Chapter 9

This section deals with three laws of evangelism.

The doctrine of evangelism

1. Knowledge of salvation is absolutely necessary for evangelism, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21. This means above all that the believer must understand the doctrine of reconciliation, Ephesians 2:14-17, which is the ‘barrier’ issue.

2. Witnessing for Christ is the responsibility of every believer, Acts 1:8; 2 Timothy 4:5.

3. Effectiveness and clarity of witnessing depends upon the believer’s understanding of the last judgment, Revelation 20:11-15. There are basically three concepts in the last judgment. a) Personnel. The person involved is the unbeliever. The only reason that anyone stands at the last judgment is because they happen to be an unbeliever and for no other reason. b) The indictment is based upon human good. At the last judgment sins are never mentioned because sins were covered at the cross. The unbeliever’s good works will be mentioned at the last judgment. c) The second death should be understood: eternal separation from God in the lake of fire.

4. Witnessing is impossible apart from the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit is twofold in witnessing. a) Your life, the filling of the Holy Spirit; b) Your lips or the content of the message — the ministry of the Holy Spirit, the doctrine of common grace, John 16:8-11. It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to take the gospel and so deal with the unbeliever that the unbeliever understands it and makes a decision. This means that it is not the believer’s job to take someone and try to get them to put their name on the dotted line.

5. The pertinent content of the Bible is the believer’s weapon in evangelism. The pertinent content is the gospel. 1 Corinthians 1:18; Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12.

6. The mental attitude in witnessing, Romans 1:14-16. The believer owes the gospel to the human race, he should be ready to communicate it without shame.

7. There are two areas of witnessing for Christ, the testimony of the life, 2 Corinthians 3:3; the testimony of the lips, 2 Corinthians 5:14-21.

8. There is a reward for witnessing, 1 Corinthians 3:11-16.

Outline

Verses 1-15, the law of supreme sacrifice.

Verses 16-23, the law of expediency.

Verses 24-27, the law of self-discipline.

Verses 1&2, Paul’s authority. Paul carried the greatest authority carried by any man in the history of the Church Age.

Verse 1, “Am I not an apostle?” Paul was not only an apostle but he was without question the greatest of all the apostles. The gift of apostleship was a gift given by the Holy Spirit of absolute spiritual leadership and dictatorship in the early church before the canon of scripture was completed. The qualifications for an apostle: he had to be appointed by the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12:11; he had to be an eyewitness of the resurrection, and Paul did see the resurrected Christ, 1 Corinthians 15:8-10; he had to be endued with miraculous powers, Acts 5:15; 16:16-18; 19:11,12, etc. No apostles were appointed to the Church until after the ascension of Jesus Christ, Ephesians 4:8-11. This implies that Peter was not made a pope in Matthew 16:18. Apostles were recipients of direct revelation from God. In fact the last revelation received directly from God was given to the apostles. The canon of scripture having been completed the gift of apostleship was removed, and at the same time there was no more direct revelation from God. All revelation from God is contained in the Word of God. Paul’s question demands an answer. Yes, Paul is an apostle.

“am I not free?” Paul is referring to the law of liberty. Paul is a believer, he is the leader of the Church, and he does operate under the law of liberty. He is an apostle and he has freedom to exercise authority, so he has freedom that we do not have today. Paul has freedom to marry, and a believing woman of his choice. He has the right to receive wages.

“have I not seen Christ our Lord?” perfect tense. All apostles had to have seen the resurrected Christ, Acts 1:22, and Paul saw the resurrected Christ on the Damascus road.

“are ye not my work in the Lord?” Paul evangelized the Corinthian believers and organized them into a local church, taught them doctrine. Paul was the founder of that church.

Verse 2, “If I be not an apostle unto others.” For the first time we meet those who are critical. The word ‘others’ is the key not only for this chapter but it is the key for 2 Corinthians. The word means others of the same kind, so it refers to believers who have come into the church and who under the influence of Judaisers have now become critical of Paul.

“yet doubtless I am to you,” ‘to you’ is dative of advantage and he is referring to the original people in the church when he was there.

“for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord,” ‘are ye’ is literally, ‘you keep on being.’

Verse 3, Paul finds it necessary to defend himself. “My answer” is literally, ‘my defense.’

“to them” is a reference to ‘others’ of the previous verse. Paul is now dealing with those who have become his critics. The tragedy is that we have a segment of believers in the Corinthian church who are critical of Paul. This influences the rest to ignore the doctrine which Paul taught them. What Paul taught them was correct and when these people become effective in their criticism then they destroy Paul’s authority, they destroy the doctrine that he taught. The first tendency is to ignore the doctrine which he taught. In his absence the result of this criticism is the ignoring of doctrine and this means that a maximum number of Corinthians are in status quo carnality.

“that do examine me” is really “those who judge me,” present active participle, they keep on judging him. They are nit pickers. Out of all of the things that they criticise Paul is only going to mention two. They said there was something wrong with Paul because he is not married. Secondly, they said he refused to take any money from them when he was in Corinth.

Verse 4, Paul’s liberty to live a normal life is given in this and the next verse. “Have we not power [authority] to eat and drink?” This is a good way to start, you have to get them nodding their heads. Then you make an analogy from a head-nodder to something again about which they will have to nod their heads because the analogy is perfect. “Have we not” is present active indicative, which means ‘Do we not keep on having.’ The word ‘power’ is not power at all, the Greek word is ‘authority’ or ‘right.’ “Do we not have the authority or the right.” Eating is normal! Having a wife is normal! There is nothing abnormal about it, this is normal in the human race. People have a right to a salary or earnings, and this is normal. These are all normal things. The Corinthians are criticising Paul because he is abstaining from two normal things.

Verse 5, “Have we not the authority [the right] to lead about.” The verb ‘lead about’ meant originally to lead about a cow on a halter or something similar, lead a horse, etc. But then it came into a higher concept in the Koine Greek and it means to travel up and down with a partner, and that is what it really means here. But it also has a very interesting connotation. The partner is not an animal, the partner is a human being with volition. To lead about means that no man has the right to take anything from a woman, his wife, unless she is willing to give it. The word ‘lead about’ is a present tense, which means that marriage is a divine institution. Active voice: individual volition is the basis for entering into it on the part of both. This means that when two people get married, no matter who or what they blame afterward, both entered on the basis of positive signals. So if Paul has the right to eat he has the right to get married.

“a sister,” the word means a woman who is a believer, not one’s sister. This also means that the believer has no right to marry an unbeliever; “a wife,” Paul had the right to marry any Christian woman he chose.

“as well as other apostles” — most of the apostles were married; “and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas [Peter]?”

Verses 6-14, Paul’s right to be remunerated for preaching.

Verse 6, “Or I only and Barnabas.” In other words, indicating at this particular time all of the other apostles and all the other people apparently in the framework of the church were receiving salaries. ‘I only and Barnabas’ were the only two exceptions to the rule. The other apostles, other Christian leaders, evangelists, preachers, missionaries, were receiving salaries for their special services. These two exceptions, Paul and Barnabas, operate under the law of supreme sacrifice.

“have we not power,” again, the Greek word is authority or the right; “to forbear working?” This means to work on the outside, taking a job on the side instead of taking wages for preaching. This was asked in such a way as to indicate that a positive answer is called for: ‘Yes Paul, you and Barnabas do have a right to a salary for teaching the Word.’ In this case the word power or authority means that this is the established procedure, as will be indicated later on.

Verse 7, the principle of remuneration. The fact that Paul is operating under the law of supreme sacrifice means that this is the exception and not the rule. So we have the principle of remuneration which is derived from three fields of ancient living: the soldier, the farmer, and the shepherd. From this point Paul will develop the principle of the right of the one who teaches the Word to receive wages for a spiritual service.

“Who goeth a warfare” means who serves as a soldier and does not take wages? The principle is that the soldier has to be paid and has a right to wages.

“who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the production thereof?” Agricultural life is the second illustration and the one who participates in the work has the right to receive wages. This indicates how he was paid. At the time of the harvest he received his wages.

“who feedeth the flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?” This indicates that the shepherd received part of his wages from the flock itself, first of all from milk, and secondly he could slaughter a lamb for himself. This was a part of the wages of the shepherd.

In each of these cases remuneration is the basis for human production. If this is true in the realm of human production Paul now points out that much more so in the field of spiritual production. Spiritual production has just as much right, if not more, to receive wages than human/physical production. In verses 8-10 this is documented from the Word of God.

Verse 8, Paul refers to the law, Deuteronomy 25:4. “Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also?” In other words, am I just talking from the human viewpoint? Is this simply a tradition of man which cannot be accepted by the church as authoritative? Or is this a bona fide, Bible-centred concept? Man throughout the course of history has sought to infiltrate God’s way of life with human tradition. The word “law” here refers not just to the first five books of the Bible but to the Old Testament scriptures which were recognised as canonical at this time. Paul first of all shows that there is a biblical authority and in verse 9 he will quote the passage.

Verse 9, “For it is written” is a perfect tense, something that occurs in the past with results that go on forever. The perfect tense indicates that the Old Testament scripture is an absolute norm or standard. ‘For it stands written’ is a better translation. The active voice means that the Old Testament scriptures were produced and influenced by God the Holy Spirit, 2 Peter 1:21. The indicative mood is the reality of the Old Testament canon at this time. Now, of course, we have the completion of both the Old and the New Testament canon, we have the reality of an absolute criterion. The principle is very simple: God’s people, those who are born again, always have an absolute norm, standard, criterion from God so that at no time in this life we as believers representing Christ are ever to be in doubt as to what is the correct procedure, what is right, what is wrong, what is commanded, what is not commanded. We have an absolute norm and this brings up the whole principle of authority. The Bible is the authority. And this means something else. Since the canon of scripture was completed by around 95 AD we no longer have any direct revelation from God as occurred in the Old Testament. There is no communication from God apart from the Word of God. This also tells us something else. It is God’s will for us to know God’s will.

“in the law of Moses” — refers to the first five books of the Bible; the law by itself was the entire Old Testament scripture, and now we have a phrase added to show what portion of the scripture, specifically Deuteronomy 25:4.

“Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn.” This is the principle of remuneration. In other words, the one who did the work in the mill had a right to be remunerated, and the ox treading out the corn was never muzzled because he received his remuneration by eating corn as he moved along. The principle is so obvious. If you remunerate a dumb beast for his services, much more the one in the pulpit.

“Doth God take care for oxen?” This is a principle that is as old as time. Yes, God takes care of the ox. If God takes care of a dumb beast then obviously it is His intention to take care of those who have authority in spiritual things.

Verse 10, “Or saith he it altogether for [because of] our sakes?” This means, does he say this because of us? Yes.

“For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; he that thresheth in hope shall be partaker of his hope.” ‘For our sakes’ is literally, ‘because of us.’ ‘No doubt’ means yes. The plower and the harvester are those who work, and ‘in hope’ means anticipation of wages. In other words, those who work have a right to expect wages. This is also true in the spiritual realm. The pastor who ministers in spiritual things has the right to be remunerated for spiritual things. The local church is responsible for paying wages for those who serve in spiritual things.

Verse 11, Paul’s liberty to participate in remuneration is given. “If we have sown spiritual things.” ‘If’ is a first class condition, Paul is recognising the reality of his own ministry to the Corinthians. ‘If we have sown’ is an aorist tense, it gathers up into one ball of wax every time Paul taught them, every bit of evangelising that Paul did while he was in Corinth. It is the responsibility of the pastor to teach doctrine, this is sowing. When the seed goes in out comes production at the other end of the line.

“If we have sown unto you for your advantage spiritual things, is it a great thing if we reap from you material things?” Here the word ‘carnal’ [KJV] doesn’t mean out of fellowship, it means material.

This says in effect that the congregation shares in the minister’s spiritual things while the minister shares in the congregation’s material things. So the principle is that each has something to give the other. Paul has liberty and the right to participate in the law of remuneration on the basis of providing for them an indispensable service.

Verse 12, Paul didn’t take remuneration from them so the law of supreme sacrifice comes in at this point. “If others be partakers of this authority over you,” he is referring to others who include the pastors, the Bible teachers — “are not we rather?” This is an idiom that means ‘Do I not have it more than they?’

“Nevertheless” is a conjunction of contrast. Here is the contrast between Paul’s rights under liberty and the reality of the situation — supreme sacrifice; “we have not used this authority.” This is an aorist tense which covers the time when Paul was in Corinth, and only that time. The aorist tense is used to designate that time because afterwards Paul received money from various churches to go out and find other churches. But not here in Corinth. The middle voice: Paul was benefited by the action of the verb because money is never an issue in evangelism. He refused remuneration from that church so that his motives would never be impugned and that it would be understood that Christ was the issue in evangelism and doctrine is the issue after one is saved.

“but suffer all things” simply means that ‘we endure suffering in all things.’ Success in the field of evangelism meant the formation of a church and they might have assumed that Paul was doing all this for the sake of money, but the criticism was destroyed before it could get off the ground because Paul refused an offering. The word ‘suffer’ means to endure privation. It is present active indicative which means he kept on enduring privation.

“lest” introduces a negative purpose clause in the Greek. Generally it should be translated “that.”

“we should not hinder the gospel of Christ,” taking money from the Corinthians at the time the church was formed there would have hindered the cause of the gospel. The aorist tense refers to the point of time when Paul was in Corinth.

Verses 13-15, the law of remuneration is not set aside by Paul’s action.

Verse 13, the fact that Paul refused to take wages does not set a precedent. This is what he is pointing out here. He says that because he didn’t take wages it doesn’t mean that they should cut off the pastor’s wages at the present time.

“Do ye not know,” this is a perfect tense to indicate doctrine in the soul; “they which minister about holy things live of the things in the temple?” This is one of two illustrations. The first is the Levitical priesthood. Don’t you know that the priests who operate in the temple receive a salary from the temple. This had always been true under the Levitical priesthood. Then Paul goes on to point out that this is also true in heathenism. Even the heathen do this.

“and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?” This refers to heathen priests, and they partake of what is brought in.

Verse 14, here is the principle which still stands. Paul’s action under the law of supreme sacrifice does not set a precedent. “Even so,” the law of the practice of remuneration in spiritual things, “hath the Lord ordained,” aorist tense, a point of time divorced from time sand perpetuated forever; this principle is perpetuated. The Lord commanded this principle in Luke 10:7, the same principle is declared in Galatians 6:6.

“they which preach the gospel,” referring to evangelists, pastors, apostles, missionaries, and so on; “should live by the gospel,” the word ‘should live’ means to earn a living: ‘should earn a living from the gospel.’

Verse 15, “But I have used none of these things.” This is a legitimate function, he has not operated under the law of liberty.

“neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me,” in other words, he is not writing to them for a back salary.

“for it were better for me to die, than that anyone should make my glorying void,” Paul’s purpose in phase two is to glorify Christ and to make the gospel clear. If the gospel is nebulous or abstruse then he might as well be dead. His ‘glorying’ is the declaration of the gospel, the teaching of doctrine. That is why he is alive, his purpose for being alive.

Verse 16, “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of.” The word ‘though’ is literally ‘if’ and it is a third class condition, if, maybe yes and maybe no. “For if I preach the gospel.” When Paul talks of preaching the gospel we immediately think of an evangelistic situation where one man stands in a public speaking situation and has a great crowd in front of him. But actually the Greek word means to announce the gospel and it can connote a public speaking situation or a personal conversation whereby the gospel is communicated. The third class condition indicates the possibility of communicating the gospel or not communicating the gospel, and actually the word ‘preach’ might be better understood in our day by the word ‘witness’ or ‘communicate.’ “If I communicate, maybe I will and maybe I will not.” The present tense of this verb means that this communication of the gospel to the unbeliever is to be a lifetime habit of a believer. The middle voice of this verb indicates that the believer is benefited by communicating the gospel. This is also in the subjunctive mood which indicates communication of the gospel on the part of believers in potential. Maybe they will and maybe they will not. The subjunctive mood goes with the third class condition.

“I have nothing to glory of,” the literal translation should be, ‘it is not my boasting.’ In other words, communication of the gospel or witnessing is not the basis for boasting.

“for necessity is laid upon me” simply indicates that is our responsibility, and it is ours. The words ‘is laid’ is present active indicative, indicating the fact that this is always our responsibility. Necessity simply indicates responsibility and one reason we are left in this life after salvation is to represent Christ as His ambassador and to communicate the gospel to others as ambassadors for Christ — ‘necessity keeps on being laid upon me’ is dative of advantage. It is to our advantage to have this responsibility. God has a plan for every life and this means that every Christian is left on this earth in order to communicate the gospel. There are other reasons but this is a primary function.

“yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” He says this is my responsibility and if I fail woe is me. In other words, I am in for discipline and I am disoriented with regard to God’s purpose. One way we can fail in fulfilling our responsibility is get busy whitewashing the devil’s world instead of communicating the gospel. Behind the whitewash is the devil’s system. God’s system is entirely separate from the devil’s world and that is what the church, body of Christ, is entirely separate positionally from the rest of the world and experientially as we separate ourselves from false things — religion, internationalism, socialism, and other false activities. By so doing we make the issue the gospel. We make Christ the issue to a lost and dying world.

Verse 17, orientation to evangelism. The word ‘willingly’ here has two concepts: from my free will and with bona fide spiritual motivation. “I do” is literally, ‘I practice.’ “If I habitually practice this willingly.” You have to witness of your own volition, you must personally desire to go out and communicate the gospel.

“I have a reward,” it isn’t the number of souls you win, it is the actual witnessing. Soul winning is the work of the Holy Spirit. Soul communicating is our responsibility. Witnessing is communicating the gospel to the lost soul. The reward has to do with the crown of joy of Philippians 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:19 which is the reward for soul winning.

“but if against my will,” this is a first class condition of assumption that some of these believers against their will are going to witness for Christ. It means they are victims of some gimmick, they are bullied by legalists into witnessing.

“a dispensation is committed unto me,” the word ‘dispensation’ here means a stewardship or a responsibility. Literally, ‘a responsibility is entrusted to me.’ This is the responsibility of the believer delineated in chapters 3,4,5, and it has to do with witnessing. The word ‘commit’ is entrust and it is in the perfect tense. The passive voice: I receive this responsibility, I do not earn it or deserve it. The indicative mood is the reality of the fact that as long as I live on this earth as a believer it is God’s purpose for me to communicate the gospel to the lost segment of the human race.

“unto me’ is not found in the original. Paul is simply saying that the purpose of his being here is to witness for Christ, and regardless of whether I do it willingly or unwillingly it is the responsibility of the church to represent Christ and to make Him known. If I do this thing willingly I receive a reward, if I do this unwillingly there is no reward but the function of the church goes on.

Verse 18, money must never be an issue to the unsaved. “What is my reward then?” His reward is already stated, an eternal reward, and he will not be rewarded if he has false motivation.

Four types of false motivation — they are all in the lust pattern.

a) Materialism lust. A person witnesses for money.

b) Approbation lust. A person witnesses for recognition or praise.

c) Power lust. A person witnesses in order to gain ascendancy in some Christian herd or group.

d) Ego lust. Witnessing for the purpose of winning a competition with other believers — You witness to five people a day, I’ll witness to six!

“that when I preach [communicate] the gospel,” present middle participle, habitually my responsibility; “I may make the gospel” means ‘I may distribute.’ The Greek word means to distribute a product. The product here is the gospel.

“of Christ without charge,” without making them pay for it. It refers only to money. The unbeliever must never be ‘dunned’ for money in any kind of an evangelistic situation. This gives the impression that you can buy salvation or that you can make points with God by putting money in the offering plate. This is often what the believer thinks. t is wrong for any Christian group to take money from an unbeliever. It is wrong to pass the plate to unbelievers.

“that I abuse not my authority in the gospel” — his authority is the fact that as a Christian, a believer, his responsibility is authorised by God to give the gospel. He is ordained of God the present the gospel and he must not abuse this authority by charging for it. The true issue in the gospel is ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.’ The false issue is you have to give some money, you have to join the church, you have to be baptised, you have to walk an aisle, you have to raise your hand, you have to feel sorry for your sins, etc.

Verses 19-23, the operation of the law of expediency.

Verse 19, “For though I be free from all.” ‘I be’ is a present active participle and should be translated ‘I keep on being.’ This is the law of liberty whereby Paul has the right to accept wages for preaching, he has the right to have a wife, etc.

“yet have I made myself a slave unto all,” he is saying this: Why did I go to Corinth and start making tents? Why did I become just a poor workman? Answer: To make the gospel free. Law of expediency: so that money would not be an issue in the gospel.

“that,” purpose clause; “I might gain the more,” more labourers.

Verse 20, the law of expediency is applied to the Jews. “And unto the Jews I became as a Jew,” Paul isn’t Jew any more. Since the day he believed in Christ as saviour he is a member of the body of Christ. All who are born again and in the body of Christ are no longer Jews or Gentiles. Paul established rapport with the Jews from his Jewish background. This was in order to witness.

“that I might gain the Jews,” in other words, he didn’t create false issues. For example, Paul as a born again believer could eat pork if he wanted to but in order to establish rapport with the Jews he stayed way from pork — law of expediency. In this way he didn’t make an issue out of violation of the law and the law didn’t become an issue as far as the gospel. The law is not an issue.

“that I might gain them that are under the law,” ‘under’ means under the authority of, and Paul simply says that he didn’t do anything to antagonise them where the law is concerned that he might gain them. Remember that Paul wrote this when the Mosaic law was still in operation as a part of the Jewish entity. Therefore he did not do anything to offend them in this field so that Christ would be the issue and not the law.

Verse 21, the application of the law of expediency to the Gentiles as well. “To them that are without the law, as without the law.” Expediency sets up a rapport with the gospel, not with the person. He established a rapport between the gospel and the Gentiles by keeping law out as an issue. The law of expediency keeps from creating false issues in declaring the gospel.

“being not without the law of God,” the law of God is spirituality. Paul is saying he was not lawless; “but under the law to Christ,” the principle of the filling of the Spirit, Romans 8:2-4.

“that I might gain them that are without the law,” that he might lead Gentiles to the Lord.

Verse 22, the law of expediency applies to obscure persons. “To the weak I became weak,” the word ‘weak’ here means a person who has no prominence, unsuccessful by human standards, no influence; “that I might gain the weak.”

In matters of doctrine Paul was adamant and dogmatic, but in matters of expediency Paul was flexible without deceit and without compromise. In other words, he didn’t carry this to the point of deceit or to the point of compromise.

Then he summarises: “I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” ‘I am made all things’ is literally, ‘I have become all things.’ It means that his life so operates that he does not introduce false issues where the gospel is concerned. He doesn’t introduce anything that would keep him from clearly communicating the gospel. There are numerous approaches to witnessing and the words ‘by all means’ refers to this. The Bible never condones gimmicks which hinder the work of the Spirit and confuse the issue of salvation. ‘All means’ means all legitimate means under expediency, and it is defined by the context as removing false issues. An example of a false issue: Is the Bible the Word of God? Yes, it is, says the believer. The unbeliever can’t say yes, he is incapable of saying yes. If he says yes he doesn’t know what he is saying. Whether the Bible is the Word of God or not is strictly a doctrine for the believer. So don’t make an issue of it when communicating to an unbeliever, use it. Use it, it is our weapon, as it were. The pertinent scriptures are the means of clarifying the gospel. Making an issue out of whether it is the Word of God or not is beside the point. It is a false issue. What about the people who have never heard? That is also a false issue. Social problems, national problems, racial problems, economic problems, are all false issues.

Verse 23, “And this I do,” present tense: ‘this I keep on doing [I make a lifetime practice].’ This refers to the law of expediency, finding the best ways possible to communicate the gospel.

“for the gospel’s sake” is ‘because of the gospel,’ dia plus the accusative means ‘because of.’

“that” introduces a purpose clause, “I might become a partner,” the partnership is simple. Christ is at the right hand of the Father, we are on the earth. Christ represents the believer in heaven as our defense attorney when Satan accuses us. He is also our high priest which means He is making intercession for us. He is going to stay at the right hand of the Father until operation footstool. On the earth we represent Him as ambassadors for Christ. In this sense we are partners with Him. “That I might be” is actually “that I might become a partner in reality.’ To become a partner is reality is to be controlled by the Spirit and to be witnessing for the Lord.

“with you” is literally, ‘with him.’ The word ‘you’ in the KJV is in italics because it doesn’t occur here, but there is a word not in the translation that is found in the Greek and it is ‘with him.’ The aorist tense means the point of time when filled with the Spirit, the point of time when witnessing. The active voice: means that you yourself will be in partnership with Christ in reality, but the subjunctive mood says it is potential depending upon your walk with the Lord.

The third law of witnessing is the law of discipline, verses 24-27.

Verse 24, “Know ye not.” The greatest virtue of the Christian life is knowledge of doctrine. You can’t live until you know. You must know what you are doing before you can do it, you must have dogmatic, perfectly established norms in the frontal lobe before you can determine what you are doing, what is right, and what is not. This is a perfect tense used as a present in order to indicate doctrine in the frontal lobe. So we have the principle that you must have doctrine in the frontal lobe in order to understand these principles. And immediately we are going to have an analogy.

“that they which run in a race,” the present active participle ‘run in a race’ means to run in a stadium literally, and it refers to four different areas of athletic games in the ancient world. First of all it refers to the Olympic games which had been dead during the late Roman republic and the early part of the Roman empire but they were revived by Herod the Great, of Matthew chapter two. At the time that Paul writes the games have reestablished themselves as one of the great athletic contests. However, they were second at this time to the Corinthian games, also called the Isthmus games. A third athletic contest that was quite famous was the Pythian games, and the fourth was the Nemian games. The Corinthian games was the most popular at this time. It was held every two years and it was the only athletic contest that drew people from all over the world because when you went to these games you also went to the best town for living it up in the ancient world. Paul is very clear that he is talking about the athletes here because he says, “they which run in the stadium.” The stadium refers to the beautiful stadium just outside of Corinth on the Isthmus.

“run all,” they all run; “but one receiveth the prize.” The prize for sinning in the Corinthian games, as well as the Olympic games, was crown of ivy leaves. Sometimes they couldn’t obtain ivy leaves so they got olive leaves instead. If you won first place in one of these contests you could wear this crown until it faded. Now Paul says that this is an analogy to the Christian life.

“So run,” keep on running, a present active imperative. It means as long as you live, run. To run you have to sometimes get up, and that is the concept of rebound.

“that,” purpose clause; “you may obtain,” aorist tense, meaning in a point of time when you win. The point of time refers to the judgment seat of Christ. The active voice: you yourself do the obtaining. The imperative mood says this is a command. The subjunctive mood is potential, maybe we will receive a prize and maybe we will not. The whole point of verse 24 is that as long as we are in phase two, on this earth, the production through the filling of the Spirit is what we will be evaluated on for reward.

Verse 25, we have a training period which introduces the law of discipline. Before a person can get into a game and run he has a training period. “Every man” refers to all, every believer; “that striveth for the mastery,” one verb in the Greek which means to compete in the games. This is a present active participle and means ‘keeps on competing.’

“in temperate,” is in training, is under training; “in all things.”

Six analogies with regard to this training

1. Entrance into a gymnasium. Once you went into the gym you were in for ten months and you did not come out unless you were disqualified. You could not compete in the games unless you were a citizen, and you had to bring proof of citizenship in order to be permitted to enter the nearest gym. And you couldn’t be a slave, you had to be a free man. Entrance is a picture by analogy of salvation. This law does not apply to anyone except the one who is saved. Entrance into the gym; entrance into the kingdom.

2. The athlete must live inside the gym for ten months — duration. The only way you could leave the gym was by being disqualified. Leaving the gym is a picture of carnality by analogy. This emphasises rebound. In order to maintain the Spirit-filled life it is absolutely necessary for rebound when required.

3. The trumpet calls in the gym. Everything in the gym was handled by trumpet call. For example, the trumpeters blew for an assembly for exercise, for discontinuing exercise, for sleeping, for waking up, and so on. The athlete must answer all trumpet calls or be dismissed from the gym. If you are dismissed from the gym you are not qualified to enter the games. The trumpeter was heard but not seen, comparable to the faith-rest technique. If you are going to grasp that prize you must operate on the basis of the faith-rest technique.

4. The athlete must exercise. There was a trumpet call for exercise. First of all there was the trainer call, a call 30 minutes before exercise at which time the trainer came in with oil and your body was completely anointed with oil. That is all you wore to the exercise. Oil is often used in scripture for the Holy Spirit and this is a good picture of the Spirit-controlled life. The filling of the Spirit supersedes all activity in the Christian life, it must be under the control of the Spirit.

5. The weather factor. Exercise was carried out in all kinds of weather and everyone did exactly the same exercise. We as believers exercise in all kinds of weather. We exercise in time of prosperity and in time of adversity, and we must go through the same routine, as it were, whether we are under catastrophe or under great success and prosperity. In other words, God has provided a life for the believer whereby he can have inner happiness, inner peace, and inner power regardless of the circumstances of life. So we have the principle of stability through the Word.

6. Diet. Everyone had to eat certain things and you couldn’t eat those things which were outlawed. For example, you were allowed in every gymnasium to eat wheat, cheese, figs, lean meat, and that’s it. You drank water. This was the only place in the ancient world where you had to drink water. No wine was permitted. Most of the people of the ancient world drank wine. So we have the principle of superseding laws. This is an analogy to operation phase two because there is a sense in which the Christian way of life is a divine discipline. It requires the use of techniques — the faith-rest technique, rebound, filling of the Spirit, occupation with Christ, living in the Word. It requires that you follow a given set of principles and that you follow them adamantly, dogmatically to the point of great stability. It requires that you have certain categories of information in your frontal lobe and that you apply them to certain circumstances. This is the concept of discipline in the Christian life. And if you do not utilise what God has provided, if you do not use these divine operating assets, then you are disqualified from reward, though not from salvation.

“Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown,” they enter into the athletic contest that they might obtain a corruptible crown, ivy leaves or olive leaves. The word ‘corruptible’ means a fading crown. But the reason these athletes went through all this was not the reward at the games, it was when they went home that they received the great reward.

The seven things that the athlete received when he went home

a) He was not permitted to go through the gate. First was his entrance into the city and they cut a big hole in the wall. They met him outside of the wall in their best chariot and they went through the wall. Later on they would seal up that hole in the wall and would put a plaque up in that place saying that this athlete had passed through it. His name would be on a plaque there on the wall as long as the city stood. The entrance also included a big parade at which the ladies through their favourite perfume and the men through flowers.

b) Every city had an official poet who had to write about all the events of the city and he read them at public festivals, and so on. In this case the poet had to write an ode commemorating the event. If it was a good enough ode it would be put somewhere in a public square for life.

c) The city sculptor was immediately commissioned to make a statue of the winner. This would be erected in the public square.

d) There was a monetary reward.

e) A lifetime pass to all future games was given to the winner.

f) Your children were fed and educated at public expense.

g) Exemption from all future taxation.

“but we an incorruptible [crown],” refers to the rewards of the future.

Verse 26, competition in the games. “I therefore also run [keep on running],” present active indicative. He rebounds when necessary, he gets up when he falls, and he keeps on running.

“not as uncertainly,” not aimlessly. In other words, he knows where he is going. The believer who knows doctrine knows where he is going, he understands the whole pattern of the Christian life. He understands the Christian life and he lives it.

“not as one that beateth the air,” they had boxing matches in all of these games. They were different from our modern boxing matches. They had an ox-hide glove, usually a strap which was tied around the hand. On these straps were nails and bits of metal, sharp rocks, anything that would cut and destroy. You couldn’t afford to miss. The way you won a match was simply to kill the other person. These gloves were very heavy, and if you the a blow and it missed your arms would be out in such a way that you would be exposed to the opponent. He couldn’t afford to miss. Missing is analogous to carnality. Making your blows count is spirituality. Paul says he makes every blow count.

Verse 27, You have to have discipline to make an athlete, you have to have a system of discipline to make a successful believer.

“But I keep under my body,” to keep under means to toughen, to discipline through training. So this word means ‘I train my body through discipline.’ This is analogous to learning and using divine operating assets, phase two.

“and bring it into subjection,” bring it into a system of training. That system of training is all the divine operating assets of phase two and/or the Christian way of life, including rebound and faith rest, all the techniques.

“lest that by any means, when I have preached to others,” ‘others’ means others of the same kind, believers; “I myself should become a castaway.” The word ‘castaway’ is not castaway at all, it means to be disqualified. What does he mean? First of all he has persuaded many of the Corinthians to enter the gym, the point of salvation. Once they are inside he has taught them the doctrine whereby they have entered the discipline of phase two. He is in there too. He is saying that they might go on and win events and he might get thrown out of the gym by failing to observe the discipline himself.

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