1 Corinthians 9:1-2

Scripture: 1 Cor. 9:1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord?

1 Cor. 9:2 If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

Teaching: Chapter 9 flows from chapter 8 seamlessly (as, remember, there were no chapters in the Bible originally, those divisions came much later). Paul begins chapter 9 with four rhetorical questions whose context is the treatise on Christian liberty he gave in chapter 8. As a reminder, Paul’s main point in chapter 8 was to uphold the second greatest commandment, as Jesus called it, “to love your neighbor as yourself.” In the case of eating meats sacrificed to idols, Paul said that in and of itself cannot separate one from Christ, but it does have the potential to confuse and stumble new believers when they see more mature believers doing so. Out of abundant love for others, deny yourself things that can cause them to stumble in their faith. 

Paul then opens this chapter by giving himself as the lead example of this. His rhetorical questions point to the fact that he is an apostle, has been given authority by Christ and thus freedom in Christ, and he, in fact, was the one who started this church in Corinth. If anyone should be able to exercise complete freedom, it was Paul. However, Paul denied himself things he knew could not separate him from the love of Christ for the betterment and example for the new Christians in Corinth. He is rhetorically calling them to see that if he, Paul, does this, they should, too. And to those who doubted that he was an apostle (as he has argued against earlier in this letter), he gives the fact that he has founded this church and is sacrificing for them as further evidence of it. Thus, these two verses set Paul up for a further teaching on the balance of Christian liberty and self-sacrifice by defending Paul’s position as an apostle uniquely commissioned to teach on such matters and who is currently living it himself. 

Takeaway: Christian liberty is hotly debated because it can so easily become bogged down in specific instances where the sides of each debate are operating more on their personal preferences and desires than Biblical truth. Chapters 8-10 of 1 Corinthians interpret well what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount and apply it pastorally to life as a Christian. They are important chapters to take people to when they argue over what is “permissible” for a Christian. When something is framed that way, it generally misses the point. The point of life is to live for Christ and glorify Him in all we do. Can this be done in freedom? Yes. Can this be done in sacrifice? Yes. What is the governing factor? I would say the two greatest commandments, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. To do these well, we cannot be cavalier in our attempts to justify what we already do, but rather seek the truth in the Bible and live accordingly. These chapters are a good place to start.