1 Coríntios 9
William Barclay · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 Coríntios 9:24
Barclay: Are you not aware that those who run in the stadium all run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may win the prize. (Westminster John Knox Press) ESV: Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. KJV: Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
1 Coríntios 9:25
Barclay: Now every athlete in the games practices complete self-discipline. They therefore do so to win a crown that quickly fades away; we do so to win a crown that never fades. (Westminster John Knox Press) ESV: Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. KJV: And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. NET: Each competitor must exercise self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. (NET Bible) NIV: Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. (NIV - IBS) NLT: All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. (NLT - Tyndale House)
1 Coríntios 9:25
Barclay observes that "There can be little doubt that, in Corinth and in Ephesus, Paul had been a spectator of the games. Where there were crowds of men, Paul would be there to seek to win them for Christ. But, apart from the preaching, there was something about these athletic contests which found an answer in the heart of Paul. He knew the contests of the boxers (1Cor 9:26-note). He knew the foot-race, most famous of all the contests. He had seen the herald summoning the racers to the starting-line (1Co 9:27-note); he had seen the runners press along the course to the goal (Php 3:14-note); he had seen the judge awarding the prize at the end of the race (2Ti 4:8-note, 2Co 5:10-note, Ro 14:10-note); he knew of the victor's laurel crown and of his exultation (1Co 9:24-note; Php 4:1-note). He knew the rigorous discipline of training which the athlete must undertake, and the strict regulations which must be observed (1Ti 4:7, 8-note; 2Ti 2:5-note). (Daily Study Bible) Competes in the games (75) (agonizomai [word study] from agon [word study] = conflict or the place of assembly for the athletic contests and then a reference to the contests which were held there. English words = agony, agonize, agonal) means to exert oneself, to fight, to labor fervently, to strive (devote serious effort or energy = implies great exertion against great difficulty and suggests persistent effort), to struggle, to contend as with an adversary - all of these actions picture an intense struggle for victory. Agonizomai was a familiar term in writings of both military and athletic endeavors and was used to emphasize the concentration, discipline, conviction, and effort needed to win in both arenas. It pictures a runner straining every nerve to the uttermost towards the goal. Agonizomai was used in secular Greek meaning to contend for the prize on the stage, both of the poet, etc., and of the actor. Agonizomai was used in secular Greek in the context of public speaking meaning to contend against, as law-term, to fight a cause to the last and to fight against a charge of murder. Agonizomai is in the present tense which continual competition in the race. Inherent in the meaning of this word is the fact that a race implies hindrances, and this is certainly true in the Christian life. It takes courage and expenditure of great effort to run the Christian race with endurance to the end, remembering that the Christian runner's effort is ultimately supplied by the grace of God and the Spirit of God (1Cor 15:10, Php 2:12-note, Php 2:13-note; Zech 4:6). Paul's entire life had been given fully to the struggle even as Olympic athletes give their body, mind and spirit full to their specific sport. Paul thus engaged in a ceaseless, strenuous conflict, wrestling with Satan and his minions, with evil men (2Ti 2:17, 18, 3:5, 13, 4:14-See notes 2Ti 2:17; 18; 3:5; 13; 4:14), with "the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ep 6:12-note) and his own flesh writing that "I buffet my body and make it my slave" (1Co 9:27). For more on the believer's 3 major "impediments" to our "spiritual race" see discussion of (1) the world, (2) the flesh and (3) the devil. How is it possible for believers to run and become victorious in this lifelong race? It is not possible in our natural ability, but necessitates dependence on God's supernatural provision (see Ezek 36:27, Ga 5:16-note, Ga 5:17-note, Ga 5:18-note, Ga 5:22, Ga 5:23-note, Ga 5:25-note, Eph 5:18-note) If you want to see the real meaning of agonizomai, take a moment to watch an afternoon football practice in the heat of an August day in Texas, where it might be 100 degrees (in the shade!). Keith Krell writes that we need to… watch the young athletes sweating under the hot sun. Clad in heavy clothes, padding, and a helmet, their faces grimace with distress and even pain. If they did this because their lives were threatened we might understand. What is difficult to grasp is that they do this voluntarily. All for a trophy that will be kept in a glass case and soon forgotten in this life and most assuredly not remembered in the next. They voluntarily wanted to play, and they will torture themselves in order to win. Now if athletes are willing to undergo this type of discipline and self-control, how much more so should we as servants of Jesus Christ? For unlike the athletic crown, our victor’s crown will affect us forever and ever. Paul states that our reward is “imperishable”—it is eternal! This means it does matter whether we gain or lose the prize. Hearing Jesus say “Well done!” is no small matter. Think about that for just a moment. Only what you and I do for Jesus Christ will last. And it will last and last and last. Forever is a long time. And we only have 70 or 80 years to invest in eternity. That is why I pray like Jonathan Edwards, “Lord, stamp eternity on my eyeballs!” We must run and fight for the prize, for living for God’s approval requires finishing well. I realize that very few people would say self-control is one of their greatest strengths.12 Yet, Paul tells us that self-control is necessary if we are to win the prize. So may I ask you: In what area(s) of your life do you need to exercise self-control? Do you need to exercise self-control in your media intake? Do you watch too much TV? Do you play too many video games? Do you surf the web for too many hours? Do you need to exercise self-control in your leisure? Do you spend too much time working out? Does your hobby come in the way of your relationship with God and your family? Do you need to exercise self-control in your friendships? Are your friends more important to you than your God? Are your friends keeping you from being all that God wants you to be? Do you need to exercise self-control over an addiction? Is food a drug to you? Are you a Christian glutton? Do you drink or smoke too much? Are you addicted to sleep? Do you need to repent for laziness? Paul says, “NO” to flabby Christianity! The Christian life demands discipline! Now again, let me clarify that the Christian life is NOT a race to achieve entrance into heaven. We are saved by grace, not by effort or discipline or obedience or good works or anything else we do. We are saved by believing, not by achieving. We are saved for good works, not by good works. Still, the Christian life is a race, a race to accomplish what God put us here for, a race to present ourselves approved unto God, a race to finish in a way so as to hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Living for God’s approval requires finishing well. (Read his complete message Living for God's Approval) Exercises self control (1467) (egkrateuomai from egkrates/enkrates [word study] = self-controlled <> In turn from en = in + kratos [word study] = power from the stem krat- denoting power or lordship) means literally to control the strength of and thus depicts one who exercises power to "hold oneself in" or to "master self". This virtue describes "lordship" or dominion over self. The self-controlled individual exercises restraint over his own impulses, emotions, appetites and desires. This verb is used only 4 times in the Bible… Genesis 43:31 Then he (Joseph) washed his face and came out; and he controlled Heb = aphaq = to hold, to be strong, to be controlled or restrained; Lxx = egkrateuomai) himself and said, "Serve the meal." 1 Samuel 13:12 therefore I said, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the LORD.' So I forced (Heb = aphaq = to hold, to be strong, to be controlled or restrained; Lxx = egkrateuomai) myself and offered the burnt offering." 1 Corinthians 7:9 But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. 1 Corinthians 9:25 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Self control (Webster, et al) = the ability to exercise restraint or control over one’s feelings, emotions, reactions, behavior, etc especially in difficult situations, curbing one’s impulses for the sake of worthier ends. Synonyms = calmness, cool, coolness, restraint, self-discipline, self-mastery, self-restraint, strength of mind or will, willpower, self-command. Related Resources: Temperance/Self-Control - Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament (Definition of temperance) Self-Control - Holman Bible Dictionary Self-Control - Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament Why is self control so crucial to success in our spiritual race? After all we're free now in Christ. We're free from the penalty and power of sin. Yes, we are free but freedom without self-control has the potential to lead to spiritual disaster. Exercises self control in all things - Obviously, in running a race, one must compete, and this required strict training. The exercise of self-control by necessity calls for self-denial. Stated another way, self-control is crucial to victory. This instruction on racing to win in 1Co 9:24-27 is followed by 1Corinthians 10:1-13 in which Paul asked his readers to remember what had happened to Israel in the wilderness, because of their choosing to invoke their personal freedom instead of seeking self-control. As an aside, it is relatively easy to deny things, but it is very costly to deny self. In fact, many deny things (it's called "legalism") as a substitute for the real sacrifice God wants, which is the denial of our self! Do not be deceived! In all things (3956) (pas) means just that "everything". When one is focused on the "Games" and determined to win, no cost is too great to pay, no "luxury" is off limits. Anything and everything that impede progress in training and achieving the goal of the perishable prize. Paul is setting the bar very high - if pagans passionately pursue a passing prize, how much more focused, zealous and determined should the people of God pursue the things above and not the things of this passing earth! (Col 3:1, Col 3:2) Successful secular athletes like those who would aspire to be "successful Christian athletes", had to exhibit self-denial, self-control and self-discipline, in order to assure maximum performance. As "Christian athletes" we do not have the right to give up our freedom, for that right was purchased by Christ, but we do have the freedom to give up our rights. Expositor's Greek - “But every combatant is temperate in everything—they, to be sure, that they may win a perishable garland; but we an imperishable.” The stress in the first clause lies on "all things"—no competitor can afford to be self-indulgent in anything; in the second on ekeinoi hemeis—if they are so abstinent for so poor a prize, what should we be? For ten months before the contest in the Great Games, the athletes were required, under oath, to follow a prescribed diet. (1 Corinthians 9 - The Expositor's Greek Testament) British statesman Edmund Burke once made an interesting comment that "men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put mural chains on their own appetites. Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere, and the less of it there is within, the more there is without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters. (Imprimis, Vol. 20, #9) Pulpit Commentary "One good moral result which sprang from the ancient system of athleticism was the self-denial and self-mastery which it required. The candidate for a prize had to be pure, sober, and enduring (Horace, ‘Ars Poet.,’ 412), to obey orders, to eat sparely and simply and to bear effort and fatigue (Epict., ‘Enchir.,’ 35) for ten months before the contest. What exercising self control is NOT (see note below) - It is not subjecting one's body to hard treatment as in the practice of asceticism, a severe form of legalism (see Paul's warning in Col 2:23-note). It is not abstaining from something like food in an attempt to kill bodily appetites, for it lacks any true godliness or grace, to which it is diametrically opposed. Richison emphasizes that "Christianity is not self-induced misery. Fasting, going without food and the ordinary things of life or any system that involves self affliction to gain God’s favor, violates the grace of God. Fasting is not wrong. Fasting to gain God’s favor is wrong. Jesus did all the suffering necessary. He placated God sufficiently by his death on the cross to gain God’s favor. If Jesus won God’s favor, we violate him if we independently try to win that favor by ourselves… Denial (enabled by the flesh not the Spirit) arouses desire; grace counteracts the flesh. (Colossians Commentary - online) One secular writer Philip Massinger (The Bondman) said "He that would govern others, first should be the master of himself." Sounds a lot like a proverb. Even a broken clock can be correct twice each day! John
1 Coríntios 9:25
Barclay says that self control "is that great quality which comes to a man when Christ is in his heart, that quality which makes him able to live and to walk in the world, and yet to keep his garments unspotted from the world. Self-control; the word is egkrateia (1466) which Plato uses of self-mastery. It is the spirit which has mastered its desires and its love of pleasure. It is used of the athlete's discipline of his body (1Corinthians 9:25) and of the Christian's mastery of sex (1 Corinthians 7:9). Secular Greek uses it of the virtue of an Emperor who never lets his private interests influence the government of his people. It is the virtue which makes a man so master of himself that he is fit to be the servant of others. It was Paul's belief and experience that the Christian died with Christ and rose again to a life, new and clean, in which the evil things of the old self were gone and the lovely things of the Spirit had come to fruition. Steven
1 Coríntios 9:26
Barclay: I therefore so run as one who knows his goal; I fight, not like one who shadow-boxes (Westminster John Knox Press) ESV: So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. KJV: I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: NET: So I do not run uncertainly or box like one who hits only air. (NET Bible) NIV: Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. (NIV - IBS) NLT: So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. (NLT - Tyndale House)
1 Coríntios 9:26
Barclay has a somewhat humorous comment "A distressing thing is the obvious aimlessness of the lives of so many people; they are drifting anywhere instead of going somewhere. Maarten Maartens has a parable. "There was a man once, a satirist. In the natural course of time his friends slew him, and he died. And the people came and stood round about his corpse. 'He treated the whole round world as his football,' they said indignantly, 'and he kicked it.' The dead man opened one eye. 'But,' he said, 'always towards the goal."' Someone once drew a cartoon showing two men on Mars looking down at the people in this world scurrying here, there and everywhere. One said to the other, "What are they doing?" The other replied, "They are going." "But," said the first, "where are they going?" "Oh," said the other, "they are not going anywhere; they are just going." And to go just anywhere is the certain way to arrive nowhere. HOW THEN SHALL I RUN? Here are 10 "running tips" for those who seek to run in light of eternity… 1. Invest in the lives of those who minister the word. (Gal 6:6, 7) 2. Minister to those in need. (Lk 10:42) 3. Sacrifice to follow Christ. (Lk 19:27, 28, 29) 4. Give without fanfare. (Mt 6:1, 3, 4) 5. Be willing to suffer for the sake of Christ. (Mt 5:11, 12) 6. Pray in Secret (Mt 6:5, 6) 7. Engage in spiritual activity without fanfare. (Mt 6:16, 17, 18) 8. Love your enemies by being willing to help them. (Lk 6:35) 9. Give hearty service to the Lord and not just to please men. (Col 3:23, 24) 10. Entertain those who cannot repay you. (Lk 14:12, 13, 14) (from Going for the Gold - Joe, L Wall- Recommended Reading) 'Tis God's all-animating voice That calls thee from on high, 'Tis His own hand presents the prize To thine aspiring eye. That prize with peerless glories bright, Which shall new luster boast, When victor's wreaths and monarch's gems Shall blend in common dust. Blest Savior, introduced by Thee Have I my race begun; And crowned with victory at Thy feet I'll lay my honors down. - Philip Doddridge Adoniram Judson alluded to the our "once in a lifetime" race when he said… A life once spent is irrevocable. It will remain to be contemplated through eternity. The same may be said of each day. When it is once past, it is gone forever. All the marks which we put upon it, it will exhibit forever. Each day will not only be a witness of our conduct, but will affect our everlasting destiny. How shall we then wish to see each day marked with usefulness?! It is too late to mend the days that are past. The future is in our power. Let us, then, each morning, resolve to send the day into eternity in such a garb as we shall wish it to wear forever. And at night let us reflect that one more day is irrevocably gone, indelibly marked. (E. Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson (Anson, Randolph & Company, 1883, pp. 13-15) Our salvation depends on what Christ did for us; our reward depends on how we live for Him. Will Houghton spoke these words almost as a prayer upon hearing of the martyrdom of missionaries John (bio) and Betty Stamm in China in 1934… So this is life. This world with its pleasures, struggles, and tears, a smile, a frown, a sigh, friendship so true and love of kin and neighbor? Sometimes it is hard to live—always to die! The world moves on so rapidly for the living; the forms of those who disappear are replaced, and each one dreams that he will be enduring. How soon that one becomes the missing face! Help me to know the value of these hours. Help me the folly of all waste to see. Help me to trust the Christ who bore my sorrows and thus to yield for life or death to Thee. Amen John Wesley had a good perspective on the time and opportunities God has allotted to each believer to redeem, writing Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can. Beloved, if you are struggling with the cost you might have to pay to be one of God's winning runners, or simply struggling with God's will for your life, struggling with what to do with your time, struggling with how you should live in these last days, struggling with whether you are really looking forward to that moment in eternity when you will stand fully revealed before your Lord, then you cannot afford not to watch the following video by John Piper (click the title to go to the 46 minute youtube video). Don't Waste Your Life I BOX IN SUCH A WAY AS NOT BEATING THE AIR: houtos pukteuo (1SPAI) os ouk aera deron; (PAPMSN): Box: Mt 11:12 Lk 13:24 Eph 6:12 Col 1:29 1 Corinthians 9 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Resource: 10 Requisites for Success in "Spiritual Athletics" I box - Paul shifts the metaphor from a runner to a boxer, which was one of the other major competitions at the ancient games, and would be a picture with which his readers would be familiar. Our modern concept of boxing (as brutal as it is) however does not do justice to Paul's analogy. In the ancient world boxing was a serious matter for instead of padded gloves, the boxer's hands were covered with the cestus which consisted of leather bands studded with pieces of lead and iron and as such could inflict terrible punishment. To add to this dire picture is the knowledge that the loser in a Greek wrestling match had his eyes gouged out. This overall picture should give us some appreciation of what a Greek athletic contest consisted of and of the effort such a contest would motivate in the opponents as they prepared for and entered into the pugilistic battle! The implication is that the boxing match is continua and it is against an unspeakably evil, malicious foe. W E Vine makes the point that "It is the lack of the realization of this that leads to aimlessness in the life and defeat by the adversary." The New Manners and Customs of Bible Times has a slightly different description of the boxing match noting that… In boxing, there was a difference between the early and later rounds. In the early rounds, arms were bound with soft leather, and the winner was the first person to knock the opponent down. If the spectators became bored because the contest was too even, the arms were bound with studded leather to bring the contest to a bloody climax. Jonathan Edwards lived what he believed saying that… God has appointed this whole life to be all as a race or a battle; the state of rest, wherein we shall be so out of danger as to have no need of watching and fighting, is for another world. Box (4438) (pukteuo) means to be a boxer or to fight with the fists (pugilist). This verb is used only here in the Bible. Schmidt feels that "What Paul has in mind is either a poor boxer who misses his opponent, or a sham boxer who will not face an opponent at all but simply engages in shadow-boxing. Another possibility is that of boxers engaged only in preliminary sparring. In any case, lack of seriousness is the issue. Paul has no time for incompetent or frivolous lunging. He is engaged in a vital contest and he exerts himself to achieve the prize." (TDNTA) Nora Grey once said "You must have an aim in life if you want to make a hit" and the same holds for the Christian boxer who desires the eternal reward given for a "knockout punch!" Early boxing - Boxing was originally nothing more than bare fist fighting between two willing and sometimes unwilling competitors. As a sport, fighting has been around for thousands of years where it first arose in parts of Africa, including Ancient Egypt before spreading to parts of Southern Europe. The Ancient Greeks believed that fighting was a game played by the Gods on Olympus. The Romans had a keen interest in the sport and fighting soon became a common spectator sport. In order for the fighters to protect themselves against their opponents they wrapped leather thongs around their fists. Eventually harder leather was used and the thong soon became a weapon. The Romans even introduced metal studs to the thongs to make the cestus which then led to a more sinister weapon called the myrmex (‘limb piercer’). Fighting events were held at Roman Amphitheatres. The Roman form of boxing was often a fight until death to please the spectators who gathered at such events. However, especially in later times, purchased slaves and trained combat performers were valuable commodities, and their lives were not given up without due consideration. Often slaves were used against one another in a circle marked on the floor. This is where the term ring came from. In 393 AD, during the Roman gladiator period, boxing was abolished due to excessive brutality. It was not until the late 17th century that boxing re-surfaced in London. PUGILISM (Encyclopedia Britannica - 1911) (from Lat. pugil, boxer, Gr. 7ri), with clenched fist), the practice or sport of fighting with the fists. The first mention of such fighting in literature is found in the 23rd book of the Iliad, and shows that in Homer's time the art was already highly developed. The occasion was the games at the funeral of Patroclus, the champions engaged being Epeus, the builder of the wooden horse, and Euryalus. Each combatant seems to have been naked except for a belt, and to have worn the cestus. The fight ends with the defeat of Euryalus. According to Virgil ( Aeneid, v.) similar games took place within the walls of Troy at the funeral of Hector, the principal boxers being Dares, the winner, and the gigantic Butex, a pupil of Amycus, Paris, the Trojan champion, abstaining from the contests. Further on we find the account of the games on the occasion of the funeral of Anchises, in the course of which Dares, the Trojan, receiving no answer to his challenge from the Sicilians, who stood aghast at his mighty proportions, claims the prize; but, just as it is about to be awarded him, Entellus, an aged but huge and sinewy Sicilian, arises and casts into the arena as a sign of his acceptance of the combat the massive cesti, all stained with blood and brains, which he has inherited from King Eryx, his master in the art of boxing. The Trojans are now appalled in their turn, and Dares, aghast at the fearful implements, refused the battle, which, however, is at length begun after Aeneas has furnished the heroes with equally matched cesti. For some time the young and lusty Dares circles about his gigantic but old and stiff opponent, upon whom he rains a torrent of blows which are avoided by the clever guarding and dodging of the Sicilian hero. At last Entellus, having got his opponent into a favourable position, raises his tremendous right hand on high and aims a terrible blow at the Trojan's head; but the wary Dares deftly steps aside, and Entellus, missing his adversary altogether, falls headlong by the impetus of his own blow, with a crash like that of a falling pine. Shouts of mingled exultation and dismay break from the multitude, and the friends of the aged Sicilian rush forward to raise their fallen champion and bear him from the arena; but, greatly to the astonishment of all, Entellus motions them away and returns to the fight more keenly than before. The old man's blood is stirred, and he attacks his youthful enemy with such furious and headlong rushes, buffeting him grievously with both hands, that Aeneas puts an end to the battle, though barely in time to save the discomfited Trojan from being beaten into insensibility. Although fist-fighting was supposed by the Greeks of the classic period to have been a feature of the mythological games at Olympia, it was not actually introduced into the historical Olympic contests until the 23rd Olympiad after the re-establishment of the famous games by Iphitus (about 880 B.C.) Onomastos was the first Olympic victor. In heroic times the boxers are supposed to have worn the? "c;? 1 .ca, or belt, but in the Greek games the contestants, except for the cestus, fought entirely naked, since the custom had been introduced in the 15th Olympiad, and was copied by the contestants at the Pythian, Nemean, Isthmian and Panathenaic games (see Classical games). At Olympia the boxers were rubbed with oil to make them supple and limit the flow of perspiration, a precaution the more necessary as the Olympic games were held during the hottest part of the year. The cesti, of which there were several varieties, were bound on the boxers' hands and wrists by attendants or teachers acting as seconds. On account cf the weight of the gloves worn, the style of boxing differed from that now in vogue (see Boxing), the modern straight-from-the-shoulder blow having been little used. Both Homer and Virgil speak of " falling blows," and this was the common method of attack, consisting more in swinging and hammering than in punching. The statue of a Greek boxer in the Louvre shows the right foot forward, the left hand raised as if to ward off a blow from above, and the right hand held opposite the breast, the whole attitude more resembling that of a warrior with sword and shield than of a modern boxer. The pugilists of Rome, who were in many cases Greeks and employed Greek methods, exaggerated the brutality of the fist-fight to please the Roman taste, and the sanguinary contest between Dares and Entellus, described above, although in some respects an anachronism as an account of a pugilistic battle in primitive times, was doubtless an exact portrayal of the encounters to be seen in Virgil's day in the circuses of Rome. Nevertheless it must not be understood that the boxing matches at the Greek games were not themselves severe to the point of brutality, in spite of the fact that style and grace of movement were sedulously taught by the masters of the time. The Greek champions trained for months before the games, but encounters between athletes armed with such terrible weapons as the loaded cestus were bound to result in very serious bruises and even disfigurement. Pluck was as highly thought of as at the present day, and it was related of a certain Eurydamas that, when his teeth were battered in, he swallowed them rather than show that he was hurt, whereupon his antagonist, in despair at seeing his most furious blows devoid of effect, gave up the battle. As, on account of the swinging style of blows, the ears were particularly liable to injury ear-protectors (aµ0coriles) were generally used in practice, though not in serious combats. The socalled " pancratist's ear," swollen and mis-shapen, was a characteristic feature of the Greek boxer. The satirists of the time flung their grim jests at the champion bruisers. Lucilius writing of a Greek boxer .of Etruria ( Anthologia epigrammatum graecorum ), says, " Aulos, the pugilist, consecrates to the God of Pisa all the bones of his cranium, gathering up one by one. Let him but return alive from the Nemean Games, 0 mighty Jupiter, and he will also offer thee, without doubt, the vertebrae of his neck, which is all he has left ! " The rules of Greek boxing were strict. No wrestling, grappling, kicking nor biting were allowed, and the contest ended when one combatant owned himself beaten. On this account pugilism and the pancratium (see below) were forbidden by Lycurgus, lest the Spartans should become accustomed to an acknowledgment of defeat (Plutarch, Lycurgus). In spite of the terrible injuries which often resulted from these contests it was strictly forbidden to kill an adversary, on pain of losing the prize. Rhodes, Aegina, Arcadia and Elis produced most of the Olympic victors in boxing, which was considered as an excellent training for war. According to Lucan ( Anach. 3) Solon recommended it for pedagogic purposes, and the contest with the sphairai, or studded cesti, was added by Plato to his list of warlike exercises as being the nearest approach to actual battle. The Greek athletic contest called pancratium (7raytcpcirtov, complete, or all-round, contest), which was introduced into the Olympic games in the 38th Olympiad, was a combination of boxing and wrestling in which the contestants, who fought naked, not wearing even the cestus, were allowed to employ any means except biting to wring from each other the acknowledgment of defeat. Boxing, wrestling, kicking, dislocation of joints, breaking of bones, pulling of hair and strangling were freely indulged in. The fight began with sparring for openings and was continued on the ground when the contestants fell. Many pancratists excelled in obtaining quick holds of their opponents' fingers, which they crushed and dislocated so completely that all effective opposition ceased. Sudden attacks resulting in the dislocation of an arm or leg were also taught, reminding one of the Japanese jiu-jitsu. The pancratium was considered by the Greeks the greatest of all athletic contests and, needless to say, only the most powerful athletes attempted it. It became popular in Rome during the Empire and remained so until the time of Justinian. Diagoras of Rhodes, his three sons and many grandsons, who were sung by Pindar (Olymp. 7 ), were the most celebrated of the Olympic boxing champions. One of the sons, Dorieus, was three times victorious at Olympia in the pancratium, and during his career won eight Olympian, eight Isthmian, seven Nemean and one of the Pythian prizes. Many famous champions also came from the Greek colonies, like the Locrian Euthymus, who conquered three times at Olympia. Another celebrated fighter and wrestler was Milo of Crotona (520 B.C.). Boxing was evidently in vogue in very ancient times in Italy, imported, in all probability, from Greece, for Livy (i. 35) relates that, at the first celebration of the great Roman games (ludi, romani magnique varie appellati ) by Tarquinius Priscus (6th century B.C.), boxers were brought from outlying provinces; and there was an old tradition that a school of pugilism flourished in Etruria in heroic times. During the republic boxing was cultivated as a gentlemanly exercise, and we find Cato the Elder giving his son instruction in the art (Plutarch, Cato Major). Tacitus (Ann. xvi. 3) says that the emperor Caligula imported the best Campanian and African pugilists for the gladiatorial games, and Strabo (iii. 3) records that the Lusitanians and also the Indians, who gave virgins as prizes, boxed. The art remained popular in Italy down to a late period of the Empire. (Pugilism - 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica - Encyclopedias )
1 Coríntios 9:26
Barclay - In this passage Paul sets out a kind of brief philosophy of life. (i) Life is a battle. As William James put it, "If this life be not a real fight, in which something is eternally gained for the universe by success, it is not better than a game of private theatricals from which one may withdraw at will. But it feels like a fight--as if there were something really wild in the universe which we, with all our idealities and faithfulnesses, are needed to redeem." As Coleridge had it, "So far from the world being a goddess in petticoats, it is rather a devil in a strait waistcoat." A flabby soldier cannot win battles; a slack trainer cannot win races. We must regard ourselves always as men engaged upon a campaign, as men pressing onwards to a goal. (ii) To win the fight and to be victorious in the race demands discipline. We have to discipline our bodies; it is one of the neglected facts of the spiritual life that very often spiritual depression springs from nothing else than physical unfitness. If a man is going to do his best work in anything he must bring to it a body as fit as he can make it. We have to discipline our minds; it is one of the tragedies of life that men may refuse to think until they become incapable of thinking. We can never solve problems by refusing to see them or by running away from them. We must discipline our souls; we can do so by facing life's sorrows with calm endurance, its temptations with the strength God gives, its disappointments with courage. (iii) We need to know our goal. A distressing thing is the obvious aimlessness of the lives of so many people; they are drifting anywhere instead of going somewhere. Maarten Maartens has a parable. "There was a man once, a satirist. In the natural course of time his friends slew him, and he died. And the people came and stood round about his corpse. 'He treated the whole round world as his football,' they said indignantly, 'and he kicked it.' The dead man opened one eye. 'But,' he said, 'always towards the goal."' Someone once drew a cartoon showing two men on Mars looking down at the people in this world scurrying here, there and everywhere. One said to the other, "What are they doing?" The other replied, "They are going." "But," said the first, "where are they going?" "Oh," said the other, "they are not going anywhere; they are just going." And to go just anywhere is the certain way to arrive nowhere. (iv) We need to know the worth of our goal. The great appeal of Jesus was rarely based on penalty and punishment. It was based on the declaration, "Look what you are missing if you do not take my way." The goal is life, and surely it is worth anything to win that. (v) We cannot save others unless we master ourselves. Freud once said, "Psycho-analysis is learnt first of all on oneself, through the study of one's own personality." The Greeks declared that the first rule of life is, "Man know thyself." Certainly we cannot serve others until we have mastered ourselves; we cannot teach what we do not know; we cannot bring others to Christ until we ourselves have found him. (1 Corinthians 9 - William Barclay's Daily Study Bible) Plan To Win — Many years ago, a young heavy-weight fighter held the world boxing title. But his reign was short-lived. He was a power hitter—strong as a bull. But he hadn’t learned how to avoid getting hit. He also had a problem exercising self-discipline in his social life. As a result, he soon lost his title. This boxer’s experience is duplicated all too often in the spiritual arena. Many talented Christians make a fast start in the Lord’s service. But without an overall plan to conquer the enemy, they are soon defeated. The apostle Paul said that in his battle with sin he tried to make every blow effective. He did not want to be like a boxer whose punches merely strike the air (1 Cor. 9:26). The apostle was a competitor who disciplined himself to make all his moves count toward the ultimate decision. Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 6:1-10 show the strategy that is needed to endure spiritual battles and to have a lifetime of effective service for the Lord. He said the Christian life takes commitment, knowledge, stamina, and love, which are gained through the power of the Holy Spirit. Come, Lord, and give the vision To arm me for the fight; Make me an overcomer Clothed with Your Spirit's might. —Anon. Life is a series of battles—Are you training to win? The Metaphors of St Paul by John Saul Howson (1868) (Following excerpt from Chapter 4 - "The Greek Games - online") INDEX TO "THE METAPHORS OF ST PAUL" Chapter 1 - Roman Soldiers Chapter 2 - Classical Architecture Chapter 3 - Ancient Agriculture Chapter 4 - Greek Games The imagery to which our special consideration is to be given now is the most animated of all, being derived from the lively and exciting games of the Greeks. There is an obvious reason why images of this kind should have been very familiar to St Paul's thoughts, and why, when made the vehicles of instruction, they should have been very helpful to his converts. Wherever he was residing, at Corinth, at Athens, and in all places where a Greek population was predominant, (and this was, in fact, over the whole of the Levant,) the athletic games of the Greeks came before his notice, as a subject which caused the most engrossing and universal interest. The Gymnasium, or place of training, and the Stadium, or ground for running, were among the most conspicuous and most frequented spots in the architecture and embellishment of the cities. Of many of them the remains can still be traced. Wrestling, boxing, and especially footraces, with all the preliminary training, with the assembled and applauding multitudes while the contest was going on, with the formality of the heralds and the strict observance of the rules, with the umpires and prizes and eager congratulations at the close, with the poems which perpetuated great victories like heir-looms through successive generations, — these things were almost a religion among the Greeks, and they caused an enthusiasm which we ourselves can hardly understand, though it does happen that in our day athletic sports are a fancy and a fashion, and really in some cases, it would seem, almost a religion. (THOUGHT: Howson would doubtless be shocked at our modern American culture where sports is not just a national pastime but a national religion where the athletes are accorded "god-like" status being worshipped and adored by literally millions of fans, many of whom I fear would not deign to give the true God His just desserts!) THE FOOT-RACE I said, especially the foot-race. This was pre-eminently the struggle which caused the most eager interest in that age and in those countries. And this is pre-eminently the image which seems to come obviously to the Apostle, when he employs comparisons of this kind. We find instances in the book of Acts. Thus, when he is preaching one of his great missionary sermons at Antioch in Pisidia, and has occasion to mention John the Baptist, he speaks of him as "fulfilling his course" (Acts 13:25) which literally means, "running the race he had to run;" and this lively expression is evidently a fitting representation of that career, which did not last very long, but was very energetic while it lasted. So in addressing the elders at Miletus, and speaking of himself, and alluding with deep feeling to the "bonds and afflictions" which awaited him, he says: None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, that I may finish my course with joy." (Acts 20:24) He knows that his course requires a vigorous effort—he feels that there are many things to dissuade him from it and to cause him to turn aside—but he braces himself up, like a runner, for the struggle, throws himself into it with all his force and spirit and thinks of the joy and exultation which await him at the close. Similarly, and very frequently, in is his language in the Epistles. It is well worth our while to observe how generally and variously this figure is distributed through them. Some phrases of this kind must appear strange to those who do not consider the context of circumstances by which the Apostle was surrounded. Thus, to take as our guide the same English word which we have observed in the Acts : Pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified." (2Th 3:1) Here the Gospel itself is the runner, for which he desires a race that shall be vigorous, rapid, free from obstacles, and triumphant at the end. Again, to turn to most pathetic language having reference to himself, he writes to Timothy, I have fought the good fight: I have finished my course: I have kept the faith : henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day." (2Ti 4:7, 8) We must be careful here to give the right meaning to the word " fight." This term has nothing to do with war. It denotes an athletic contest. And the particular kind of athletic contest, which he specifies in his customary way, is the foot-race. But now he is writing near the close of life. The race is nearly run, the struggle is all but over, he is weary, as it were, and panting with the effort, but he is successful, the crown is in sight, and the judge, the "righteous" Judge (2Ti 4:1), Who cannot make a mistake, is there, ready to place that bright wreath upon his head. And as with the word " course," so with the verb that corresponds with it. "It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth" says St Paul in an argument,! which turns all our confidence towards Him who "hath compassion" and "showeth mercy." (Ro 9:15, 16) His anxiety regarding the success of his own Apostolic work, is expressed by the same image in two very different Epistles, written at widely-separated points of time. He tells the Galatians that at an early period he negotiated very carefully at Jerusalem, "lest by any means he should run or had run in vain;" (Gal 2:2) and writing long afterwards from Rome to the Philippians, he expresses his desire that they may be consistent, in order that he himself "may rejoice in the day of Christ, that he has not run in vain." (Php 2:16) And the metaphor which he applies to the progress of the Gospel committed to him, he applies also to the practical consistency and progress of those who had learnt the truth from him. "Ye did run well," he says to some, who had grievously failed and fallen: "who hath hindered you, that ye should not obey the truth?" (Gal 5:7) "Ye were running the Christian race successfully and well: who put these obstacles in your way, which have thrown you down, and brought you to shame?" The whole language, as read in the original Greek, is far more easily recognised as applicable to the foot-race, than can possibly be perceived in the English version. Thus we see that both direct and indirect advantages may be gained, by pursuing a narrow line of thought suggested by mere words. We here perceive the harmony of St Paul's language in his speeches and his letters, and lay hold on one of the small collateral proofs of the genuine and honest character both of the Acts and the Epistles. We are very far, however, as yet from having mentioned all instances of the use of such metaphors in these latter documents; and perhaps their use, in fact, strikes us all the more, when the actual words, to which our attention has hitherto been given, are not employed. Thus, when St Paul says to Timothy, "Exercise thyself unto godliness," (1Ti 4:7) the word he employs is most distinctly taken from the training and practicing for gymnastic contests. And then he adds: "Bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come" (1Ti 4:8)—a passage often misinterpreted. It is, in fact, frequently distorted in two ways. The "bodily exercise" is taken to mean religious asceticism, and the contrast is understood to lie between this and some supposed "godliness" not connected with bodily self-denial; whereas the comparison is simply between the training of the body for the games, and the training of the whole man, body, soul, and spirit, in the life of religion. And this helps us to avoid the other mistake, which is often committed in the interpretation of the passage. It would be a strange thing, if St Paul were to urge his disciple to the practice of a strict religious training of his character, by any promise relating chiefly to this life. He does nothing of the kind. He points out that, if the athletes will do so much for a reward which is merely of this world, we ought to do much under the influence of a promise which relates not merely to this world, but also to the next. God has indeed a blessing for this world, as the blessing of Esau, but His highest blessing is for the next world, even as the blessing of Jacob. It is as if St Paul said to Timothy, (and we could well imagine that such recollections of the past were in his mind as he wrote, "My son Timothy, thou rememberest how, when we were at Corinth, (Acts 18:5,8) with our brother Silas, and Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, we watched the athletes training for the games; young men of noble forms, eager and active, patient and persevering. It was a foolish toil, for a worthless reward. But we may learn a serviceable lesson from them. The children of this world are in their generation more diligent than the children of light. Train thyself—thy religious character—with the like eagerness and activity, patience and perseverance. Thy reward is not only earthly, but heavenly." And similar trains of thought might be followed in reference to other phrases, where not obviously at first sight, but still really, images from the games are imbedded in the context of the Epistles. Thus, when he says that he himself has spoken the Gospel of God "with much contention," (1Th 2:2) or that others have been " striving fervently" (Col 4:12) in intercessory prayer, or when he tells Timothy to "fight the good fight of faith," (1Ti 6:12) the metaphor is really agonistic (cp Greek agon = conflict for victory in the games), though the variations in the English version conceal the fact. But we must turn now to more copious passages, where the agonistic allegory is presented in its most animated form. In the Epistle to the Philippians St Paul writes thus: "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect—but I follow after. This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Php 3:12, 13, 14) Was there ever a more vigorous picture of a runner in earnest? Here is the eager pressing towards a definite end in view—the feeling that nothing else is to be thought of for the present—the determination that nothing shall interfere with the matter in hand;—and at the same time, with this strong effort of the will, there is the utmost alacrity and activity of movement. Here is no looking back, no thought of giving up the struggle. The whole energy of mind and body is bent upon success; and till success is achieved, nothing is done. It would be easy to dwell on these points at greater length; but really the best commentary on the passage is supplied by the familiar facts of a well contested foot-race. And there is yet a still more copious and lively instance of the same kind of illustration. As in the discussions of the other metaphors, some one passage was selected as furnishing the best sample, and as containing in fact the main basis for the discussion, so here we turn naturally to some verses in the ninth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians : "Know ye not that they which run in a race, run all, but one obtaineth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it that they may obtain a fading crown; but we an unfading. 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 have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." (1Co 9:24, 25, 26, 27) It may perhaps be a help towards our entering fully into the spiritual meaning of this passage, if we try to associate one practical topic with each one of the four verses. And the topic which we may associate with the first of the verses is this: The earnestness of purpose that is essential to the Christian's career. "Know ye not that they which run in a race, run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain." (1Co 9:24) St Paul appeals to the experience of the Corinthians. There was nothing with which they were better acquainted than these famous foot-races. Their own games near their own city were among the most celebrated in the world. They "knew" well that each race was eagerly contested, and that "one" obtained the prize. But at this point we must mark a difference. In that race there was competition; and because there was competition, each runner was in earnest. In the Christian race there is no competition. The prize is within the reach of all. But then each runner must be as much in earnest as though there were competition and only one prize. And this is what the Apostle expresses. He does not say (as I understand his words) "run so—in such a way—as to obtain,"—but, " run so—as those runners run—in order that ye may obtain." In their case there is rivalry and therefore they are in earnest. In your case there is no rivalry; but their earnestness of purpose is an example to you. And certainly no pattern of earnestness can be a more forcible example, than the earnestness that arises from eager competition. "Run in the Christian race as the athlete in the footrace runs." All his nerves and sinews are strung up for the effort he is making. Nothing else is thought of; and as the distance between his feet and the winning-post diminishes, he does not flag, but throws more and more exertion into the movement of his limbs. Whatever strength and elasticity he can summon up, whatever struggling remainder of his short and failing breath he can muster, all may be wanted at the very last moment. And what a contrast this is to our dull and languid Christianity! We go and take our place in the course as though the prize could be won without any running at all, or as if there were no prize worth running for. We dream and loiter and fold our arms; we turn aside to look at every object of passing interest; or if we did begin with some vigour, all the zest and warmth of the struggle grows feebler and fainter when it ought to become more animated, and, like the Galatians, we care little what hindrances occur to stop our course, and to risk a dishonorable fall. Earnestness of purpose is what we lack, and there is no picture of earnestness more forcible than that which is drawn from the ardour of competition. But now we pass to the next verse 1 Corinthians 9:25 — "Every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things;" (1Co 9:25) and the lesson is pointed by a contrast— "They do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible." (1Co 9:25) The successful athlete in the Greek foot-race received for his prize a crown of green leaves, placed by the judge upon his head. In itself it was of no value; but it was the mark of victory. The winning of this crown was sung in poetry: it was the subject of pride and congratulation to the city from which the successful runner came ; and it was the ground of boasting for long generations afterwards in his family. For the winning of this, exertions were made involving the utmost patience and self-denial, and no waste of strength and activity was thought too great if only it could be secured. And yet it was only a corruptible, a fading crown. Its beauty passed away sooner than the beauty of those leaves which are stripped off from our trees by the winds of November. And indeed all human glory is a fading crown. It must wither and die in the end. Yet what trouble men take to obtain it! And what an example in this respect is the eager lover of glory to the Christian! His crown can never fade. To lose that crown, as it certainly may be lost, by neglect, by indolence, by turning out of the right course, by falling headlong over temptations that lie before our very feet, this is surely the strangest and most unaccountable folly; while to win it is worth far more, ten thousand times, than all the toil of the most faithful servant of Christ, all the torture of the most suffering martyr. This verse, however, points not to suffering, but to sell-restraint, which self-restraint is itself a blessing; and the topic which we may associate with these words in the Apostle's comparison might be expressed thus—self-restraint inspired by hope. It is often worth a man's while to give up something which he values for the sake of some higher good in prospect. This is what was done in the Greek athletic sports when the competitors were under training ; and so indeed it is now, sometimes to an absurd extent, in English athletic sports. Classical authors furnish us with materials, by help of which we might, if it were necessary, describe the strict discipline to which these young Greeks were subjected under the trainer—the diet, the exercise, the hard life, the fixed hours, the peremptory abstinence from everything likely to hinder the end in view. It is the example to the Christian presented by this discipline which is the point before us. Nor is this the only place where the same Apostle makes a similar reference. In writing another of his Epistles, he says, "If a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully;" (2Ti 2:5) i.e., he cannot obtain the prize unless he complies with the regulations; and these regulations included, among other things, very strict and systematic methods of discipline and training. And the gospel strife with earthly sin for a heavenly prize has likewise its strict regulations. There is a preparatory discipline and training to which the Christian must be subjected before he can be fit to enter on his reward. The discipline, however, is, as was said before, itself a blessing. The training is a training for happiness. The habit of self-restraint running through the whole life The Apostle expresses it thus—"temperance in all things;" the habit of self-restraint running through the whole life; a check placed, not only on the passions, but on the words; moderation strictly practised in food and in sleep; those eager desires for amusement and novelty kept in control; so that the man is always master of himself. Thus under God's grace that character is formed, which commands respect and exerts influence in this life, and is prepared to enter on the future life, where no sin and folly disturb the balance of the purified soul. It is the hope of that life which furnishes the motive for self-restraint, just as the hope of victory in the foot-race gives the athlete patience to submit to all the discipline and training required by the rules. "I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beats the air," is the next of the Apostle's sentences. Definiteness of aim, then, in the Christian's race and contest, is our next topic. And it will be observed that St Paul presents this subject under two images, one drawn from running, the other from boxing. The foot-race was, as I have said, the most popular athletic contest among the Greeks; and it supplied to the Apostle his favourite comparison, in connexion with subjects of this class. But the pugilistic contest was also constant and familiar at the public games, and he combines this contest with the other in illustration of the point which is now before us. Not only does the Christian act with earnestness of purpose, not only is he encouraged to practise self-restraint, but he is definite in his aims. And in two ways he is definite. He has a distinct view of the objects of his desire, and a distinct view of the enemies against which he must contend. "I so run, not as uncertainly." (1Co 9:26KJV) (1) A man who does not know his own mind is seldom successful. That is a very unhappy temperament which is easily turned this way and that, and which always yields to the latest influence, is always persuaded by the last new argument. Such a man is continually in the hands of others. He is never his own master. He never does anything well. (2) And there is another very unhappy habit of mind: when a man does not go direct to his point—when he tries experiments on the right and on the left—when he loses time by hesitation, or follows circuitous methods, whereas the straightforward course is always the best. SIMPLE HEART SINGLE EYE They are both opposed to the true dignity of Christian principle. The disciple of Christ should be known as a simple-hearted man. His eye is single. He has one great object before him. His desire is to be like Christ, to prepare for spending eternity with that Blessed Master, and meanwhile to honour Him by doing good to all around him. And nothing could express this in a more lively manner than the comparison with the runner in a race. Direct—with the goal straight before him—with his whole frame vigorously moving that way—moving, too, by the shortest path—such is his course. Let such be our course. "Forgetting the things that are behind, and reaching forward to the things that are before, let us press toward the mark of the prize of our high calling." But still, while we have a course to run, we have also enemies to fight; and, to express this, another metaphor is appropriate— "So fight I, not as one that beats the air." (1Co 9:26KJV) St Paul passes here from the runner to the boxer, and, drawing a comparison from this source, he points out that the Christian has very definite antagonists. With the pugilist it is no mere striking for striking's sake, no mere pastime, no dealing of blows in the air for the exercise of the muscles. When the Corinthians or Athenians or Ephesians came in crowds to see their favourite athlete engaged in this contest, it was no showy and unmeaning attitudes that they came to witness, but the vigilant and most active employment of hand and eye for the purpose of victory over an opponent equally active and vigilant. We must be on the alert against our besetting sins And the best application which we can make for ourselves of this apostolic comparison is this—that we must be on the alert against our besetting sins—that we must keep our attention fixed upon them, and deal our blows steadily against them. Now, in order to do this, we must first know what our besetting sins really are. This is a most serious subject. It is not sin in general that we have to contend against, not the sins of our neighbours, not the sins which we have no temptation to commit, but " the sin which doth so easily beset us." (He 12:1) What is that sin? Has the reader discovered his besetting sin? If not—this is not the place for dogmatizing on spiritual things— but it may well be doubted whether it is possible for us to be saved at all, unless we have found out our besetting sin. (Ed: Not sure I totally agree with this statement. Be a Berean!) Now let us consider the last of these four emphatic verses: "I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection : lest that by any means, when I have preached unto others, I myself should be a castaway." (1Co 9:27) The image of the pugilist is still continued here; and we have to observe, first, what the Apostle does, and, secondly, why he does it. He resists his carnal (flesh) nature, systematically attacks it, and perseveres till he has subdued it; and this he does under the influence of a salutary (producing benefit) fear, lest, whilst he has been made a blessing to others, he himself should fail to obtain the reward. The topic then suggested by this part of the passage might be expressed thus: Persevering effort inspired by fear. The simple fact of St Paul using this image at all is a very grave fact. This pugilistic encounter was no mere light and languid amusement. Very often it was a matter of life and death. And certainly there is something very revolting in the thought of such a combat (whether in Ancient Greece or in Modern England) being made an entertainment for a crowd of spectators. But these Corinthians, Ephesians, and Athenians, were heathens, and whatever we may feel on this subject does not affect the strong significance of the Apostle's comparison. It is the intense reality of the struggle which constitutes the point of resemblance. Those heavy blows, dealt by one combatant with tremendous force upon the other, are taken to signify the resolute and incessant warfare which the Christian maintains with whatever is sinful in his human nature. These fleshly inclinations are determined to give him no rest, and he is determined to give them no rest: and he perseveres till the blows of this opponent become weak and faint, and he is master of the field. This is a very serious picture of the Christian life in one of its aspects: and it shows it to be very different from what it is sometimes supposed to be—a mere habit of passive acquiescence in certain opinions—a mere decorous compliance with certain rules of society—a mere receiving of impressions from without, unaccompanied by any spring of resolute energy from within. But it is quite as important, and even more important, to observe the motive of the Apostle in this energetic and vigilant resistance. His persevering effort is inspired by fear. "I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached unto others, I myself should be a castaway." "Lest"—never was a little word more weighty in any sentence; and the writer makes it more emphatic, by the addition of "by any means!" Could there be a more solemn admonition of danger? Here is this great Apostle, to whom the establishment of Christianity in the world is due more than to any one else, telling us that he carried on a watchful and vigorous warfare against his fleshly nature, for fear lest, in the midst of all these ministrations, he himself should lose his reward. Well, then, may we fear for ourselves; and, most of all, those amongst us who are actively endeavouring to do spiritual good to others. What thought can go with greater power into the very depths of the conscience than this: "God may be using me for the spiritual good of others, and yet my own heart may not be right; my own soul may not be safe, through the mysterious power of sin in my fleshly nature : I may be falling away farther from God, even while I am drawing others nearer to Him ?" (Ed: Wow! Is anyone else convicted by this poignant remark?!) TWO POLES OF THE CHRISTIAN'S LIFE: HOPE AND FEAR It is of course obvious that we are here brought into contact with the doctrines of predestination and election, and that a difficulty arises when such a passage as this is compared with passages supporting these doctrines. It is easy to range texts on both sides of such a controversy as that, and not easy to reconcile them, except by making one set of texts give way to another. And this we have no right to do. With other parts of Scripture before us, we might meditate with advantage on the sweet comfort which is derived from the conviction that those who have placed their souls in the care of Christ are safe, and that no one can pluck them out of that Saviour's hands. But that is not our subject now. We must take the Bible as we find it. St Paul does most distinctly tell us in this place that with him the fear of being "a castaway" was a commanding motive. Hope and fear are the two poles of the Christian's life; and certainly fear has a very conspicuous place in Holy Scriptures. "Be not high-minded, but fear." (Ro 11:20KJV) "Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear" (1Pe 1:17KJV) "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." (1Co 10:12KJV) The general subject of St Paul's habit of taking metaphorical language from the athletic games is by no means yet exhausted. Even in the context which we have been examining at considerable length, there is at least one other agonistic allusion, which might easily escape notice. When St Paul speaks in this passage of "having preached to others," the true rendering is, "having been a herald to others." And the reference is to that officer in the concourse at the games, whose business it was, with his voice, or with a trumpet, to summon the competitors to the exciting struggle. Much more, too, might be said on various points of detail, which have been only lightly touched, such as the training, (1Co 9:25, 1Ti 4:7,8), the rules (2Ti 2:5), the judge (2Ti 4:8), the prize (1Co 9:24, Php 3:14), the attending spectators (1Co 4:9),| and the jubilant joy (Acts 20:24) with which the victor was received at the close of the race. But it is now time to lay the subject aside; and this short series of papers on St Paul's illustrative language may be briefly concluded by two reflections, one of which has reference to the Apostle himself, the other to the Bible at large. It is impossible not to feel, in pursuing such studies as these, that we have not merely St Paul's instruction and exhortation, but his personal example, before us. We always feel that we should like to know something of the character of a man who produced such wonderful effects in the world as the Apostle Paul. And certainly, we have no lack of materials for forming a judgment on this subject. Among other things, we have his customary language. A man's customary language (at least if he is a man of mark) generally shows something of his character; and perhaps especially the language which he uses in his letters. For in letter-writing we are free from the disturbing influences of conversation, while yet the personal element is strongly present. Four groups of St Paul's favourite similes have been before our attention, and perhaps each of them might furnish a suggestion in regard to his character. Thus, in his architectural imagery we might be reminded of his steady adherence to first principles, and of his constructive ability (under God's Spirit) in regard both to doctrine and the Church; while his illustrations drawn from agriculture seem to present him before us in his sympathizing' care for the spiritual growth of his converts and his reliance on the exercise of God's beneficent power. But perhaps it is more easy to make this use of the metaphors which he draws from Roman soldiers and Greek games. We can hardly be mistaken in believing that by combining them together we obtain an approximate picture of the man. In both cases his references to such subjects are copious, natural, and customary. From this we should conclude that there was something of the Soldier and the Athlete in his moral and religious constitution. And so in truth it was. He had much of what we should call tenacity of character—a great power of elastic recovery, when he was beaten back by opposition—a strong will, not deterred by difficulties—and at the same time a remarkable alacrity and versatility and readiness of resource. We know this to have been the case, from the facts of his life; but we see it also in the imagery which he is in the habit of borrowing from the Roman Soldiers and the Greek Games. As to Scripture in general, the remark which ' suggests itself in conclusion is this, that the careful student can in every part of it enter upon large and precious trains of thought, and can find a germinating power even in what seem to be its secondary portions. In these short essays we have been following very narrow paths through a very limited portion of God's Word; and yet we have found a good deal to interest and instruct us. It is a great proof of the endless variety and richness of the Bible, if we can gain so much by merely pursuing the course of a peculiar word or a characteristic metaphor. God's Word is like God's World, very varied, very rich, very beautiful. You never know when you have exhausted all its secrets. The Bible, like Nature, has something for every class of mind. As in the phenomena around us there are resources and invitations both for science and for poetry, so does God's Revelation furnish materials both for exact theological definition and for the free play of devout thought and feeling. Look at the Bible in a new light, and you straightway see some new charm. This is true, even in regard to very minute particulars. The view from a commanding Alpine summit, which has been climbed by great labour. and where half a kingdom is spread before you, is very glorious and not to be forgotten: but the quiet footpath along the slopes of the lower eminences may also be full of beauty at every turn. And such has been our modest course in these essays. It is something to have obtained a deeper conviction than before of the inexhaustible charms and advantages of even the byways of Scripture. 1 Corinthians 9:25 <> 1 Corinthians 9:27
1 Coríntios 9:27
Barclay: but I batter my body; I make it my slave; lest after I have preached to others I myself should fail to stand the test. (Westminster John Knox Press) Barnhouse (paraphrase): I keep my body in complete subjection to my spirit. If I don't do this, I am likely to be counted as one who did a lot of talking, but finished up with the crowd, far from the prize winners. ESV: But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. KJV: 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 a castaway. NET: Instead I subdue my body and make it my slave, so that after preaching to others I myself will not be disqualified. (NET Bible) NIV: No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (NIV - IBS) NLT: I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. (NLT - Tyndale House)