Paul spent a lot of time in his first letter to the Corinthians rebuking them for their bad behavior, but about halfway through his message Paul shifted his attention to the reason why it was important for believers to keep themselves pure. Paul explained that his responsibility of preaching the gospel made it necessary for him to live his life in a way that would attract others to Jesus. Paul began by stating:

Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:16-18)

Paul described his responsibility as a stewardship. The Greek word that is translated stewardship, oikonomia (oy-kon-om-ee-ah) means “administration (of a household or estate); specially a (religious) ‘economy’ (G3622). Oikonomia is used in Ephesians 1:10 in reference to God’s plan of salvation. Paul said of Jesus, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan (oikonomia) for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Ephesians 1:7-10). Paul believed it was his responsibility to administer or dispense the riches of God’s grace and he did it “free of charge” (1 Corinthians 9:18) so that he might receive a reward that was more important to him than monetary compensation.

Paul indicated that God’s spiritual economy operates based on the riches of his grace (Ephesians 1:7, 10). Paul’s concept of God’s spiritual economy may have come from Jesus’ parable of the dishonest manager. Jesus taught his disciples:

“There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (Luke 16:1-13)

Jesus differentiated between sons of this world and the sons of light. The two categories that he was referring to were the unsaved and believers. The dishonest manager represented the unsaved person who works for God. The dishonest manager was shrewd because he realized that the goal was to cancel people’s debt (forgiveness of sins). That is what God’s grace does for believers, but the dishonest manager took credit for cancelling the people’s debts so that his master’s debtors would show their gratitude to him.

Paul associated preaching the gospel free of change with his reward for being a faithful servant. Paul explained in his second letter to the Corinthians that the reason he did not take any money from them was because there were false apostles who were disguising themselves as apostles of Christ so that they could make money from preaching the gospel. Paul told the Corinthians, “I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way…And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds” (2 Corinthians 11-8-15).

Paul concluded his discussion about his motive for preaching the gospel free of charge with a brief illustration of the spiritual contest that all mature Christians must participate in. Paul asked:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

Paul likened preaching the gospel to a race and said “all runners run, but only one receives the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24). The race that Paul was referring to was one that took place in a stadium. Paul most likely wanted to convey the idea of living in a public arena where one’s actions were on display and were being scrutinized or perhaps, judged by others. Paul said, “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things” (1 Corinthians 9:25). The Greek word that is translated athlete, agonizomai (ag-o-nidˊ-zom-ahee) is used figuratively to mean “(to contend with an adversary) or genitive (to endeavor to accomplish something)” (G75).

Paul’s illustration of a runner in a race suggests that he was referring to public life in general. Paul said, “All runners run, but only one receives the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24). This seems to suggest that in spiritual conflict it is typically for a single Christian to be competing against a mass of unbelievers for the victory. This viewpoint makes sense from the perspective that in the 1^st Century, Christians were very few in number compared to the masses of the Roman Empire and were scattered throughout the regions that Paul visited on his missionary journeys. In reference to the runners, Paul said, “They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable” (1 Corinthians 9:25). Paul contrasted the physical aspect of the runner’s race to the spiritual in his reference to the perishable and imperishable wreaths that could be obtained. Paul’s use of the pronoun we indicated that he was talking about all believers when he said we do it to receive an imperishable prize. I believe the point that Paul was trying to make was that a believer’s public life always involves spiritual conflict due to the presence of unbelievers in the world. Therefore, a believer’s life needs to be lived in such a way that it is viewed as a public contest that can only be won from a spiritual perspective if the believer remains faithful to his commitment to Christ.

Paul stated, “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things” (1 Corinthians 9:25) and said of himself, “I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:26-27). Paul reference to being disqualified was probably meant to convey the same idea as what happened to the dishonest manager in Jesus’ parable. Jesus said the rich man called the manager in and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager” (Luke 16:2). The rich man removed the manager from his position. Paul indicated that in order to receive the prize, he had to exercise self-control, discipline his body and keep it under control. The King James Version of the Bible states it this way, “But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be castaway” (1 Corinthians 9:27). The Greek word that is translated keep under, hupopiazo (hoop-o-pee-adˊ-zo) means “to hit under the eye (buffet or disable an antagonist as a pugilist), i.e. (figurative) to tease or annoy (into compliance), subdue (one’s passions)” (G5299). What Paul was talking about was beating himself up rather than letting his opponent do it. In other words, Paul needed to be tough on himself so that he didn’t get overpowered by his spiritual enemy. Paul said, by doing this, he could win the contest and he would receive an imperishable prize.

Paul elaborated on the concept of an imperishable prize later on in his message to the Corinthians. Paul said:

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:50-58)

Paul said he was revealing to the Corinthians a mystery, something into which they must be initiated or instructed before it could be known (G3466). Paul said, “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). Paul was referring back to something that Jesus said to the Jews who wanted to kill him because he made himself equal with God. Jesus told them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (John 5:25). Jesus went on to say, “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28-29). According to Jesus, the imperishable prize is the resurrection of life. In other words, believers will not only have imperishable bodies after the resurrection, but they will also have imperishable lives, “i.e. blessed life, life that satisfies” (G2222).