1 Corinthians 9:1

A Pattern of Self-Denial

1 Am ^aI not an apostle? Am I not free? ^bHave I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? ^cAre you not my work in the Lord?

2 If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. For you are ^athe seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

3 My defense to those who examine me is this:

4 ^aDo we have no¹ right to eat and drink?

5 Do we have no right to take along¹ a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, ^athe brothers of the Lord, and ^bCephas?

6 Or is it only Barnabas and I ^awho have no right to refrain from working?

7 Who ever ^agoes to war at his own expense? Who ^bplants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who ^ctends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock?

8 Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also?

9 For it is written in the law of Moses, ^a“You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen God is concerned about?

10 Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that ^ahe who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope.

11 ^aIf we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things?

12 If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more? ^aNevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things ^blest we hinder the gospel of Christ.

13 ^aDo you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the ^btemple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar?

14 Even so ^athe Lord has commanded ^bthat those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.

15 But ^aI have used none of these things, nor have I written these things that it should be done so to me; for ^bit would be better for me to die than that anyone should make my boasting void.

16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for ^anecessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!

Commentaries:

John Wesley's Notes

<< 1 Corinthians 8:13

1 Corinthians 9:2 >>

1 Corinthians 9:1

Am I not free? am I not an apostle? - That is, Have not I the liberty of a common Christian? yea, that of an apostle? He vindicates his apostleship, I Corinthians 9:1-3: his apostolical liberty, I Corinthians 9:4-19. Have I not seen Jesus Christ? - Without this he could not have been one of those first grand witnesses. Are not ye my work in the Lord - A full evidence that God hath sent me? And yet some, it seems, objected to his being an apostle, because he had not asserted his privilege in demanding and receiving such maintenance from the churches as was due to that office.

Other John Wesley's Notes entries containing 1 Corinthians 9:1:

1 Corinthians 9:1

<< 1 Corinthians 8:13

1 Corinthians 9:2 >>

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A Pattern of Self-Denial

A Verse and a Thought,Every Morning

A Verse and a Thought,
Every Morning