‘under [or, rather, “in”] law to Christ.’
‘The weak’ are those too scrupulous-conscienced Christians of whom he has been speaking in 1Co 8:1 - 1Co 8:13 and whose narrow views he exhorted stronger brethren to respect, and to refrain from doing what they could do without harming their own consciences, lest by doing it they should induce a brother to do the same, whose conscience would prick him for it. That is a lesson needed to-day as much as, or more than, in Paul’s time, for the widely different degrees of culture and diversities of condition, training, and associations among Christians now necessarily result in very diverse views of Christian conduct in many matters. The grand principle laid down here should guide us all, both in regard to fellow-Christians and others. Make yourself as like them as you honestly can; restrict yourself of allowable acts, in deference to even narrow prejudices; but let the motive of your assimilating yourself to others be clearly their highest good, that you may ‘gain’ them, not for yourself but for your Master.
1Co 9:23 lays down Paul’s ruling principle, which both impelled him to become all things to all men, with a view to their salvation, as he has been saying, and urged him to effort and self-discipline, with a view to his own, as he goes on to say. ‘For the Gospel’s sake’ seems to point backward; ‘that I may be a joint partaker thereof points forward. We have not only to preach the Gospel to others, but to live on it and be saved by it ourselves.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv19–22 For though I was free from all men [and…
For though I was free from all men [and therefore had a right to demand wages of them and ignore their prejudices], I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more . [Here was yet another joy which he found in preaching a free gospel. His spirit of self-sacrifice won the confidence of the people, and enabled him to make a larger number of converts. Though entitled to wages as a free man he preferred to work as a slave for nothing, accounting the additional disciples which he thus made as a more acceptable hire than his maintenance. Moreover, after the manner of a slave, he had adjusted himself to the prejudices and idiosyncrasies of each class which he served as far as he innocently could; that, by having a larger measure of their confidence and good-will, he might be able to win a larger number to Christ. He now describes this part of his service.]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv21–22 The expression is peculiar and might be literally rendered,…
without
The expression is peculiar and might be literally rendered, " not lawless toward God, but inlawed to Christ." See "Law (of Christ)," Gal 6:2; 2Jn 1:5. It is another way of saying, "not under the law, but under the rule of grace." Rom 6:14.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v19 Devoted work for the sake of the Gospel:
Devoted work for the sake of the Gospel:
v. 19. For though. I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all that I might gain the more.
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v. 20. And unto the Jews I became a Jew that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the Law, as under the Law, that I might gain them that are under the Law;
v. 21. to them that are without Law, as without Law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without Law.
v. 22. To the weak became I as weak that I might gain the weak. I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some.
v. 23. And this I do for the Gospel’s sake that I might be partaker thereof with you.
Here Paul’s policy of self-denial is explained in detail. Taking up the thought of 1Co 9:1 again, he states: For, while I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all men, in order that I might gain the more. A true servant of Christ uses his liberty in the Gospel in no other way but for the edification of his neighbor and for the praise of God. Paul was free, he was not bound to any man’s arbitrary rule, but went his way independent of the judgment of men, actuated and controlled entirely by the Spirit of Christ that lived in him. But this liberty he asserted in a very peculiar way, from the standpoint of man, namely, in complete self-denial. Through love every Christian is the debtor of his neighbor, places himself at the service of his neighbor, has his true spiritual welfare in mind at all times, Rom 13:8. And Paul’s sole aim was to gain all the more souls for Christ by this service. This was a seeking for gain which could not but win the approval even of those that were inclined always to suspect his motives. With characteristic energy and wisdom he applied himself to this task, by making a careful analysis of the situation and laying his plans accordingly. To the Jews he became as a Jew in order to win the Jews; without denying or setting aside one word of the eternal truth, he accommodated his methods to the circumstances, always with the intention of winning souls for Christ, Act 16:3; Act 18:18; Act 21:23 ff. To those under the Law, whether they belonged to the Jewish nation or to the Gentiles (mainly circumcised Gentiles), he became as one under the Law, in order to gain those under the Law; he was willing to conform to the customs, modes of life, and methods of instruction in vogue among them, so long as these matters were really things indifferent. To those without the Law, to the heathen in the strict sense of the word, he became as without the Law, although for his own person he was bound under the Law of Christ, in order to gain those without the Law; when in a heathen community, Paul did not practice the Jewish customs, a fact which would merely have antagonized the Gentiles; he omitted all reference to regulations of the Old Testament which were strictly Jewish in character. And this he did because he was in the Law of Christ, his Redeemer, the Fulfiller of the Law, being his life. The love of Christ was the motive for all his actions, a life implanted in Him and anxious to demonstrate itself in the service of the Gentiles; in the midst of the idolatry of heathenism, Paul found points of contact for the application of the Word of Grace. To the weak the apostle became weak in order to gain the weak; his loving insight enabled him to understand the scruples and weaknesses of those that had not made much headway in Christian knowledge. See 2Co 11:29. Every true servant of Christ must learn from the apostle not to despise any one, nor to permit disgust over foolish weaknesses to enter his heart. There may be much spiritual incapacity, but the ability to hear the story of the Gospel will remain in most cases; and the object is to gain the weak also. And therefore Paul summarizes: To all men I have become all things in order by all means to save some. In this way the practical wisdom of Paul’s pastoral love and self-denial shone forth. It was not duplicity, as his enemies alleged, 2Co 1:12; 2Co 4:2; 2Co 12:16; Gal 1:10, but the expression of a heart which acted under the discipline of the sanctifying Spirit. And it was all done for the sake of the Gospel, in order that he might be a joint-partaker with it. Every new soul won for Christ exhibited to the apostle the glory of the Triune God and the beauty of the Redeemer, and in the communion of all these saints the blessings of the Gospel reacted upon him, permitted him to partake more fully of the Gospel’s vitalizing effects. The faithful servant of the Gospel will himself reap the rich benefits of his work.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv19, 21 I am free from all
I am free from all
"Free from all" here is an idiom meaning the ability to live without thinking of what one must do for others. AT: "I am able to live without serving others" (See: Metaphor)
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win more
"persuade others to believe" or "help others trust in Christ"
I became like a Jew
"I acted like a Jew" or "I practiced Jewish customs"
I became like one under the law
"I became like one committed to following the demands of the Jewish leadership, accepting their understanding of the Jewish scriptures"
translationWords
free
servant
Jew
law
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v19 9:19-23 Paul places himself in the position of a…
9:19-23 Paul places himself in the position of a slave in the household. He shows how far he was willing to go in adjusting his lifestyle and behavior to that of the people to whom he was preaching in order to win them to Christ.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.