Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 9:26
I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
26. not as uncertainly ] i.e. with no definite object, but “looking to some goal,” as St Chrysostom observes, and that goal the salvation of himself and others.
so fight I ] The Christian career is not merely a race, but a conflict, and a conflict not only with others, but with oneself. St Paul had to contend with the fleshly lusts of the body, the love especially of ease, the indisposition to hardship and toil so natural to humanity. See Rom 7:23; and for the life of pain and endurance to which he had enslaved himself, ch. 4 of this Epistle, 1Co 9:9-13, and 2Co 11:23-28.
not as one that beateth the air ] That is, not as one who struck out at random, but as one who delivered his blows with effect. Cf. Virg. n. v. 377, Verberat ictibus auras; 446, Vires in ventum effudit, and the German “ ins Blaue hinein.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I therefore so run – In the Christian race; in my effort to obtain the prize, the crown of immortality. I exert myself to the utmost, that I may not fail of securing the crown.
Not as uncertainly – ( ouk adelos). This word occurs no where else in the New Testament. It usually means, in the Classic writers, obscurely. Here it means that he did not run as not knowing to what object he aimed. I do not run haphazardly; I do not exert myself for nothing; I know at what I aim, and I keep my eye fixed on the object; I have the goal and the crown in view. Probably also the apostle intended to convey this idea, I so live and act that I am sure of obtaining the crown. I make it a great and grand point of my life so to live that there may be no room for doubt or hesitancy about this rustler. I believe it may be obtained; and that by a proper course there may he a constant certainty of securing it; and I so live. O how happy and blessed would it be if all Christians thus lived! How much doubt, and hesitancy, and despondency would it remove from many a Christians mind! And yet it is morally certain that if ever Christian were to be only as anxious and careful as were the ancient Grecian wrestlers and racers in the games, they would have the undoubted assurance of gaining the prize. Doddridge and Macknight, however, render this as not out of view; or as not distinguished; meaning that the apostle was not unseen, but that he regarded himself as constantly in the view of the judge, the Lord Jesus Christ. I prefer the other interpretation, however, as best according with the connection and with the proper meaning of the word.
So fight I – houto pukteuo. This word is applied to the boxers, or the pugilists, in the Grecian games. The exercise of boxing, or fighting with the fist, was a part of the entertainment with which the enlightened nations of Greece delighted to amuse themselves.
Not as one that beateth the air – The phrase here is taken from the habits of the pugilists or boxers, who were accustomed, before entering the lists, to exercise their limbs with the gauntlet, in order to acquire greater skill and dexterity. There was also, before the real contest commenced, a play with their fists and weapons, by way of show or bravado, which was called skiamachia, a mock-battle, or a fighting the air. The phrase also is applicable to a missing the aim, when a blow was struck in a real struggle, and when the adversary would elude the blow, so that it would be spent in the empty air. This last the idea which Paul means to present. He did not miss his aim; he did not exert himself and spend his strength for nothing. Every blow that he struck told; and he did not waste his energies on that which would produce no result. He did not strive with rash, ill-advised, or uncertain blows; but all his efforts were directed, with good account, to the grand purpose or subjugating his enemy – sin – and the corrupt desires of the flesh – and bringing everything into captivity to God Much may be learned from this.
Many an effort of Christians is merely beating the air. The energy is expended for nothing. There is a lack of wisdom, or skill, or perseverance; there is a failure of plan; or there is a mistake in regard to what is to be done, and what should be done. There is often among Christians very little aim or object; there is no plan; and the efforts are wasted, scattered, inefficient efforts; so that, at the close of life, many a man may say that he has spent his ministry or his Christian course mainly, or entirely, in beating the air. Besides, many set up a man of straw and fight that. They fancy error and heresy in others and oppose that. They become a heresy-hunters; or they oppose some irregularity in religion that, if left alone, would die of itself; or they fix all their attention upon some minor evil, and they devote their lives to the destruction of that alone. When death comes, they may have never struck a blow at one of the real and dangerous enemies of the gospel; and the simple record on the tombstone of many ministers and many private Christians might he, Here lies one who spent his life in beating the air.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Co 9:26
I therefore so run, not as uncertainly.
Not as uncertainly
In the Grecian games the uncertainties of every earthly race are symbolised. This uncertainty is one of the saddest aspects of experience. There are laurels for a few winners, but many are the losers. Some nearly win the race, and miss by a hairs-breadth; and many more never glimpse the goal, and yet bravely plod on in their weary disappointed way.
I. Men must run. Multitudes can say, not So run I, but, So look I on. They are interested in the Christian story; but this is not enough. Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Almost! is one of the saddest words in human experience.
II. Men admit the uncertainty of the earthly race, and so they run with this dread consciousness at their hearts. Who can tell whether health may not fail, just as honours hard-won are heralding reward? What impediments may come in the earthly path from the falsity, greed, or frivolity of others? If you seek apart from God, all is uncertainty! How different is the Christian struggle. Here all who run may obtain the prize. Men of culture and no culture; vigorous or of feeble health–for Christ has promised His own Divine aid to all who, laying hold on His strength, press toward the mark.
III. Men slight distant rewards. The goal! Let it be now, men say. The world of sense seems at first to have the best of it; but soon there comes the experience, common to all, that worldly reward is transient at the best. Earthly honours fade and wane. Even fame lives in few lives. One of the most renowned commanders of men, when the hour of triumph came, and the whole world seemed marshalled before him, was asked what the spectacle wanted? and he answered, Permanence! What a satire on human glory. All flesh is grass, &c. But so firm is the apostles faith, that with the heavens opened above him he calls the sons of men to seek the same incorruptible crown. The things we seek are all, like their Divine author, eternal in the heavens! As the voices of the redeemed fall from the celestial heights, they cry, Not as uncertainly.
IV. Men wait to begin. There are some who have long been close beside the course, who are hesitating and halting still. Much depends, in lifes crucial moments, upon habits of decision of character. So wait I! too many say. But what for? When wilt opportunity be more golden? When will heavens gates be thrown more widely open? Test the things that are this day more pleasant than Gods salvation, and see if they are worthy to be weighed with the souls immortal weal. Death may be nearer to us than we think.
V. Men stay in their course. Some did run well, but they are hindered. Heroism cools; ardour faints. If religion were one sharp conflict, one martyr sacrifice, then how many would join the ranks? But ever in this sublunary sphere the rewards of earth and time are to the persevering. AEsop was but a slave, and Homer but a poor man, and Columbus but a weaver, and they all, keeping their eyes on the earthly goal and pressing toward it, gained the prize. So in the immortal sphere–the feeble may become strong, and the last be first, through earnest faith. (W. M. Statham.)
The heavenly race
I. You must enter the lists.
1. You must be a Christian. An infidel, a pagan, cannot run this race, nor can a mere nominal professor. A sound faith must be united with an exemplary life.
2. Preparation is needed. The racer is careful in his diet. The Christian is to show sobriety, to be master of himself, subduing every passion. The athletes oiled themselves, both to give suppleness in motion, and to render it difficult for their antagonists to grapple them. The grace of Christ, the anointing of the Holy One, is indispensable to the believer. With the aid of Christ we can do all things.
3. The racer was presented in the circus. The Christian must free himself from everything that may hinder his progress.
II. You must run certainly.
1. Men fail who have no aim in life. One thing is needful. Beware of the man of one book, it has been said. You cannot stand in discussion with him. Others are readers of many books, but forget their contents. Some are distracted with business, polities, and pleasure, and so lose the reward. Of course, if God gives you varied gifts, you are not to neglect them, but to subordinate all to one aim.
2. Having chosen that aim, be conscientious. It is your conscience, not that of others, which is to guide. Do not falter and be turned aside, as were David and Peter. Dont beat the air, as a gladiator who, through fear or lack of skill, swung clear of his foe, giving the air the blow instead of his adversary.
3. Be candid. Look to yourself. We all live in glass houses, and should not throw stones. Do not listen to a sermon for another, and think how well the reproof fits another, and say, Bravo for the preacher who has nothing for us.
III. Keep your eve on the goal till you reach it. We are to be looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, for looking at Him will keep us from turning aside. We arc all running a race, willingly or unwillingly. Is it a heavenly one? (A. Gavazzi.)
The Christians race and battle
St. Paul proposes himself as an example of the life of a converted man. No conversion more unmistakable than his. If we would estimate conversion aright, let us view it as exemplified in St. Paul.
I. Position of conversion. The starting-point, not the goal–the enlisting of the soldier, not his victory. It places us on the ground, and bids us run. Enlists us in an army, and bids us fight (1. Timothy 6:12; Eph 6:10-17). Look at St. Paul.
1. Christ had arrested him as he was rushing to ruin (Php 3:12). Why? Not that he might stand still–sit down with folded hands, and wait for promised crown; but that he should run like racer in games, with no eye but for the goal–no thought but for the crown–all his powers concentrated on the one object, to obtain (Php 3:12-14).
2. Christ had delivered him from the power of darkness, &c. (Col 1:13). He was sure of victory (1Co 15:57; Rom 8:37; Rom 16:20); but only through conflict.
II. A converted man must have a definite aim. St. Paul had so run, not as uncertainly, vaguely, hither and thither, wasting time and strength. Not enough to run fast, perseveringly, energetically, we must run for the goal (Php 3:13-14).
1. Our goal is likeness to Christ. So to win Christ, to put on Christ, to be found in Christ, that we may be one with Christ.
2. Christ also our crown. He is our exceeding great reward. The rewards of conquering in Rev 2:3 are Christ under different symbols.
III. A converted man must realise a definite enemy. So fight I, not as one that beateth the air; my blows well aimed, and they tell.
1. Discover your besetting sin, or sins, by self-examination, and set yourself to fight therein. To fight against sin in the abstract is to beat the air.
2. Train for the fight. I keep under my body, &c. Self-indulgence fatal to victory. We must be masters, not slaves of the body and its desires.
3. Fight in Christs strength–with your eye on Him who has fought and overcome, leaving us promise of victory. As He did, take sword of Spirit–the threefold it is written–whole armour. Who is he that overcometh, &c. (1Jn 5:5).
IV. A changed man not necessarily a saved man (verse 27). St. Pauls words, lest that by any means a castaway, show us the precariousness of Christian life. So, too, the stony-ground hearers, backsliders, &c. The Christians safety depends on union with Christ. He must watch lest bosom sins cause him to relax his hold; lest unholiness clog the channels of the life-giving sap (Joh 15:4-6). No danger so great as to shut ones eyes against danger. Application–trust not to past experiences. Self-confidence is fatal to Christian life. It is true Christs sheep can never perish, &c. (Joh 10:28-29). But who are His sheep? They that hear His voice and follow Him. (Canon Venables.)
Personal holiness
I. The subject treated of–eminent personal holiness.
1. Its spring. The Divine influence on the soul of man.
2. Its marks.
(1) A constant keeping of the great end in view. The attaining a crown (verse 25).
(2) A habitual conflict with all difficulties. So fight I, not as one that beateth the air. Paul felt that he had not to skirmish shadows.
(3) The prevailing dominion of the Spirit over the flesh. I keep under my body, &c.
II. Its importance to the Christian minister.
1. It is essential.
(1) To his freedom. He is a soldier; the various indulgences which would enslave are not for him; the softnesses which would prevent his warfare are not for him. But that he may be thus free, he must be eminent in holiness (2Co 6:4-7).
(2) To his happiness. The unhappiness of many ministers arises from the consciousness that they are not what they ought to be.
(3) To a well-grounded assurance of the Divine favour and approbation. (H. March.)
The necessity of progressive religion
That was a fine eulogium which was made on Caesar, that he thought there was nothing done while there remained anything to do. Whoever arrives at worldly heroism arrives at it in this way, and there is no other way of obtaining salvation. Behold in Paul a man who accounted all he had done nothing while there remained anything more to do. We ground the necessity of progressive religion
I. The great end of christianity–to transform man into the Divine nature. This being the case, we ought never to cease endeavouring till we are as perfect as our Father which is in heaven is perfect. Moreover, as we shall never in this life carry err virtue to so high a degree as that, it follows that in no period of our life will our duty be finished, consequently we must make continual progress.
II. The fatal consequences of a suspension of our religious endeavours. A man employed in a mechanical art sets about his work and carries it on to a certain degree. He suspends his labour for a while; his work doth not advance indeed, but when he returns he finds his work in the same forwardness in which he left it. Heavenly exercises are not of this kind. Past labour is often lost for want of perseverance and it is a certain maxim in religion that not to proceed is to draw back.
III. The advances themselves in the path of holiness. The science of salvation in this respect resembles human sciences. In human sciences a man of great and real learning is humble; he always speaks with caution, and his answers to difficult questions are not unfrequently confessions of his ignorance. On the contrary, a pedant knows everything, and undertakes to elucidate and determine everything. So in the science of salvation, a man of little religion soon flatters himself that he hath done all his duty. A man of lively and vigorous religion finds his own virtues so few, so limited, so obstructed, that he easily comes into a well, grounded judgment that all he hath attained is nothing to what lies before him. Accordingly we find the greatest saints the most eminent for humility (Gen 18:27; Job 9:15; Psa 130:3; Php 3:12).
IV. The end which God proposed in placing us in this world. This world is a place of exercise, this life is a time of trial, which is given us that we may choose either eternal happiness or endless misery. (J. Saurin.)
So fight I, not as one that beateth the air.—
Beating the air
The expression implies–
I. Want of skill. The boxer who strikes about wildly has never learned his art. This has to be studied–
1. Patiently. Day after day must the labour be repeated.
2. Practically. No theory will teach the various cuts and defences without actual trial. And yet there are persons who think that they can enter upon the spiritual contest without either.
II. Want of concentrations. The fighter who fights wildly loses his head and is lost, for his cool opponent seizes every opportunity, and calmly avails himself of every occasion of advantage. Does not our Christianity need a cool head, a concentration of purpose? Surely; and yet men suppose that any slipshod method, any wool-gathering frame of mind, will satisfy the requirements of that awful contest which is to win or lose eternal life. Should we not sit down sometimes amid the rush of life, and calmly inquire as to our position, difficulties, dangers, and progress? A merchant who acted aimlessly would soon come to grief; a ships captain would soon wreck his vessel; a tradesman quickly come to the workhouse. And the Christian in the same way would soon fall a prey to the wiles of the devil.
III. Want of preparation. The athlete lays aside every weight. Even his clothes are cast off. Alas! how often Christians are handicapped with weights! One has a heavy golden chain about his neck. Another has a load of worldly affections round his heart and almost stopping its pulsations. A third has rings on his fingers which prevent his grasp. A fourth has his thoughts, his time choked with business. Or again another is absorbed with the sweet voices of pleasure. It is impossible to win with these weights, and he who attempts to do so will be like one beating the air.
IV. Want of energy. Activity is the soul of earthly business. How much more important is it in a contest such as a race or a fight And in spiritual matters energy is quite as essential. (J J. S. Bird.)
Fight wisely
1. To fight wisely is not to fight at a venture, but with a definite aim. Ahab, indeed was shot by an arrow sent at a venture; but this is told us to magnify the Providence of God, who, in His designs, can direct the aimless shaft whithersoever it pleases Him; not to teach us that aimless shafts are likely on common occasions to be successful. Yet what is the warfare of many Christians but the sending of shafts at a venture?
2. The first work of the politic spiritual warrior will be to discover his besetting sin, and having discovered it, to concentrate all his disposable force before this fortress. Just as each individual has a certain personal configuration, distinguishing him from all other men, so there is some sin or sins which more than others is conformable to his temperament, and therefore more easily developed by his circumstances–which expresses far more of his character than others. This bosom sin is eminently deceitful. Its especial property is to lurk.
(1) The besetting sin of many is vanity. Who knows not how it apes humility, so as really to impress its possessor with the notion that he is humble? Intensely self-satisfied in his heart of hearts, he depreciates himself in conversation. What follows? Men say to him, as in the parable, Go up higher. He has been fishing for compliments, and compliments have risen to the hook. Is it not so? For would he not have bitterly resented it had any of the company taken him at his word?
(2) Some men cannot bear to be second. Whatever they do must be done seas to throw into the shade all competitors. The world dignifies this with the name of honourable emulation, and accepts it as a token of fine character. But, judged by the mind of Christ, how does the sentiment sound, Because I cannot outshine all rivals, therefore I will be nothing? It jars strangely with those words, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, &c. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, &c.
(3) A bosom sin, that it may the more easily escape detection, will wear the mask of another sin. Indolence, e.g., is a sin which carries with it omissions of duty. Prayer or Scripture reading is omitted or thrust away into a corner, because we have not risen sufficiently early. Things go cross during the day in consequence, and we trace it all up to the omission of prayer. But the fault lies deeper. It was indolence which really caused the mischief. One of the first properties, then, of the bosom sin with which it behoves us to be well acquainted, as the first step in the management of our spiritual warfare, is its property of concealing itself. In consequence of this, it often happens that a man, when touched upon his weak point, answers that whatever other faults he may have, this fault at least is no part of his character. It is to aid in bringing to light these secret sins that we make the following suggestions–
I. Praying heartily for the light of Gods Spirit to know thine own heart, observe and reason upon the results of self-examination. When this most salutary exercise has been pursued for a certain time, you will observe that the same failures are constantly recurring. The conclusion is almost inevitable that there is something serious beneath these constantly recurring failures. What is it?–selfishness, indolence, vanity, anxiety, &c. Remember always, that in the symptom, and on the surface, it may look like none of these, and yet be really and fundamentally one of them.
II. Let us have our eye upon the occurrences which specially give its pain or pleasure. They will often be the veriest trifles; but yet, be it what it may, the probabilities are that, by tracing it to its source, we shall get to the quick of our character, to that sensitive quarter of it where the bosom-adder lies coiled up.
III. When the discovery is made, the path of the spiritual combatant becomes clear, however arduous. Your fighting is to be no longer a flourishing of the arms in the air; it is to assume a definite form, it is to be a combat with the bosom sin. Appropriate mortifications must be adopted, such as common sense will suggest. If indolence be the besetting sin, we must watch against slovenliness in little things; if selfishness, we must lay ourselves out to consider the wishes of others; if discontent, we must review the many bright points of our position, and seek our happiness in our work. But the great matter to be attended to in each case is, that the whole forces of the will should be concentrated for a time in that one part of the field, in which the besetting sin has entrenched itself. Thus point and definiteness will be given to Christian effort.
IV. For each one of us, no business can be of more urgent importance than this discovery of our besetting sin. In conclusion, he who prays, Show me myself, Lord, should take good care to add, lest self-knowledge plunge him into despair, Show me also Thyself. The course recommended will probably lead us to the conclusion that our heart, which showed so fair without, is an Augean stable, which it requires a moral Hercules to cleanse; but the love of Christ and grace of Christ are stronger than our corruptions. (Dean Goulburn.)
Christian conflict
The prominent idea of spiritual life given in the New Testament is that of conflict. There is hardly one of the epistles of Paul in which the thought is not presented in some form. The same feature is found in the Epistles to the churches of Asia.
I. Some characteristics of the Christian strife.
1. Its individuality. It is the personal struggle of each man against the enemies of his salvation. Of the ultimate issue of the great strife of all time there is no doubt. In other warfares each soldier receives a certain amount of glory from the success of the host–but not so here. Each man for himself must fight the good fight, and by Gods grace lay hold on everlasting life.
2. Its reality. There was a time when the Christians were everywhere spoken against–when Paul knew that in every city bonds and imprisonment awaited him; and in the altered state of the times, and the change in feelings of men towards the gospel. Now the flesh is not less carnal, the world less alluring, the devil less Satanic.
3. Its variety. It is manifold in power but one in purpose. So is it–
(1) With the outward and visible conflict. Sometimes it is a mere strife of opinion, or it is a struggle for the assertion of the rights of conscience, or it is the resistance of virtue to some form of iniquity, or the manly effort in the cause of right to break the chains of tyranny.
(2) With the inner conflict of individuals. Some have to contend only against intellectual difficulties–in others it is the insidious growth of the world-spirit which they have to watch and resist. Others, again, have to contend against the self-righteous temper, or the mean, envious spirit, or the fierce passion. But, whatever phase the conflict assumes, we are contending against an enemy, who adapts his attacks to meet our individual cases, and the issue at stake is exactly the same.
4. Its bitterness.
(1) There is an intensity in the opposition directed against the gospel, which at first is not easy to explain. If the Bible be not true, our faith inflicts no injury to others. It is true that Christianity pronounces a certain doom on unbelief, but if it be, as infidels would have us think, a human invention, these threatenings need awaken no anxiety, and provoke no opposition, Yet there is no weapon that can be employed against the gospel that is not put in requisition.
(2) So with regard to Christian practice. If Christians are striving after too high an ideal, they are the sufferers. Why employ against them the weapons of ridicule and calumny–why not treat them as weak enthusiasts to be pitied rather than seriously opposed? Yet it has never been so. The light will ever be hateful to those who love the darkness.
(3) As in the world, so in the Christians heart. Here is a battle of life and for life, where no quarter will be given, and no compromise can be attempted. This is, of all kinds of contests, the most fearful. It is not one of those mock encounters of the tourneys of chivalry, where knights sought to prove their prowess, without receiving or inflicting deadly injury. But it is a deadly wrestle with the foe in which we must conquer or die.
II. Some qualities of the Christian soldier.
1. Perfect consecration. A whole-hearted service is what the Captain of our salvation expects from all who follow Him. This warfare must be the one business of his life who would fight a good fight, and lay hold on everlasting life.
2. Simple faith. This is emphatically the good fight of faith. It is the struggle between the love of the things that are seen and temporal and the things which are unseen and eternal, and only through faith can the spiritual principle be victorious. Faith in the leader, not in the excellence of the cause–in a person, not in a principle–in Christ Himself and not in any creed, will give us the victory. Even in earthly conflicts nothing seems to breathe such spirit into a host as the presence of a favourite captain. Have faith in Christ, and neither earth nor hell can prevail against you.
3. Undoubting assurance as to the issue. This is the grand distinction between this and all earthly toils. There a man may be faithful and diligent and yet fail. But here we run not as uncertainly, we fight not as one that beateth the air. He who hath begun a good work in us will perform the same until the day of Jesus Christ. Conclusion: This is a conflict in which no man can be a mere spectator. We are all fighting under the banners of the King of kings or of the Prince of darkness; to which host do you belong? The question is surely not to he lightly dismissed, since on it hang the issues of life and death. (J. Guinness Rogers, B. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 26. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly] In the foot-course in those games, how many soever ran, only one could have the prize, however strenuously they might exert themselves; therefore, all ran uncertainly; but it was widely different in the Christian course, if every one ran as he ought, each would receive the prize.
The word , which we translate uncertainly, has other meanings.
1. It signifies ignorantly; I do not run like one ignorant of what he is about, or of the laws of the course; I know that there is an eternal life; I know the way that leads to it; and I know and feel the power of it.
2. It signifies without observation; the eyes of all the spectators were fixed on those who ran in these races; and to gain the applause of the multitude, they stretched every nerve; the apostle knew that the eyes of all were fixed upon him.
1. His false brethren waited for his halting:
2. The persecuting Jews and Gentiles longed for his downfall:
3. The Church of Christ looked on him with anxiety:
4. And he acted in all things as under the immediate eye of God.
Not as one that beateth the air] Kypke observes, that there are three ways in which persons were said, , to beat the air.
1. When in practising for the combat they threw their arms and legs about in different ways, thus practising the attitudes of offence and defence. This was termed , fighting with a shadow. To this Virgil alludes when representing Dares swinging his arms about, when he rose to challenge a competitor in the boxing match:-
Talis prima Dares caput altum in praelia tollit,
Ostenditque humeros latos, alternaque jactat
Brachia protendens, et verberat ictibus auras.
AEn. v., ver. 375.
Thus, glorying in his strength, in open view
His arms around the towering Dares threw;
Stalked high, and laid his brawny shoulders bare,
And dealt his whistling blows in empty air. Pitt.
2. Sometimes boxers were to aim blows at their adversaries which they did not intend to take place, and which the others were obliged to exert themselves to prevent as much as if they had been really intended, and by these means some dexterous pugilists vanquished their adversaries by mere fatigue, without giving them a single blow.
3. Pugilists were said to beat the air when they had to contend with a nimble adversary, who, by running from side to side, stooping, and various contortions of the body, eluded the blows of his antagonist; who spent his strength on the air, frequently missing his aim, and sometimes overturning himself in attempting to hit his adversary, when this, by his agility, had been able to elude the blow. We have an example of this in Virgil’s account of the boxing match between Entellus and Dares, so well told AEneid. v., ver. 426, c., and which will give us a proper view of the subject to which the apostle alludes: viz. boxing at the Isthmian games.
Constitit in digitos extemplo arrectus uterque,
Brachiaque ad superas interritus extulit auras.
Abduxere retro longe capita ardua ab ictu
Immiscentque manus manibus, pugnamque lacessunt.
Ille [Dares] pedum melior motu, fretusque juventa;
Hic [Entellus] membris et mole valens; sed tarda trementi
Genua labant, vastos quatit aeger anhelitus artus.
Multa viri nequicquam inter se vulnera jactant,
Multa cavo lateri ingeminant, et pectore vasto
Dant sonitus; erratque aures et tempora circum
Crebra manus; duro crepitant sub vulnere malae,
Stat gravis Entellus, nisuque immotus eodem,
Corpore tela modo atque oculis vigilantibus exit.
Ille, velut celsam oppugnat qui molibus urbem,
Aut montana sedet circum castella sob armis;
Nunc hos, nunc illos aditus, omnemque pererrat
Arte locum, et variis assultibus irritus urget.
Ostendit dextram insurgens Entellus, et alte
Extulit: ille ictum venientem a vertice velox
Praevidit, celerique elapsus corpore cessit.
Entellus VIRES IN VENTUM EFFUDIT; et ultro
Ipse gravis, graviterque ad terram pontere vasto
Concidit: ut quondam cava concidit, aut Erymantho,
Aut Ida in magna, radicibus eruta pinus.–
Consurgunt studiis Teucri et Trinacria pubes;
It clamor coelo: primusque accurrit Acestes,
AEquaevumque ab humo miserans attollit amicum.
At non tardatus casu, neque territus heros,
Acrior ad pugnam redit, ac vim suscitat ira:
Tum pudor incendit vires, et conscia virtus;
Praecipitemque Daren ardens agit aequore toto;
Nunc dextra ingeminans ictus, nunc ille sinistra
Nec mora, nec requies: quam multa grandine nimbi
Culminibus crepitant; sic densis ictibus heros
Creber utraque manu pulsat versatque Dareta.
Both on the tiptoe stand, at full extent;
Their arms aloft, their bodies inly bent;
Their heads from aiming blows they bear afar,
With clashing gauntlets then provoke the war.
One [Dares] on his youth and pliant limbs relies;
One [Entellus] on his sinews, and his giant size.
The last is stiff with age, his motions slow;
He heaves for breath, he staggers to and fro.–
Yet equal in success, they ward, they strike;
Their ways are different, but their art alike.
Before, behind, the blows are dealt; around
Their hollow sides the rattling thumps resound;
A storm of strokes, well meant, with fury flies,
And errs about their temples, ears, and eyes:
Nor always errs; for oft the gauntlet draws
A sweeping stroke along the crackling jaws.
Hoary with age, Entellus stands his ground;
But with his warping body wards the wound;
His head and watchful eye keep even pace,
While Dares traverses and shifts his place;
And, like a captain who beleaguers round
Some strong-built castle, on a rising ground,
Views all the approaches with observing eyes; *
This, and that other part, in vain he tries, *
And more on industry than force relies. *
With hands on high, Entellus threats the foe; *
But Dares watched the motion from below, *
And slipped aside, and shunned the long descending blow. *
Entellus wastes his forces on the wind;
And thus deluded of the stroke designed,
Headlong and heavy fell: his ample breast,
And weighty limbs, his ancient mother pressed.
So falls a hollow pine, that long had stood
On Ida’s height or Erymanthus’ wood.–
Dauntless he rose, and to the fight returned;
With shame his cheeks, his eyes with fury burned:
Disdain and conscious virtue fired his breast,
And, with redoubled force, his foe he pressed;
He lays on loads with either hand amain,
And headlong drives the Trojan o’er the plain,
Nor stops, nor stays; nor rest, nor breath allows; *
But storms of strokes descend about his brows; *
A rattling tempest, and a hail of blows. *
Dryden.
To such a combat as this the apostle most manifestly alludes: and in the above description the reader will see the full force and meaning of the words, So fight I, not as one that beateth the air-I have a real and a deadly foe; and as I fight not only for my honour but for my life, I aim every blow well, and do execution with each.
No man, who had not seen such a fight, could have given such a description as that above; and we may fairly presume that when Virgil was in Greece he saw such a contest at the Isthmian games, and therefore was enabled to paint from nature.
Homer has the same image of missing the foe and beating the air, when describing Achilles attempting to kill Hector, who, by his agility and skill, (Poetice by Apollo,) eluded the blow:-
‘
, ‘ .
ILIAD, lib. xx., ver. 445
Thrice struck Pelides with indignant heart,
Thrice, in impressive air, he plunged the dart.-Pope.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The apostle proposeth his own example. As it is observed in country work, he that only bids his servants do work, and puts not his own hand to it, or at least doth not attend and overlook them in their work, hath little done: so it is as observable in spiritual work, that a minister of the gospel, who only, in the pulpit, dictates duty to others, but, out of it, doth nothing of himself, seldom doth any good by his preaching. People not naturally inclined to any spiritual duty, have the old proverb: Physician, cure thyself, at their tongues end, and are hard to believe that teacher, who doth not in some measure live up to his own doctrine. Therefore, saith the apostle:
I run; I am in the same race with you, and running to the same mark and for the same prize. I give you no other counsel than I myself take; I endeavour so to live, so in all things to behave myself, as I may not be at uncertainties whether I please God by my actions, or shall get to heaven, yea or not. I am a fellow soldier with you, fighting against sin; I make it my great business, not so to fight, so to resist sin, as if I did
beat the air; that is, get no more fruit, profit, or advantage by it, than if I threw stones against the wind, or with a staff did beat the air. It is not every running, or every fighting, that will bring a man to heaven; it must be a running with all our might, and continuing our motion till we come to the end of our race; a fighting with all our might, and that against all sin.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
26. IPaul returns to his mainsubject, his own self-denial, and his motive in it.
run, not as uncertainlynotas a runner uncertain of the goal. Ye Corinthians gain no end in yourentering idol temples or eating idol meats. But I, for mypart, in all my acts, whether in my becoming “all things to allmen,” or in receiving no sustenance from my converts, have adefinite end in view, namely, to “gain the more.” I knowwhat 1 aim at, and how to aim at it. He who runs with a clear aim,looks straightforward to the goal, makes it his sole aim, casts awayevery encumbrance (Heb 12:1;Heb 12:2), is indifferent to whatthe by-standers say, and sometimes even a fall only serves to rousehim the more [BENGEL].
not as one that beateth theairinstead of beating the adversary. Alluding to thesciamachia or sparring in the school in sham-fight(compare 1Co 14:9), whereinthey struck out into the air as if at an imaginary adversary. Thereal adversary is Satan acting on us through the flesh.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I therefore so run,…. The apostle animates the Corinthians by his own example, telling them that he ran so as he exhorted them; he ran with cheerfulness and swiftness in the way marked out for him, looking to Jesus; continuing steadfast in the profession of his faith, and discharge of his duty as a Christian, and in preaching the Gospel as a minister; and nothing had he more at heart, than to finish his course with joy:
not as uncertainly; as one that knew not, or was in doubt about the way in which he should run, and so ran in and out, sometimes in the way, sometimes out of it; since it was clearly pointed out to him in the word of God: the allusion is to the white line which was drawn from the place the runners set out at to the goal; so that they did not run uncertainly, nor could they be at a loss to steer their course: nor did the apostle run, for what, as the Syriac version renders it, , “is unknown”: he knew what he ran for, for the incorruptible crown of glory, he knew the nature of it; nor was he uncertain as to the event and issue of his running; he knew that this crown was laid up safe and secure, that it would be given him, and he should wear it; he had no doubt at all about it; and with this certain knowledge both of the way and prize, and full assurance of faith and hope, he ran:
so fight I, not as one that beateth the air. The allusion is here to fighting with the fist, when, before the combat was entered on, the person used to swagger about, and beat about with his fists, striking the air with them, having no adversary before him; only showing what he could do if he had one, or when he should encounter: so did not the apostle, he did not fight with his own shadow, or a man of straw, or beat the empty air; but gave home blows to real adversaries, Satan, the world, and the flesh; the latter of which is particularly mentioned in the next verse.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
So (). Both with (run) and (fight).
As not uncertainly ( ). Instead of exhorting them further Paul describes his own conduct as a runner in the race. He explains . old adverb, only here in N.T. His objective is clear, with Christ as the goal (Php 3:14). He kept his eye on Christ as Christ watched him.
Fight (). Paul changes the metaphor from the runner to the boxer. Old verb (only here in N.T.) from (pugilist) and that from (fist). See on Mr 7:3).
As not beating the air ( ). A boxer did this when practising without an adversary (cf. doing “the daily dozen”) and this was called “shadow-fighting” (). He smote something more solid than air. Probably negatives , though it still occurs with the participle as a strong and positive negative.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Uncertainly [] . Only here in the New Testament. The kindred adjective adhlov not manifest, occurs Luk 11:44 (see note) and 1Co 14:8. Compare also ajdhlothv uncertainty, 1Ti 6:17. He runs with a clear perception of his object, and of the true manner and result of his striving.
Fight I [] . Only here in the New Testament. Distinctively of fighting with the fists, and evidently in allusion to the boxing – match. Rev., in margin, box. Etymologically akin to pugmh the fist; see on oft, Mr 7:3. Beateth the air. A boxer might be said to beat the air when practicing without an adversary. This was called skiamacia shadow – fighting. Or he might purposely strike into the air in order to spare his adversary; or the adversary might evade his blow, and thus cause him to spend his strength on the air. The two latter may well be combined in Paul ‘s metaphor. He strikes straight and does not spare. Compare Virgil, in the description of a boxing – match :
” Entellus, rising to the work, his right hand now doth show Upreared, but he, the nimble one, foresaw the falling blow Above him, and his body swift writhed skew – wise from the fall.
Entellus spends his stroke on air. “” Aeneid,” 5, 443. Morris’ Translation.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) I therefore so run. toinun houtos trecho) I run accordingly or after the same manner” – for an incorruptible crown. Every child of God should strive for perfection or maturity in the Christian race, Mat 5:48; Eph 4:12-13; Heb 12:1-2.
2) “Not as uncertainly. (hos ouk adelos) “Not as unclearly” – “in no uncertain fashion.”
3) So fight I. (houtos pukteus) I strike like a trained pugilist, making the strikes count.” At the end of life he could affirm that he had fought a good fight – and that a crown thus awaited him, 2Ti 4:7-9.
4) “Not as one that beateth the air. (hos ouk aera deron) “Not as one air-beating or flailing the air, throwing random or vain blows!” Christian service and fruitbearing will gain (not an entrance), but an “abundant entrance,” an entrance with rewards to the Christian pursuing Christian service virtuously, 2Pe 1:10-11.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
26. I therefore so run He returns to speak of himself, that his doctrine may have the more weight, on his setting himself forward by way of pattern. What. he says here some refer to assurance of hope — (Heb 6:11) — “I do not run in vain, nor do I run the risk of losing my labor, for I have the Lord’s promise, which never deceives.” It rather appears to me, however, that his object is to direct the course of believers straight forward toward the goal, that it may not be wavering and devious. “The Lord exercises us here in the way of running and wrestling, but he sets before us the object at which we ought to aim, and prescribes a sure rule for our wrestling, that we may not weary ourselves in vain.” Now he takes in both the similitudes that he had employed. “I know,” says he, “ whither I am running, and, like a skillful wrestler, I am anxious that I may not miss my aim.” Those things ought to kindle up and confirm the Christian breast, so as to devote itself with greater alacrity to all the duties of piety; (515) for it is a great matter not to wander in ignorance through uncertain windings.
(515) “ Toutes choses concenantes la piete et crainte de Dieu;” — “All things that relate to piety and the fear of God.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(26) I therefore so run.The Apostle appeals to his own conduct as an illustration of the lesson which he is teaching, and by means of it reminds the reader that the whole of this chapter has been a vindication of his own self-denial, and that he has a clear and definite object in view.
So fight I.The illustration is changed from running to boxing, both being included in the word used in 1Co. 9:25, contending. He has an adversary to contend against, and he strikes him, and does not wildly and impotently strike at him, and so only beat the air.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
26. Uncertainly Making sure work; leaving nothing to chance.
So fight As a boxer.
Beateth the air Alluding, not to the mock-fight ( , shadow-fight) used by combatants beforehand for practice, but to the missing his antagonist and striking into vacancy. It stands parallel to uncertainly. Both in his race and his battle Paul did a sure business. In the battle for eternity there is an infinite difference between winning the crown and becoming a castaway.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘I therefore so run, as not uncertainly; so do I fight, as not beating the air, but I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage, lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected (‘rejected after testing’).’
Indeed they should be like Paul who puts everything into his effort. Not running aimlessly and half-heartedly, but intent on obtaining the prize. Not fighting wildly and beating the air, but instead fighting with control and picking off his opponent. He fights carefully and thoughtfully. Indeed he also buffets his own body, in order, as it were, to make it controlled. He had no doubt seen boxers pummelling their own bodies in order to harden them. So does he use every means to bring his own body, and his spirit, under control and make it strong. He will do anything to ensure that, having taught others to do it, he himself does not lose out, and fail to achieve the prize.
Some see the thought behind his fear of being ‘rejected’ as that of being rejected from receiving ‘the prize for being top man’, not of being rejected altogether. And that would fit the immediate context. However, the verses that follow may be seen as suggesting that he is talking of being rejected altogether. But either way we should note that it is theoretical as far as he is concerned. He is not fearful that he will fail, he only recognises that in order not to fail he has to put in full effort. And so must all. There is nothing more dangerous than complacency.
Paul’s point is that while it is true that God is at work within us to will and to do of His good pleasure, this should not make us complacent. We must co-operate. We should work out what He has worked in, ‘with fear and trembling’, that is with the greatest of care and effort. The fact that it is God Who enables us to walk and live the holy life, that Christ lives and walks within us (Gal 2:20), should not produce slackness. Rather it should result in total self-control and effort as we allow Him to live His life through us. he cannot live His life through us unless we are responsive to His will.
‘I myself should be rejected (adokimos).’ The word adokimos means ‘not standing the test, unfit, disqualified’. This raises the question in many minds as to whether someone who has become a true Christian can ever be lost. On the one hand are those who see it as referring it to merely being disqualified from being the prizewinner even though being a genuine participant. Aiming to win the single prize is what the passage is all about. On the other are those who would argue that it means finally rejected and lost.
Our view on that will depend on our views on the faithfulness of God, our views on what exactly He has promised, and on the nature of salvation itself. Those who believe that we have been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, and have been personally foreknown (‘related to beforehand’) by God Himself (Rom 8:29; Eph 1:4) will have no doubt that He will accomplish His purpose. Such people will point to 1Co 1:8-9; Php 1:6; Jud 1:24, Joh 10:28-29 emphasising that the saving work is in the hands of an unfailing Saviour. How then can it fail? But it should be noted that in both contexts there is the confirmation that such people will be made Christlike. There is no thought of salvation without eventual transformation, wrought by Christ.
However, others turn to this verse and the ‘warning passages’ in Heb 6:4-8; Heb 10:26-31. In these the emphasis is on man’s failure to persevere. And they feel that it suggests that it is possible for a saved man to be finally lost (even though it is a contradiction in terms). The question then is, do these verses point to true believers who are finally lost through falling short and turning from Christ, or do they refer to those who, although they may have made a strong profession, have a faith which is not really saving faith?
This last distinction is constantly made in Scripture. Jesus in the parable of the sower spoke of those who sprang up quickly but, because there was no depth of earth, withered away because they were not good ground (see Mar 4:16-19 in contrast with 1Co 9:20). Hebrews 6 also distinguishes between good and bad ground. It is those who are bad ground who fall away. John in his Gospel speaks clearly of two types of faith, outward and inward, faith in signs and personal faith in Jesus (see Joh 2:24-25). The thought would seem to be that they fell away because their hearts were not good ground, they had not been properly prepared by God, it was not the work of the Spirit.
The suggestion then is clearly that the final test of whether the ground is good is that they have true faith which results in perseverance, not just because the person perseveres, but because the Saviour perseveres in them. They are His sheep, secure in His keeping (Joh 10:28-29). If they stray He seeks them until he finds them (Luk 15:4). That being so they cannot finally remain lost. He has made them good ground, and will keep them so.
How then can I know that my faith is saving faith? Simply by asking myself what my true aim is. Have I come to Him because I want to be truly saved, because I have become aware of my own sinfulness and that Christ crucified is my only hope? Is it because I really want to be changed, because I really want to become like Him, even though I know that I cannot do it myself? I may feel inadequate. I may sometimes be almost in despair. But am I looking to Him to do that gradual transforming work within me? Do I really seek His Lordship? Do I genuinely want to please Him? Then I am truly saved, and He will not let me go simply because I am weak. It is not the weak who need to fear but the complacent. If my aim is simply to get to Heaven without my life being too much disturbed then I need to rethink my position. Salvation is not a fire insurance. I may end up being ‘rejected after testing’. I may turn out to be a pretence, a counterfeit, a forgery.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Co 9:26. Irun, not as uncertainly The stadia, or courses of the Greeks, were like the courses of our horse-races, marked with posts and other signs, that shewed the racer which way he was to run, and of which he could not be ignorant; and the word rendered uncertainly, is often used for ignorantly. It may also refer to the certainty of obtaining the prize, on condition of observing the laws of the course; and our translation may be very well understood in that sense. The word may have another sense, which will refer to the spectators, who would not pass by the victorious runner without distinction and notice. “I run, not as one who is to pass undistinguished; but, knowing what eyes are upon me, and solicitous to gain the approbation of my judge, and attending with diligence to the boundaries which are marked out, I exert myself to the utmost.” In order to acquire a greater agility and dexterity, it was usual for those who intended to box in the games, to exercise themselves with the gauntlet, and to fling their arms about, as if they were engaging with a real combatant. This was called beating the air. Hence it came to be a proverbial expression for a man’s missing his blow, when he aimed at his enemy; which seems to be the meaning of the Apostle, who does not confine himself absolutely to a single branch of contest in these games. See Hammond, Doddridge, Elsner, West, and on 1Co 9:24.
1Co 9:27. But I keep under my body ‘, rendered I keep under, signifies properly to strike on the face, as the boxers did; and particularly on that part under the eyes which they especially aimed at. Hence it often signifies a livid tumour on that part, and sometimes is proverbially used for a face terribly bruised, and disfigured, like that of a boxer just come from the combat. The Apostle hereby intimates, that he made use of the greatest rigour and severity to subject his appetites to the dominion of grace. The word , rendered bring into subjection, is borrowed fromanother kind of competitors in the Isthmian games,the wrestlers; and alludes to the practice of giving their adversary a fall, so as to secure the victory. Hence the Apostle shews himself to be so far from using his Christian liberty to its full extent, that he, through grace, subdued himself, and abstained from many things which he might have lawfully enjoyed; and endured many hardships from which he might have been exempted, in order to acquire the crown, or reward, which can never fall to the lot of the indolent. The word , rendered preached, expresses the office of a herald at the Isthmian games; who from a scaffold, or some eminence, proclaimed the conditions of the games, displayed the prizes, exhorted the combatants, awakened the emulation and resolution of those who were to contend, declared the terms of the contest, and pronounced the names of the victors. The Apostle, however, intimates, that there was this peculiar circumstance attending the Christian contest, that the person who proclaimed its laws and rewards to others, was also to engage himself; and that there would be a peculiar infamy and misery in miscarrying in such circumstances. rendered cast away, or rejected, signifies one who is disapproved of by the judge of the games, as not having fairly deserved the prize. Hence the word signifies to miscarry, and lose what is contended for. See Rom 1:28. Hammond, Bos, Elsner, Faber’s Agonist. lib. 3 : 100: 14 and R. Bentley, apud Wetstein.
Inferences.To quicken us in the pursuit of our heavenly reward, it may be proper, first, to enforce the Apostle’s argument, which represents the excellence of it; and, secondly, to remember the methods which he both prescribed and practised for obtaining it.
The motives taken from his words before us may be two,the value of the crown,and the possibility of obtaining it; and a little reflection upon each might suffice for the answering of his purpose, did but men bring along with them a disposition to let any arguments in this cause have their full force upon them.
The comparison here brought lies between one crown and another; (1Co 9:25.) both looked upon as an ample recompence for the pains taken to obtain them; but with this difference, that in reality the value of the one is imaginary, and depends upon common estimation only; that of the other is intrinsic, and substantial, and commonly rated as much lower, as the former is higher than it deserves to be; and that, as upon other accounts, so particularly because admitting (in compliance with the mistaken notions of the world) that each is a good one; yet, when taken at the very best, it is evident the one can be but short and perishing,whereas the other is fixed and everlasting;the one a corruptible crown, the other an incorruptible.
Of the former, the corruptible sort,are plainly all those advantages of the present world, for which mankind so eagerly contend: they are fickle and fugitive; not only allayed by numberless abatements, which check our delights, and disturb our enjoyment, while we continue in possession of them; not only exposed to infinite accidents, perpetually conspiring to deprive us of them; but like the garlands here alluded to by St. Paul, which wither of themselves; in their own nature transient and fading, and such as it is not possible for the utmost art and care to preserve.To spend time in proving this by descending to particulars, is needless: experience and common sense have done it amply to our hands, and we may appeal to any man alive whether this be not the case of all the most envied temporal privileges and conveniences of human nature.
Yet these are the prizes for which we see so much bustling and struggle in the world around us; these are the things upon which men think all the expence and hardships of long instruction and severe education in youth,all the toil and danger of ripe and vigorous age,laborious days and restless nights,compassings of sea and land,the caprice of courts,the fatigues of camps, the trial of every element and climate;in a word, ease, safety, health,peace of body, and life, and too often conscience and the immortal soul, wisely laid out and employed.Things they are, indeed, which have their comforts, when sought and used in due place and proportion; but when pursued and loved inordinately, they destroy the very purposes that they should serve; they are therefore most improper to be made the chief aim and end of living, and utterly unworthy even of a small part of that, which the generality of people are content to do and suffer for them.
But there is another discouragement behind, which, added to the former, one would imagine must damp the vehemence of these pursuits;It is not the difficulty only, but the great uncertainty of compassing the prize they aim at. The numberless disappointments of men’s expectations sufficiently demonstrate the fact, and might be a suitable check to their avidity, if any could avail;nay, and thus our own reason will tell us it must be, where the advantage aimed at has so many seekers; where there is not enough in the things sought to satisfy all; where, of those pretenders, the gain of one must, generally speaking, be the diminution of that of another; and consequently, where every candidate finds it necessary for his private interest to outstrip, or to hinder others from making good their point, in order to secure and carry his own.
Such is the condition even of the best of those things, to which we can suppose the corruptible crown here mentioned is capable of being applied:the riches,the honours,the pleasures of this life. The happiness and rewards of another, manifestly intended by the crown incorruptible, are great beyond expression, and their inconceivable excellence renders it impossible to give them a full or worthy representation. It may well suffice to observe, that the Apostle sets these in direct opposition to, and that they are in every particular just the reverse of the other:A crown indeed;as that denotes the highest honour, the greatest affluence, the firmest security; the only crown, whose splendour does not deceive with false ideas, as having no weight of cares to make it burdensome, no dangers to allay its glory, but all bright, stable, and permanent.
This crown, besides its own value, is the more worth our striving for, because it is not like all others, peculiar to some one, exclusive of the rest who contend for and aspire after it; but capable of being attained by every one who seeks it: sufficient to answer, nay, infinitely to exceed, the largest wishes and expectations of them all; and so far from lessening the fruition to ourselves, by having partners in the bliss; that as no single person’s endeavours shall meet disappointment, who seeks it regularly and faithfully, so the more zealously each labours to promote the happiness of his brethren, the more effectually does he establish and aggrandize his own. And this is a happiness not only exquisite in degree, and in its nature pure, satisfactory, and truly excellent; but for its duration, everlasting, always growing, always fresh; liable to no interruption, no abatement, no decay; a joy which, no man can, a joy which God, who gives it, never will take from his glorified saints.
It is not perhaps easy to think of a more powerful incitement to quicken our pursuits after heavenly things, than the putting us in mind how we usually behave ourselves when we have earthly advantages in view. For, alas! what excuse can be found for a folly, which overlooks and slights a treasure certainly attainable, real, perfect, and ever-during, and lays out the whole of our time and pains upon shadows and bubbles;things in comparison empty and imaginary, often sought in vain, deceitful when found, not worth our keeping when possessed, and not possible to be kept long, were we never so desirous to retain them?
The Apostle, by comparing the Christian’s duty to a race, doubtless intended to insinuate what vigour, what regularity, and what perseverance is expected from us: and in regard that the prize is given by the Master of the race, this shews us the equity of submitting to his terms, the necessity of running in the way that he has drawn out for us, and not making to ourselves paths of our own desiring. This resemblance also teaches us the obligations that we are under to hold on our course with resolution, since nothing less than coming up to the goal can crown our endeavours.
How happy would it be for us, if the importance of the metaphor before us were considered as it ought to be! Men would not then, as Isaiah expresses it, spend their money for that which is not bread, and their labour for that which satisfieth not. They would not make religion a thing by the bye, and allow it so few even of their leisure hours;so many fewer than they give even to the diversions and impertinencies of the world. They would not suffer the pains and expence which they are content to be at upon the occasions and vanities of this life, so greatly to exceed those scanty droppings so hardly extorted from an over-grown treasure, to works of piety and charity. In a word, they would not appear so extremely solicitous about trifles; such prudent managers in affairs of little consequence, and so wretchedly cold and careless, languid and unthinking in their main, their eternal, their only concern.
Did they reflect at all, their own example would reproach them into better sense; their very pleasures would awaken a remembrance of their duty; and every temporal race would expose the absurdity of exerting all their powers to win a poor despicable prize, and of sitting still with their hands folded, when engaged in a course, whose end and prize is an immortal crown of glory.
From the figure used by the Apostle, we also learn, that it is the master’s and judge’s part to prescribe, and the runner’s to submit and comply with the rules of the race. For want of this reflection, how is the face of the Christian world deformed with pernicious errors, wild enthusiasms, frivolous superstitions, and the religion of many compounded of monstrous absurdities, suited to each person’s complexion or passion, humour or interest! How is the scripture racked and distorted to make it speak the sense of private opinions, or differing parties; and the belief and practice of many, no longer the gospel of Jesus Christ, but the dictates of daring men, presumptuous enough to pervert it; not building up the temple of the Lord, but erecting new schemes, and setting them upon sandy foundations of their own!
Well were it for mankind, if a remembrance of our life being a race would encourage the steadfastness, watchfulness, and perseverance even of those who have in a good measure escaped the pollutions of the world; who have detected the cunning craftiness of them who lie in wait to deceive, and have begun to run well. For if St. Paul,if he who was caught up into the third heaven,favoured with extraordinary visions and revelations, above the power of human tongue to utter,entrusted with the conversion of so many nations, and indefatigably laborious in that ministry;If he, notwithstanding all these advantages, found it necessary to keep under his body, and bring it into subjection; (1Co 9:27.) If he saw reason to fear, that otherwise, after having preached to others, he should himself be a cast-away; what care can be too great for us, whose attachments and zeal are so much less! How can we answer it to God, or to our own souls, if we so far forget our own sinfulness and frailty, as not readily to submit to every method of forwarding us in the race that is set before us, and if we make not a diligent thankful use of every advantage and defence in this spiritual contest!
REFLECTIONS.1st, It seems probable that the false teachers had raised some objection against St. Paul’s authority as an apostle, because he had not asserted that right to a maintenance which was due to his office; and, waving his privilege, had refused to be burdensome to his Corinthian brethren.
1. He vindicates his authority: if he had not insisted on a maintenance, it was for their sakes that he had waved this right. Am I not an apostle, because I have acted thus disinterestedly? am I not free to claim a subsistence, if I choose it? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? and received my commission immediately from him? Are not ye my work in the Lord? the converts of my ministry, and the fruit of my labours in the gospel? If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you, who owe to me chiefly, as the instrument, all that you know and are: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord; the Lord attesting the truth of my mission, by the success with which he blessed my ministry to your souls. Note; (1.) The best of men and ministers may expect to meet with malignant revilers. (2.) They who have been blest under our ministry, have in themselves the strongest proof that we are sent of God.
2. He asserts his right to all the privileges of an apostle. In answer to those who presumed to sit in judgment on his character, he replies, Have we not power to eat and to drink? have not Barnabas and I a claim upon you for a maintenance, though we have not exerted it? Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, and to expect a provision for our families as we are travelling from place to place, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas? Or I only and Barnabas, who were particularly sent to the Gentiles, have not we power to forbear working? or are we alone obliged to earn with our hands that maintenance which the other apostles are entitled to for their work’s sake? How absurd and unreasonable is such a supposition! Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? the soldier has his stipend and provisions. Who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? the vine-dresser is fed with the produce of his toil: or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? If these are justly entitled to eat the labour of their hands, much more have the ministers of the gospel, who sustain all these characters, a right to a competent provision. Say I these things as a man? merely on the footing of equity? or saith not the law the same also? let even my judaizing opposers and maligners judge. For it is written in the law of Moses, thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn; but while he works, he shall be permitted to eat. Doth God take care for oxen? was this precept given merely with a reference to them? or saith he it altogether for our sakes, who labour in the gospel? for our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he that plougheth, breaketh up the fallow ground of the sinner’s heart, should plough in hope of a reasonable return; and that he that thresheth in hope, separating the chaff of corruption from the good seed of grace in the heart, should be partaker of his hope. And as the ploughman and thresher eat the fruit of their toils, so much more should the laborious minister in God’s spiritual husbandry have a just recompence of reward. If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing, or unreasonable for us to expect, or for you to give, that we should reap your carnal things, and have a maintenance, when the value between the spiritual blessings which we communicate, and the pittance that we should receive, is so disproportionate? If others be partakers of this power over you, and are supported at your expence, to whom you never were or can be so indebted as unto us; are not we rather entitled to a provision, if we chose to claim it? Nevertheless, we have not used this power, nor insisted on what we had a right to demand; but suffer all things, choosing to undergo any wants and hardships, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ, and raise a prejudice in your minds, that our views were mercenary. But do ye not know, that they which minister about holy things, live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar, are partakers with the altar, and receive their maintenance from their share in the sacrifices and oblations? Even so hath the Lord ordained, that they which preach the gospel, should live of the gospel. So that it appears, (1.) In the very reason of the thing; (2.) From the law of Moses; (3.) From Christ’s express institution, (Luk 10:7.) that the ministers of Christ have a right to be supported becomingly by those among whom they labour.
2nd. The Apostle mentions his own disinterested conduct; for nothing is more opposite to the character of a Christian minister, than the very shadow of mercenary views. I have used none of these things, nor ever claimed my right among you; neither have I written these things that it should be so done unto me on any future occasion: for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void: I had rather wear out my body with labour to minister to my own wants, than not preach the gospel to you freely, and thereby cut off occasion from those, who, if I received any recompence, would thence take a handle to prejudice you against me. For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me, and I cannot but obey the Master’s orders: yea, wo is unto me, if I preach not the gospel; I must be exposed to the bitterest accusations of unfaithfulness, and justly sink under the heavier vengeance. For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward; the consciousness of disinterested zeal is a satisfaction to my own soul, and the Lord will remember and reward my labours of love: but if against my will I labour, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me, and I am bound to be faithful. What is my reward then? verily, that when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, shewing the disinterested fidelity with which I act, and approving myself to God, and to my own conscience, that I abuse not my power in the gospel, nor exact even what I have authority to demand, demonstrating to the people, that I seek not theirs, but them. Note; For the sake of Christ it is prudent often to forego our rights and privileges, and to wave the claims to that reward to which our office and labours may entitle us.
3rdly. In other instances of Christian liberty, as well as the foregoing, the Apostle sets us a noble example of self-denial. For though I be free from all men, and under no obligations to be subservient to their will or humour; yet have I made myself servant unto all, willing in all indifferent matters to conform to them, and deny myself, that thus engaging their affections and attention, I might gain the more, and win them over to embrace the doctrines and ways of the gospel. And for this purpose, unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; not refusing to observe those ceremonials in their worship, to which, though indifferent in themselves, they were still attached. To them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; submitting to many of its ordinances, to engage the affection of my Jewish brethren, who still maintain their veneration for the divinely instituted service of the sanctuary. To them that are without law, as without law; not urging on them circumcision, or any of the ceremonial institutions, as at all necessary to salvation; but insisting on the necessity of faith in Christ alone, (being not without law to God, as if the moral law was abrogated, as well as the ceremonial; but under the law to Christ, walking in faith and holiness, according to the obligations which the gospel lays upon me) that I might gain them that are without law, and lay no needless obstacles in the way of the Gentiles, but, preaching the simple gospel, might engage their hearts to Jesus and his blessed service. To the weak became I as weak, condescending to their infirmities, and abstaining even from things innocent and lawful, where their conscience was scrupulous, that I might gain the weak, and lead them on to farther attainments of knowledge and grace. In short, I am made all things to all men, studying to please every man for his good to edification, that I might by all means save some, and, through the blessing of the Redeemer, be made the instrument of their conversion. And this I do for the gospel’s sake, if possible to remove all prejudice and objections, that I might be partaker thereof with you, and come to share with you in all its blessings and benefits. Note; It is highly our duty to avoid every unnecessary occasion of offence, and in all indifferent things to forego our own will and pleasure for the profit of our neighbour.
4thly. To quicken them to imitate his own example, and give all diligence to make their calling and election sure, he proposes to them the case of those who in the Isthmian games contended for victory. Know ye not that they which run in a race, run all, but one receiveth the prize? the prize itself was in value trivial, though such pains were used to obtain it; and only one could there possess the honour. Here the prize is no less than eternal life, and all who run perseveringly, are sure to win: so run then with faith, patience, and perseverance, that ye may obtain the inestimable reward. And again, every man that striveth for the mastery, and would overcome, as wrestlers or boxers in the games, is temperate in all things, that by observing the most exact regimen, and bringing their bodies into the best order, they may be the better prepared for the conflict. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, of withering leaves and flowers; but we have an incorruptible crown of glory in view, compared with which theirs is poor and trivial; and therefore how much more are we bound to deny our appetites; with how much greater earnestness ought we to contend for victory, where we are sure, if we fight manfully, to conquer, and the reward will be so unutterably and eternally glorious. I therefore, in this view, so run with unwearied diligence my christian course, not as uncertainly, observing the prescribed path of duty. So fight I against the world, the flesh, and the devil, not as one that beateth the air, not merely exercising my arms as the boxers, that they might be ready for the combat; but I keep under my body, (, ) mortify its corrupt appetites, as the boxers, who beat their antagonists black and blue; and bring it into subjection, (, ) as the wrestlers, when their adversary was thrown under them; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others the necessity of such mortification, diligence, and self-denial, I myself, through negligence or unfaithfulness, should be overcome by my corrupted nature and spiritual foes, and be a cast-away at last, ( ), rejected by the great Judge, and counted unfit for the promised reward. And this holy jealousy which I feel for myself, I inculcate upon you, that in the use of all appointed means you may secure the glorious prize, and be approved of the Lord in the great day of his appearing. Note; (1.) In our Christian race and warfare, what diligence, constancy, and courage do we not need? blessed be God, there is help laid on one mighty to save; and looking to him, and perseveringly cleaving to him, we are sure to gain the prize. (2.) Our bodies are our great snare; and the mortification of sensual appetite is absolutely necessary in order to the salvation of the immortal soul. (3.) Holy jealousy over ourselves is the great preservative against apostacy. (4.) Many have appeared with zeal in the cause of Christ, and have been the means of saving others, who have perished themselves. Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Co 9:26-27 . So run I then , seeing that I, for my part, according to 1Co 9:25 , am prepared by such abstinence to strive for the incorruptible crown, in such a way as , etc. The apostle thus sets his own ethical mode of striving (as a runner and combatant) before his readers as a pattern. Respecting the following , which Paul has only in this passage, comp Luk 20:25 ; Heb 13:13 ; Hartung, Partik. II. p. 349; Baeumlein, Partik. p. 251 f.
] sc [1537] . The word means unapparent, not clear , reverse of . It may either be applied objectively to an action which is indistinct and not cognizable to others (Luk 11:44 ; 1Co 14:8 ); or subjectively , so that the man who acts, hopes, etc., is himself not clear, but uncertain and hesitating as to manner, aim, and result; comp 2Ma 7:34 ; Mal 4:4Mal 4:4 ; Thuc. i. 2. 1; Plato, Symp. p. 181 D; Soph. Trach. 667; Dem. 416. 4; Polyb. xxx. 4. 17, viii. 3. 2, vi. 56. 11, iii. 54. 5 : ; also in Xenoph., Plutarch, etc. So here; and hence we should render: not without a clearly conscious assurance and certainty of running so as to reach the goal . Comp Vulgate, “non in incertum;” Chrysostom: , , Phi 3:14 , , Bengel, “Scio quod petam et quomodo,” Melanchthon, “non coeco impetu sine cogitatione finis.” Hofmann takes it otherwise: “in whose case it is quite apparent whither he would go ,” thus bringing out the objective sense; comp also Grotius. But this would convey too little, for as a matter of course it must be plain in the case of every runner in a race whither he would go. Homberg’s rendering is better: “ut non in obscuro sim, sed potius inter reliquos emineam.” Comp Ewald: “not as in the dark, but as in the sight of all.” Still this does not correspond so well with the parallel , which implies the conception of the end in view. Alex. Morus and Billroth (comp Olshausen) understand it as meaning, not without definite aim ( not simply for private exercise ). But this runs counter to the whole context, in which Paul is set forth as an actual runner in a racecourse, so that the negative thus conveyed would be inappropriate.
] The boxer ought to strike his opponent, and not, missing him, to beat the air , to deal strokes in air . Comp the German phrase, “ in’s Blaue hinein .” See Eustath. a [1544] Il. p. 663, 17, and the instances given by Wetstein. Comp Theophilus, a [1546] Autol. iii. 1. The context (see above on .) forbids us to render, with Theodoret, Calovius, Bengel, Zachariae, Billroth, Rckert, Olshausen, Hofmann, and others: not in imaginary combat merely , without a real antagonist ( ). Respecting the in this passage, see Winer, p. 452 [E. T. 609].
. . [1547] ] but I beat my body blue , alteration of the construction, in order to make the thought stand out in a more independent way; comp on 1Co 7:37 . The , however, can have the effect only of presenting what is here stated as the opposite of , not as that whereby a man simply prepares himself for the contest (Hofmann, comp Pott). Paul regards his own body (the , Col 2:11 , the seat of the nature opposed to God, of the law in his members, comp Rom 6:6 ; Rom 7:23 ) as the adversary ( ), against whom he fights with an energetic and successful vehemence, just as a boxer beats the face of his opponent black and blue (respecting , comp on Luk 18:5 , and Bos, Exercitt. p. 140 ff.), so that those lusts (Gal 5:17 ), which war against the regenerate inner man, whose new principle of life is the Holy Spirit, lose their power and are not fulfilled. It is in substance the same thing as in Rom 8:13 ; comp Col 3:5 . The result of the . . [1553] is, that the body becomes submissive to the moral will, [1554] yea, the members become weapons of righteousness (Rom 6:13 ). Hence Paul adds further: . , I make it a slave (Diodorus, xii. 24; Theophrastus, Ep. 36; Theophyl. Simoc. Eph 4 ), which also “a pyctis desumptum est; nam qui vicerat, victum trahebat adversarium quasi servum,” Grotius. Against the abuse of this passage to favour ascetic scourgings of the body, see Deyling, Obss. I. p. 322 ff., Exo 3 .
] after having been a herald to others . The apostle still keeps to the same figure , comparing his preaching, in which he summoned and exhorted men to the Christian life, to the office of the herald who made known the laws of the games and called the champions to the combat. Rckert, who (with Chrysostom, Grotius, al [1555] ) regards . as denoting preaching without reference to the work of a herald, reminds us, in opposition to the above view (comp de Wette), that the herald certainly did not himself join in the combat. But this objection does not hold, for with Paul the case stood thus : He, in point of fact , was a herald, who joined personally in the contest ; and he had therefore to carry through his figure upon this footing, even although he thereby departed from the actually subsisting relations at the combats in the games.
] rejectaneus, unapproved, i.e. however, not “ne dignus quidem, qui ad certamen omnino admittar” (Pott), for Paul is, from 1Co 9:26-27 , actually in the midst of the contest, but praemio indignus ,
, Theodoret.
[1537] c. scilicet .
[1544] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.
[1546] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.
[1547] . . . .
[1553] . . . .
[1554] Comp. the weaker analogies in profane writers, as Xen. Mem. ii. 1. 28; Cicero, Off. i. 23. 79.
[1555] l. and others; and other passages; and other editions.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1968
THE MANNER IN WHICH ST. PAUL SOUGHT FOR HEAVEN
1Co 9:26-27. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I hare preached to others, I myself should be a cast-away.
THE Scripture teaches us no less by examples than by precepts. Doubless the great exemplar, which all are to follow, is the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom there was no sin at all. But, next to him, the Apostles deserve our regard. St. Paul frequently exhorts us to be imitators of him: but he always limits that counsel by the superior regard which we owe to Christ; and bids us to follow him, so far only as he followed Christ. In this view he introduces the passage which we have just read. He has been recommending to the Corinthians a holy self-denying conduct. To enforce his exhortation, he states to them how he acted under a variety of difficult circumstances: and lastly, in reference to the Isthmian Games which were celebrated in that city, he gives them, in the words before us, a very animated view of his own experience, which he proposes to them for their imitation.
We may notice in these words,
I.
The manner in which the Apostle exerted himself
It is scarcely necessary to say, that heaven was the prize for which he contended. For this he laboured,
1.
With careful attention [Note: The precise sense of the text cannot easily be determined. may mean, Not without distinguishing himself; and may mean, Not as one that misses his blow. The Author has given what he apprehends to be a just sense, without taking upon him to determine between the opinions of contending commentators. See Doddridge (on the place), who throws a beautiful light on the last clause of the text.]
[As the course was precisely marked out for those who ran in the race, so there were certain rules prescribed in every one of the games; in allusion to which St. Paul elsewhere says, If a man strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully [Note: 2Ti 2:5.]. Now in running the Christian race, there are rules indispensably necessary to be observed, if we would have the prize adjudged to us. One rule in particular we mention, because it is expressly specified by the Apostle, and because it virtually includes all others: it is, that we must look unto Jesus, as the pattern for our imitation, as the source of our strength, as the medium of our acceptance, as the Author and the Finisher of our faith [Note: Heb 12:1-2.]. Now the Apostle did not run as a person regardless of the rules, but as one who was determined in all things to observe them.
For want of this care, many who appear desirous of getting to heaven, fall short of it at last: they are not sufficiently instructed, especially in relation to the rule that has been specified: they are apt to satisfy themselves with rules of their own devising; and on this account they are found at last to have spent their strength for nought.]
2.
With ardent zeal
[A person who should be brandishing, as it were, his arms, and should beat the air in a way of sportive exercise, would be very unlike to one who was engaged in actual combat. Such a difference exists between those who merely profess to engage with their spiritual enemies, and those who are really warring a good warfare: nor is this difference less visible in the Christian world, than it would have been on the stage where such spectacles were exhibited. Now the Apostle was not a mere pretender to religion: he saw too much of the importance of eternal things to waste his time in empty professions: he knew that, if he did not vanquish his enemies, his enemies would destroy him; and therefore he strove to fight a good fight, and to quit himself like a man, who would rather die than yield.]
3.
With absolute self-denial
[Those who intended to engage in the different games, used much self-denial in the whole of their diet and mode of living, in order that they might be the better able to endure the fatigues and hardships which they must inevitably experience in the contest: and, when they came to the trial, they put forth all their strength, that they might gain the victory. The enemies with which the Apostle contended, were numerous and mighty. Those which he particularly refers to in the text, were, his own indwelling corruptions. He found that, in common with all others, he had lusts warring in his members, yea, warring against his soul. To subdue these, it was necessary that he should put forth all his strength. He had already gained a great advantage over them, as a man who had got his antagonists head under his arm, and was beating him in the face with all his might [Note: This seems to be implied in .]. He would not give them any liberty to regain their former ascendancy, but was determined to subdue them utterly.]
We shall easily account for these exertions, when we call to mind,
II.
The considerations by which he was actuated
It is painful to see how persons, who are enslaved by human systems, will wrest the Scriptures, to make them coincide with their own views. Did the Apostle mean to say, that he exerted himself thus, merely lest he should by any means be betrayed into some fault, which should cause him to be disapproved of men? Had he not respect to God also, and to his eternal state? No man living, whose judgment was not warped by a predilection for a system of his own, could doubt one moment but that the Apostle was actuated by two considerations;
1.
A hope of gaining the prize
[This is manifestly implied in his words: and such a hope is the main spring of activity to every Christian that is under heaven. The Apostle well knew, how infinitely an unfading crown of glory surpasses the perishable chaplets that were awarded to the victors in the different games. He could not endure the idea, that others should take so much pains to obtain a corruptible crown, which vet only one would win; and that he himself should be remiss in seeking an incorruptible crown, which all who contended earnestly for it must obtain. The securing of this he felt to be the one thing needful; and therefore he determined to make it the one object of his ambition.]
2.
A fear of losing it
[The person who executed the office of herald in the different games, introduced others, and encouraged them to the contest, but did not contend himself. But the Christian herald, who stirs up and encourages others to engage in the race or combat, must himself both run and fight: and, if he do not engage with his whole heart, however he may have animated others, he himself will not be deemed worthy of the prize. Now the Apostle felt that the same exertions were necessary for him as for all others; and that peculiar guilt and shame would attach to him, if he, after having preached successfully to others, should at last fail of success himself. On this account therefore he laboured to destroy the whole body of sin. He was conscious that the smallest advantage gained by his bodily appetites might be attended with the most fatal consequences; and therefore he strove to mortify his earthly members, and to crucify his flesh with its affections and lusts.]
Address
1.
Those who are satisfied with the name and profession of Christianity
[Were such a life as yours sufficient to obtain the prize, there were no propriety in such figures as the Apostle has used in the text. Be assured, that, if St. Paul found such exertions necessary for himself, they are no less so for you: and, that if he could not get to heaven without them, much less can you.]
2.
Those who have relaxed their exertions
[It is not the beginning well, but the enduring to the end, that will avail to the saving of the soul. Some indeed will say, Once a child of God, and always so: but God warns you, that if any man turn back, his soul shall have no pleasure in him. It is only by a patient continuance in well-doing that you can obtain the glory and honour and immortality which you profess to seek for. The labour that has been bestowed upon you is all in vain, if you do not maintain your steadfastness even to the end. Be not weary therefore in well-doing; for in due season you shall reap, if you faint not.]
3.
Those who are discouraged through apprehensions of failure
[Well might all be discouraged, if success depended on our own strength. But God has laid help upon One that is mighty; and it is our privilege to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. However weak therefore you yourselves are, and however powerful your enemies, you have no reason to despond, since, through the strength of Christ you can do all things.]
4.
Those who are contending earnestly for the faith and practice of the Gospel
[You know not indeed the precise measure of your course: but it is pleasing to reflect, that it may very soon be terminated, and that the prize shall be adjudged, not to the one who surpasses all others, but to all who run their race with patience. Methinks, the Saviour, the Judge of all, is holding forth the prize to you; and the whole host of heaven are witnesses of your exertions. Consider the countless multitudes that are already crowned, and that have bid an everlasting adieu to all the dangers of warfare, and the fatigues of running. Soon your hour also shall arrive: only, whenever it may arrive, let it find you exerting yourselves with all your might; that you may be able to say with your dying breath, I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me; and not unto me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
Ver. 26. Not as uncertainly ] For, 1. I forget those things that are behind, all worldly things. I set those by. 2. I have oculum ad metam (which was Ludovicus Vives’ motto), an eye upon the Mar 3:1-35 . I strain and stretch toward it. See all these Phi 3:13-14 . Duties are not to be done in a lazy, formal, customary strain, like the pace the Spaniard rides; but with utmost diligence and expedition.
That beats the air ] As young fencers use to do, but I beat mine adversary.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
26. ] I then ( emphatic recalls the attention from the incidental exhortation, and reminiscence of the Christian state, to the main subject, his own abstinence from receiving, and its grounds.
, as distinguished from other particles which imply restriction of what has been generally said to some particular object, indicates the dropping of minute or collateral points, and returning to the great necessary features of the subject , and this, as introducing some short and pithy determination or conclusion: see Hartung, Partikellehre, ii. 348. E.g., Xen. Cyr. vi. 3. 17, , , , , ) so run as ( , see reff.) not uncertainly (reff.: cf. also Polyb. iii. 54. 5, : ‘ uncertainly ,’ i.e. without any sure grounds of contending or any fixed object for which to contend; both these are included. Chrysostom rightly brings it into subordination to the main subject, the participation with idolaters: , ; , , , , , ; . , , . , , , , , . Hom. xxiii. p. 201); so fight I, as not striking the air (and not my adversary). The allusion is not to a or rehearsal of a fight with an imaginary adversary, as Chrys. ( ), Theophyl. al. m., but to a fight with a real adversary (viz. here, the body) in which the boxer vainly hits into the air, instead of striking his antagonist. So Entellus in the pugilistic combat, n. v. 446, ‘vires in ventum effudit,’ when Dares ‘ictum venientem a vertice velox Prvidit, celerique elapsus corpore cessit.’ See examples both of what is really meant, and of the , in Wetst.
Obs., in both places is used and not , as importing the matter of fact, and joined closely with the adverb in one case and the verb in the other.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Co 9:26-27 . “Therefore I so run, in no uncertain fashion; so I ply my fists, not like one that beats the air.” “ So as the context describes, and as you see me ( cf. 1Co 15:32 )”; the Ap. feels himself, while he writes, to be straining every nerve like the racer, striking home like the trained pugilist: for this graphic , cf. 1Co 15:11 , Gal 1:6 , 2Th 3:17 ; the adv [1388] would be otiose as mere antecedent to . (similarly in 1Th 4:8 ) brings in the prompt, emphatic inference drawn from the last clause: “We are fighting for the immortal crown I as a leader and exemplar; surely then I make no false step in the course, I strike no random blows.” is susceptible both of the objective sense prevailing in cl [1389] Gr [1390] , obscure, inconspicuous (preferred by Mr [1391] and Gd [1392] here, as though P. meant, “not keeping out of sight, in the ruck ”; cf. 1Co 14:8 ); and (preferably) of the subjective sense, unsure, without certain aim (Thuc., I. 2. 1; Plato, Symp . 181 D; Polybius) “ut non in incertum” (Bz [1393] ); “scio quod petam et quomodo” (Bg [1394] ); , (Cm [1395] ): cf. Phi 3:14 . The image of the race suggests that of pugilism ( ). another exercise of the Pentathlon of the arena: the former a familiar N.T. metaphor, the latter h.l . , “ut non aerem cdens” (Bz [1396] ), “smiting something more solid than air” ( negatives , not ), esp. my own body (1Co 9:27 ); cf. Virgil’s “verberat ictibus auras” ( n . 9:377). P.’s are no blows of a clumsy fighter that fail to land struck in’s Blaue hinein . Bg [1397] , Hf [1398] , Ed [1399] suppose him to be thinking of the , sham-fight , practised in training or by way of prelude, without an antagonist. means to flay , then beat severely, smite; cf . our vulgar hiding .
[1388] adverb
[1389] classical.
[1390] Greek, or Grotius’ Annotationes in N.T.
[1391]
[1392] F. Godet’s Commentaire sur la prem. p. aux Corinthiens (Eng. Trans.).
[1393] Beza’s Nov. Testamentum: Interpretatio et Annotationes (Cantab., 1642).
[1394] Bengel’s Gnomon Novi Testamenti.
[1395]
[1396] Beza’s Nov. Testamentum: Interpretatio et Annotationes (Cantab., 1642).
[1397] Bengel’s Gnomon Novi Testamenti.
[1398]
[1399] T. C. Edwards’ Commentary on the First Ep. to the Corinthians . 2
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
as. “As” should precede “not”.
uncertainly. Greek. adelos. Only here. Compare 1Co 14:8. 1Ti 6:17. He runs with clear understanding of the conditions and object. See “one thing”, Php 1:3, Php 1:13.
fight = fight with the fist, box. Greek. pukteuo. Only here. The noun pugme, fist, occ Mar 7:3. In these contests it was more than boxing. Instead of a padded glove the hand was covered with the cestus, which consisted of leather bands, studded with pieces of metal.
as one, &c. Read “as one not beating the air”. This was called skiamachia, shadow-fighting.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
26.] I then ( emphatic-recalls the attention from the incidental exhortation, and reminiscence of the Christian state, to the main subject, his own abstinence from receiving, and its grounds.
, as distinguished from other particles which imply restriction of what has been generally said to some particular object, indicates the dropping of minute or collateral points, and returning to the great necessary features of the subject,-and this, as introducing some short and pithy determination or conclusion: see Hartung, Partikellehre, ii. 348. E.g.,-Xen. Cyr. vi. 3. 17, , , , , ) so run as (-, see reff.) not uncertainly (reff.: cf. also Polyb. iii. 54. 5, :-uncertainly, i.e. without any sure grounds of contending or any fixed object for which to contend; both these are included. Chrysostom rightly brings it into subordination to the main subject, the participation with idolaters:- , ; , , , , , ; . , , . , , , , , . Hom. xxiii. p. 201); so fight I, as not striking the air (and not my adversary). The allusion is not to a or rehearsal of a fight with an imaginary adversary, as Chrys. ( ), Theophyl. al. m., but to a fight with a real adversary (viz. here, the body) in which the boxer vainly hits into the air, instead of striking his antagonist. So Entellus in the pugilistic combat, n. v. 446, vires in ventum effudit, when Dares ictum venientem a vertice velox Prvidit, celerique elapsus corpore cessit. See examples both of what is really meant, and of the , in Wetst.
Obs., in both places is used and not , as importing the matter of fact, and joined closely with the adverb in one case and the verb in the other.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Co 9:26. ) I for my part.-) so, as I said, 1Co 9:23 : comp. , so, 1Co 9:24.- , not uncertainly, I know what I aim at, and how to aim at it. He who runs with a clear aim looks straight forward to the goal, and makes it his only object, he casts away every encumbrance, and is indifferent to what the standers bye say, and sometimes even a fall serves only to rouse him the more.-, I fight) Paul adds the pugilistic contest to the race, in preference to the other kinds of contest.- , not as one beating the air) In the Sciamachia [sparring in the school for mere practice] which preceded the serious contest, they were accustomed to beat the air; comp. [ye shall speak to] the air, 1Co 14:9.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Co 9:26
1Co 9:26
I therefore so run, as not uncertainly;-Here Paul appeals to his own conduct as an illustration of the lesson which he is teaching, and by means of it reminds the reader that the whole of this chapter has been a vindication of his own selfdenial, and that he has a clear and definite object in view. No man can run as Paul did who has no definite object to be gained. [We must be resolved to win and have no thought of defeat, of failure, or of doing something better. It is the absence of deliberate choice and a strong determination which causes such uncertain running on the part of many who claim to be in the race. Their faces are as often turned from the goals as towards it. They fail to understand that all strength spent in any other direction than towards the goal is lost. They act as though they do not know what they wish to make of life.]
so fight I, as not beating the air:-The illustration is changed from running to fighting, both being included in striveth. He had an adversary to contend against, and did not strive with uncertain blows; but all his efforts were directed, with good account, to the great purpose of subjecting his enemy, and bringing every thought into captivity to God.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
not: 2Co 5:1, 2Co 5:8, Phi 1:21, 2Ti 1:12, 2Ti 2:5, Heb 4:1, 1Pe 5:1, 2Pe 1:10
so: Mat 11:12, Luk 13:24, Eph 6:12, Col 1:29
Reciprocal: Jdg 3:2 – might know 2Ch 14:12 – General Ecc 9:10 – thy hand Act 20:28 – Take 1Co 9:24 – so run 1Co 14:9 – for 2Co 5:9 – we labour Gal 2:2 – I should Phi 2:16 – that I have 1Ti 6:12 – Fight 2Ti 2:4 – entangleth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
VAGUE RUNNING: INEFFECTIVE FIGHTING
I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air.
1Co 9:26
We have here two topicsfirst, the danger of running vaguely; and secondly, of fighting ineffectively.
I. I so run, St. Paul says, as not vaguely.There is a danger, then, of running vaguely; and there are two modes of this error.
(a) We may fail to keep the goal in view. The Christian life is a precarious thingin each one of uson many accounts, especially because we are so apt to lose sight of our goal. If we do this we must run at hazard or go wrong. I greatly fear that many have no definite goal at all. Every one, when asked, hopes to reach Heaven. But what is Heaven? And what is reaching it? Many of us have no real, no adequate notion, of Heaven. A safe place, a place of rest, a place of meeting, a place of calm, a place where sorrow, and crying, and pain, and change will be no more. These are our more thoughtful ideas of Heaven. I believe they are all true, but I am quite sure they do not make up, they scarcely touch, St. Pauls idea, for they are Heaven without its foundation, Heaven without its sun. St. Pauls heaven was briefly definedwhere Christ is: I have a desire to depart, and to be with Christ. It is impossible that we should desire this sort of heaven unless we know much of Christ here below. Many do without Him here; they set Him aside in their daily life. Such cannot have the world or the eternity where Christ is, except in a very feeble sense, for their desire, their goal. But even those who know Christ may run vaguely in the same sense. They often lose sight of the goal. Which of us keeps the goal always in view? Be not hasty to answer. Think what it implies. How unworldly, how heavenly-minded, how charitable, unselfish, and pure that man must be who is running thus, with his goal full in view, and that goal a right one!
(b) We may run vaguely by failing to keep within the course. There were very strict rules on this point in the Grecian gamesevery part was rigidly marked out; the course must be all fairly traversed; and there were perils awaiting the unskilful charioteer who took either a too circuitous or a too abrupt sweep at the turning-point. And a Christian in the spiritual race has not only to keep the goal in view, but he has also all along to keep within the course; and that means he must live exactly by Christs rules throughout his life on earth.
II. There is a second dangerthat of fighting ineffectively.So fight I, as not beating the air. This was an allusion to blows that fell short of the adversary by misdirection or by skilful evasion. Now we may beat the air in like mannerthat is, fight ineffectivelyin either of two ways:
(a) We may mistake our real enemy. We may direct our attacks upon a wrong point. We have an enemy, but we do not always know who that enemy is. For example, there are those who are spending much of their strength upon what they deem errors of opinion. It is the duty, indeed, of Christian teachers to see that the truths of revelation and the doctrines of the Gospel are carefully set forth, lest they mar the beauty of the faith once delivered to the saints. But how different is all this from the practice of those who make men offenders for a word; of hearers who sit in judgment on their teachers; of those who fasten on slips of expression, often arising out of candour or fervour! This is a mistaking of our adversary.
(b) We may mistake our adversary by a very common want of self-knowledge. We all take it for granted that we know our own faults. Where there is a very strong besetting sin in any of us, no doubt this is so; but where the life has been more carefully regulated, and kept pure from gross stain, and the supremacy of conscience obeyed, it often happens that there is almost an entire ignorance of faults of spirit and temper patent to others. How often has some particular virtue been magnified into the whole of duty, such as, e.g., the virtue of temperance or of purity, which has rendered us blind to other faults!
(c) We may beat the air not by fighting with the wrong foe only, but by fighting with the real foe wrongly. Which of us has not done this? Which of us had not regretted, resolved, yes, and prayed against, his besetting sin, and yet fallen again before it when it has assailed him? This is sad indeed, and discouraging. We ought to have strength, considering the motive given us in Christs death and the promised help of His Holy Spirit. It is all for want of faith, for want of accepting what is offered, for want of believing that there is a Holy Spirit given to all for the asking. If we did believe, we should use it; but for want of faith we fall, even when experience of, and sorrow for, and resolve against, sin, and even prayer for victory, has not been wholly wanting.
Dean Vaughan.
(SECOND OUTLINE)
THE RACE AND THE BATTLE
When St. Paul says this of himself, he is entering his solemn protest against that vague, well-meaning indifference, that hazy mistiness of good intentions, in which we are so content to pass through life.
I. He would have us know that all that is great and good, all that is true and noble, must come, not from uncertain hesitating effort, but only from a clear, steady purpose and a settled resolution. He is trying to make us impatient of the misty cloud-land in which we are dwelling in our sloth, and he urges us to be honest with ourselves, and ask clearly and distinctly what is the goal after which we are striving; what it is we mean to do in this world; whether there is any mark at all at which we are aiming. For our great and sore temptation is to drift unheeding through the days and the years, as if we had nothing to do but to follow the stream of time, and at last to lie down and die.
St. Paul had an object in life, and most people have none. Is not that the great difference after all?
II. But those who so labour to run the race of life not as uncertainly find also soon that unawares they have entered into a battle. Their own indolence and sloth are not the only hindrance in their race. The world, the flesh, and the devil have also to be resisted. I fight, not as one that beateth the air, says the Apostle, telling us in this way that he bears himself in the battle of life with the same fixedness of aim and steadfast resolution with which he runs his race. He was not content with a mere general determination to conquer sin, but his warfare was watchful, wary, and particular. For much earnest effort is wasted because it is directed like the blows of one that beateth the air. Our best resolutions have spent their force before they have reached the sin they were to conquer, or else they have been spread so loosely and so vaguely over the surface of our life that there has been no collected strength at the point of danger. We have determined that we will lead a Christian life, but we have not examined ourselves and said, This or that is my besetting sin, I will watch steadfastly against it at all times and at all seasons. We have not looked forward cautiously into the events of the coming day, and said to ourselves, At this or that moment I know that I shall be exposed to this or that particular temptation, and by the grace of God I am determined to overcome it.
III. And yet, except the Lord be in the battle, they labour in vain who strive against temptation.St. Paul would never have us believe that in this text he has given us the whole account of the race which he ran and the battle which he fought. If we were to ask him what was the secret of his great strength, he would be careful to answer that it was in the power of Christ alone. When I am weak, he said of himself, then am I strong. The more earnestly you have striven to run in the path of Gods commandments, the more certainly you have found that the task was beyond your strength. And the more humbly you have cast yourself upon your Lord and trusted in His grace, the more surely you have found that you could do all things through Christ Who strengtheneth you.
Illustration
In the life and letters of a great man, most readers feel the deepest interest in the passages where he speaks of his own inner life. They are marked and remembered, and made useful to ourselves. It is felt that they help us to find the key to the mans work and character, and to understand how he became what he was; how he influenced other men; how he succeeded and why he failed. Accordingly, we require of a biographer that he should give us his heros thoughts and words, and as little as possible of his own. We want to know the man as he was. And when the life is one of the foremost of all human lives, and the letters are among the sacred books of the world, the interest in personal details rises to an enthusiasm and becomes a devotion. The mind of St. Paul has been ruling over Christendom for more than eighteen centuries; and those things which he himself has told us about his own spiritual life are precious beyond words to every earnest soul. The personal passages of the Epistles are probably the most familiar.
(THIRD OUTLINE)
A PLEA FOR DEFINITENESS
It is of the highest importance to be definite in our religious aims and efforts, and to observe method and plan in our warfare against evil. It is a principle of our Christian life that we should so run, not as uncertainly.
I. Let us apply it, first, with respect to prayer.The mind of the Church would seem to be clearly indicated. She has not left her clergy free to use what public prayers they please, and her offices are to form part of their daily devotions. She has directed her faithful lay people to communicate not less often than three times a year. Not without a very real and practical object are these rules laid down. And all of us, I suppose, recognise more or less the need of method in our private devotions. We know that we must pray, not only when we feel inclined, but regularly. Let us carry this out more thoroughly. We have a certain time each daysay an hour, which we can give to devotion. Let us be quite sure which hour of the day it is, and how we are to spend it. Let it be so divided and marked out that prayer, self-examination, the meditation, and Bible-reading all have their allotted place. We shall have our regular system of reading Holy Scripture, our definite plan of interceding for all that need our prayers. Each meditation will have its practical resolution; each communion its one or two subjects of special prayer. The whole devotional life will thus be adapted to the character, the surroundings, the needs, and the temptations of each one of us; we shall the better be able to so run, not as uncertainly.
II. The question of temptation is one to which our principle is less commonly applied.Yet it is surely of the first importance that men should know distinctly the spiritual foes they have to face: So fight I, not as one that beateth the air. In the providence of God, we most of us have not only to pass through the general atmosphere of temptation which is about us, but to strive against some one or two tendencies or faults which trouble us more actively and frequently than the rest. There is a definite battle God would have us fight. There is a sin which, above all, doth most easily beset us. We have an irritable temper, or a slothful or self-indulgent disposition, or a proud heart, or a false and insincere spirit. And we are called upon to resist this fault of character every day. Yet there is a lamentable want of method among most men in dealing with temptation. Let us realise fully that, as has been said, Temptation is the raw material out of which saints are made; that it is our opportunity to strike a blow for Christ, as the battle gives the soldier his chance of serving his country; that for each of us a champion of our enemies, a Goliath of Gath, is before us, to conquer whom may be to demoralise the rest. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. With regard to our temptations, then, let us so run, not as uncertainly. Let us find out, by the help of the Holy Spirit, what are our weak points, what are our worst dangers. And let us meet them with some regular and definite method of defence, tried again and again until we are sure of its strength.
The day will come when we shall have no need of our plans and our rules, which are but means to an end, and whose highest object is that they may become unnecessary. Even in this life, for some of us, that day will come. Meanwhile, let us be earnest in our struggle, that it may come sooner. Let us guard against the very real danger, before alluded to, of allowing our rules to become mere formal bonds, from which the spirit that made them living things has departed; a danger which, if unheeded, will make us Pharisees before we know it. Let us bear in mind that the worship and imitation of Jesus Christ, God and Man, is the Christian life. All plan and method must be a means to this, or it is worthlessto worship Him more thoroughly, and to grow more and more into His likeness; this is our only earthly object, the great business of our life. For this end we strive, and pray, and struggle; with this in view, we so run, not as uncertainly; and when this shall be reached, our race will be run, and the prize of our high calling secured.
Rev. Professor H. C. Shuttleworth.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
1Co 9:26. Not as uncertainly. If only one person could win in the race, then the success of another would mean de feat, and the whole contest would be hanging on uncertainty. But since it is an individual affair and based on faithfulness only, each runner may assure himself of victory. Beateth the air is an allusion to a practice of going through the motions of a boxer preparatory to the real fight, in which the performer threw his arms around in the air, similar to the modern practice with dumbbells for the purpose of physical training.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Co 9:26. I therefore (for my part) so run, not as uncertainlywithout definite aim, regardless of what is at stake, and what is required in order to win.
so fight I. Here the figure changes from running to wrestling, from the speed of the racer to the aggressions of the pugilistas not beating the airwho, taking an uncertain or inaccurate aim, misses his antagonist, and strikes only the air: not so do I fight; I put skill as well as energy into this good fight of faith.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
That is, “I run this race of Christianity myself, which I advise you unto. But my care is to run sure, not at uncertainties; to make sure of the crown at the end of the race, and I do not only run, but fight; I oppose whatever opposeth me.”
Here observe, The apostle changes the metaphor from that of running to the other game of cuffing; and says he did not fight like one that beats the air, but never hurts the adversary; no, he fought in good earnest with all his spiritual enemies, the flesh, the world, and the devil. It is not every running that will gain the prize, nor every fighting that will obtain the victory; but it must be a running with all perseverance, and a fighting with our utmost power, that will bring us to heaven and eternal happiness.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
1Co 9:26-27. I therefore The reward being so great; so run, not as uncertainly For I see the goal I am to run to, I keep it continually in view, and run straight to it, casting off every weight, and not regarding any that stand by, so as to be prevented from, or hindered in running, by looking at them. Or, I run not as one that is to pass unnoticed, or undistinguished: as seems here to imply; and not without attending to the marks and lines which determine the path in which I am to run. In other words, I run according to all the rules prescribed, and with the greatest activity; knowing that in no part of the course I am out of the view of my Judge, and of a great concourse of spectators. Consider, reader, Christ, the Judge of the world, observes how every man behaves in the station assigned to him, and that with infinitely greater attention than the judge and spectators observed the manner in which the athletes contended. So fight I, not as one that beateth the air This is a proverbial expression for a mans missing his blow, and spending his strength, not on the enemy, but on the empty air. But I keep under my body By all kinds of self-denial and mortification. The word , here used, properly signifies to beat and bruise the face with the fist, or the cestus, as the boxers did in those games; and particularly on the , the part under the eyes, at which they especially aimed. By the body here the apostle means his old man, or corrupt appetites and passions. And bring it into subjection To my spirit, and to God. The words are strongly figurative, and signify the mortification of the whole body of sin, by an allusion to the natural bodies of those who were bruised or subdued in combat. Lest, by any means, when I have preached Greek, , having discharged the office of a herald to others; (still carrying on the allusion to the Grecian games, in which a herald was employed, whose office it was to proclaim the conditions, and to display the prizes;) I myself should become a castaway Greek, , disapproved by the judge, and so fall short of the prize. Here also, as well as in the term last mentioned, the apostle alludes to the same games; and the import of his expressions will more fully appear if we observe, that at the opening of those exercises, a herald, or crier, publicly proclaimed the names of the combatants, and the combat in which they were to engage, agreeably to a register kept for the purpose by the judges. When their names were published, the combatants appeared, and were examined whether they were free men, and Grecians, and of an unspotted character. Then the crier, commanding silence, laid his hand on the head of the combatant, and led him in that manner along the stadium, demanding with a loud voice of all the assembly, Is there any one who can accuse this man of any crime? Is he a robber, or a slave, or wicked and depraved in his life and manners? Having passed through this public inquiry into their life and character with honour, the combatants were led to the altar of Jupiter, and there, with their relations, sware they would not be guilty of any fraud or action tending to the breach of the laws of the sacred games. And to excite the ardour of the combatants, the crowns, the rewards of victory, lay, during the contest, full in their view, on a tripod or table, placed in the stadium. There were also branches of palms exposed, which the victors were to receive along with the crowns, and which they carried in their hands as emblems (says Plutarch) of the insuppressible vigour of their body and mind.
After the contentions were finished, the conquerors, being summoned by proclamation, marched to the tribunal of the judges, who examined their conduct during the combat. Then a herald, taking the chaplets from the tripod, placed them on the heads of such of the conquerors as were approved by the judges; and putting into their hands the palms, they led them, thus equipped, through the stadium, preceded by a trumpeter, who, during the procession, proclaimed with a loud voice their names, the names of their fathers, and of their countries, and specified the particular combat in which they were conquerors. And as they passed along, they were saluted with the acclamations of the spectators, accompanied with showers of herbs and flowers, thrown upon them from every side. Such was the office of the herald, or crier, in these games. In allusion to that office, the apostle calls himself , the herald, in the combat for immortality; because he was one of the chief of those who were employed by Christ to introduce into the stadium such as contended for the incorruptible crown. He called them to the combat; he declared the kind of combat in which they were to engage; he proclaimed the qualifications necessary in the combatants, and the laws of the battle. Withal, he encouraged the combatants, by placing the crowns and palms full in their view.
The expression, , rendered, I myself should be a cast-away, or disapproved, signifies one, who, when tried in the manner described above, was found not to be of the character and station required by the established regulations. Besides the previous trial, the judges, after the combat was over, made a most accurate and impartial scrutiny into the manner in which the victors had contended, in order to find whether they had contended , (2Ti 2:5,) according to the laws of the combat. And if, on trial, it appeared that they had failed in the least particular, they were cast. In consequence of this sentence, they were denied the crown, and sometimes beat out of the stadium with disgrace. Such contenders, whether they were cast before or after the combat, were , persons not approved. Wherefore, to avoid that disgrace, the apostle, who was a combatant in the Christian race, as well as a herald, was careful to qualify himself for the combat; and in combating, to observe all the laws of the combat, lest, having proclaimed these laws, he should be found not approved himself. This the apostle said to stir up all, but especially the ministers of the gospel, to the greatest diligence in acquiring habits of self-government and purity, not only that they might secure to themselves the crown of righteousness, but that they might be patterns to their people. See Macknight, and Wests Pindar.
It is justly observed here by a late writer, that this single passage may give us a just notion of the Scriptural doctrine of election and reprobation; and clearly shows us, that particular persons are not in Holy Writ represented as elected, absolutely and unconditionally, to eternal life; or predestinated, absolutely and unconditionally, to eternal death: but that believers in general are elected to enjoy the Christian privileges on earth, which, if they abuse, those very elect persons will become reprobate. St. Paul was certainly an elect person, if ever there was one: and yet he declares it was possible he himself might become a reprobate. Nay, he would actually have become such, if he had not thus kept his body under, even though he had been so long an elect person, a Christian, and an apostle.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Vv. 26, 27. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 27. But I buffet my body, and lead it captive: lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.
The particle , conformably thereto, does not occur elsewhere in Paul’s writings; it forcibly expresses a consequence inevitably resulting from what precedes: In virtue, then, of this state of things in which there is nothing to be changed.
The word run denotes the progress made in Christian sanctification; comp. Php 3:13-14.
As to the , it is evidently here the antecedent of .
The adverb has sometimes been taken in the passive sense: Without being seen, remarked, like a runner who is lost in the crowd of other athletes. The apostle would thus expressly designate himself here as the one who attracts the attention of the spectators, by outstripping the other runners. This meaning would be admissible if such an expression were not rather pretentious. It is better to give the adverb the active sense: Without seeing the goal, and consequently the course, clearly, as when one walks in the dark; so: deviating to right and left. This meaning is more in keeping, as we shall see, with that of the following figure: beating the air, which has an analogous signification, as is proved by the parallelism of the two propositions. Paul alludes to that sterile activity of the sages and orators of Corinth, who neglect the true end of Christian life, sanctification and final salvation, and are concerned only to charm their hearers, to enjoy themselves with them, and to lord it over them. As for him, he runs with his eye firmly fixed on the goal. Next, to bring home this obligation still more forcibly to his readers, he refers to a second and more formidable kind of contest, boxing. Here there is not only running, but striking and being struck. And the blows, to be effective, must not be lost on the air; they must fall on the adversary. The term beat the air has sometimes been taken as an allusion to the kind of gymnastics in which the athletes engaged to prepare themselves for the contest, and which was called sciomachy. But we are here in the heat of the contest itself. The allusion therefore, if there was one, could only in any case be very indirect.
Vv. 27. The apostle explains by his own example who the adversary is on whom these redoubled and redoubtable blows are to fall; it is his own body. He does not say his flesh, as if he wished here to lay stress on the characteristic of sin in the body; no, it is the organism, as such, that he curbs and bends by all sorts of exercises and austerities to make it a pliable instrument. There is room for hesitation between the two readings , I buffet (the verb strictly signifies: to strike under the eyes, so as to make blue wounds), and or , to grip so as to put under. This second reading would suit the following verb: to lead captive; but the first agrees better with the foregoing verb: to give blows with the fist. By this figure the apostle describes all the privations which he imposes on his body, all the labours to which he condemns it throughout the entire course of his life, and that especially in consequence of his refusing all payment and obliging himself to provide with his hands for his maintenance; comp. 2Co 6:4-5; 2Co 11:23-27; Act 20:34-35.
The word , to lead captive, continues the figure. As the victor led the vanquished round the arena, amid the plaudits of the spectators, so Paul, after breaking the opposition of his body, leads it like a submissive servant before the face of the world in the labours of the apostleship.
And let not this be taken as a work of supererogation, fitted to confer on him some peculiar merit and a higher degree of glory! In his eyes, there is no luxury in the question, it is a simple necessary. Were he to act otherwise, he should be afraid, he who has stimulated others, of being himself finally rejected. One can hardly avoid seeing in the term , to fill the office of herald, to publish, an allusion to the function of the man whose duty it was to sound the trumpet and so summon the athletes to begin the contest. Such is the figure of what the apostle was doing for the Gentile peoples by the preaching of the gospel. Rckert, it is true, objects, that, in the public games, the herald himself did not enter the lists. Comparisons always halt somewhere; otherwise they would imply not comparison, but identity. The Christian ministry presents this exceptional character, that he who fills it has two tasks to perform simultaneously: that of calling others to salvation, and that of securing his own. Heinrici has thought that the point here was the approbation or disapprobation which the herald might deserve by the way in which he proclaimed the name and eulogy of the victors, after the combat. This is to press the figure beyond all measure.
The term , non-acceptable, to be rejected, comes, grammarians say, from , to receive. This term also belonged to the language of the public games. Before admitting candidates to the honour of competing in the circus, they were subjected to a preparatory trial, called , by means of which there were set aside all those who were not fit to enter the lists. Could Paul be alluding to this custom? It seems to me improbable. His concern is not about the trial for entrance into the contest, but about the exit trial. The terms and are so frequently used by the apostle, that it is unnecessary to explain the use of them here by an allusion which would be so far from appropriate. It is his salvation, the welcome to be received by himself from the Judge, which the apostle sees to be at stake, and with a view to which he thinks it his duty to use such severity toward his own body.
Such is the mode in which the apostle seeks to awake feelings of salutary fear and serious watchfulness in those self-infatuated Corinthians, who, on the ground of their superior knowledge and alleged emancipation, forgot the regard which they owed to the salvation of their brethren, without imagining that by this conduct they were compromising their own.
The better to inculcate the manner in which they should act, he seeks at that very moment to make himself a Greek to the Greeks, borrowing from their national life the figures most fitted to strike their imagination.
It has often and justly been remarked, how frequent these figures, borrowed from the contests of the stadium, are in the authors of the New Testament Epistles (Philippians 3; 2 Timothy 4; Hebrews 12, etc.), while they are wholly strange to the discourses of Jesus in the Gospels. Have we not here a proof of the fidelity with which the original form of the latter has been preserved to us? Why, if they had been composed later, and after the Gospel had penetrated into the Greek world, should not such figures so familiar to Greek thought appear in them?
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
I therefore [realizing the value of that for which I contend] so run, as not uncertainly [without doubt or hesitation. Paul felt sure of the course which led to the goal, and certain as to the reward which he would attain when the race was over– 2Ti 1:12; 2Ti 4:8]; so fight I, as not beating the air [The allusion here is to the boxer who, in blind confusion, strikes wide of the mark, and misses his antagonist. For an instance of vain effort similarly expressed, see 1Co 14:9; Virgil’s neid 5:446]:
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
26. Indeed I so run not as uncertainly, I so fight not as one beating the air. Paul here testifies to his own successful running on the race-course, and fighting for the prize in the arena. The gladiator forfeited the prize if he did not conquer and slay his antagonist.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
In view of the comparative value of these rewards, Paul ran the Christian race purposefully, not aimlessly or halfheartedly. He wanted to gain a prize at the judgment seat of Christ. To use a different figure to make the same point, he did not throw wild punches but sought to make every punch score. Christian service is not just activity. It is activity focused on a target, namely, the building of the church and the defeat of the enemy who wants to destroy people. It is the work of the gospel.