1 Corinthians 9:2

1 Corinthians 9:2

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!

17 For if I do this willingly, ^aI have a reward; but if against my will, ^bI have been entrusted with a stewardship.

18 What is my reward then? That ^awhen I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel¹ of Christ without charge, that I ^bmay not abuse my authority in the gospel.

Serving All Men

19 For though I am ^afree from all men, ^bI have made myself a servant to all, ^cthat I might win the more;

20 and ^ato the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the¹ law, that I might win those who are under the law;

Commentaries:

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

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yet doubtless—yet at least I am such to you.

seal of mine apostleship—Your conversion by my preaching, accompanied with miracles ("the signs of an apostle," Romans 15:18-19; II Corinthians 12:12), and your gifts conferred by me (I Corinthians 1:7), vouch for the reality of my apostleship, just as a seal set to a document attests its genuineness (John 3:33; Romans 4:11).

**Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing 1 Corinthians 9:2:**

1 Corinthians 9:1
2 Corinthians 1:22
2 Corinthians 2:4
2 Corinthians 3:2

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1 Corinthians 9:3 >>

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