1 Corinthians 9:15-19 But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me. I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast. Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it. Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
Paul begins chapter 9 with the rhetorical question: Am I not free? (verse 1) Obviously, he asks this to imply that he is free and follows up with other questions that reveal the realities of who he is by faith. He knows Jesus Christ has set him free to do as he wishes in his freedom, and he is not obligated to any man for any reason other than to fulfill God's will. However, he knows God has put demands on his life as an apostle of the gospel. Consequently, he is not free to do just anything that he chooses in the flesh. God has set him free to do kingdom work by spreading the "Good News" of Jesus Christ, and his redemptive, healing power, to all people everywhere. Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. Paul has manacled himself to Jesus Christ and his will. As Jesus said to his Father, ". . .not my will, but yours be done," so did Paul commit his life to the Lord. Paul knew his life had been bought by the blood of Jesus Christ. He was not to live his life, but the life of Jesus Christ IN HIM. Paul explained this well to the church in Galatia: I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20) Of course, we know Paul heard these words of commitment and servanthood on the day of his conversion: "
I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you AS A SERVANT AND AS A WITNESS of what you have seen of me and what I will show you."
(Acts 26:15, 16) On that day, Paul was set free from anything that would bind him to sin or this world, for he was baptized and set apart by the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ. From that day on he became a member of God's own family, as an adopted son, with freedom from sin and the fleshly pursuits of this world in his soul. However, as a child of God, he had an obligation to free others from sin and eternal death. Even though free, he became subject to the will and the leading of God.
All of us who are now IN CHRIST were once deep into the slavery of sin and death. Our fleshly lives were dead in sins and trespasses, but because of the grace and mercy of God, we have been set free to live Christ's life of righteousness and purity through us.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-7)
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. We were on a pathway to death; now we are headed for life in our eternal home with our adopted family. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:22-23) A "set free" life is not a life spent for self, but for God. We often forget the obligation we have to God to yield totally to him. However, the Spirit of God in us reminds us through the Word of God and through others that we have a purpose in life greater than our own fleshly wants and desires. We are to image God and to tell others about this wonderful salvation that we possess. People need to know that God has come in a very personal way to help us live this life. They need to know that salvation brings the Spirit of God into lives. As the Spirit resides in people, He becomes counselor, comforter, and advocate in this difficult world, a world that will not sustain readily spiritual lives, lives of faith. Paul 's mission in life was to bring this "good news" to the world. He willingly was everything to everyone to fulfill the commission that Jesus had given him on the road to Damascus. As we continue to read this letter, we will see where Paul said he was willing to become all things to all people that he might by any means save some of them. This was his total commitment to his Lord.
What commission do we fulfill today dear breakfast companions? How easy it is for us to attend to other purposes than the plans and the call of God in our lives. How easy for us to display our self-willed, self-absorbed attitudes and choices. If we do not intentionally seek first the kingdom of God, Christ's message of salvation for all men will be diluted by the way we live our lives. Do we live mainly for the pleasures of this world or do we focus on imaging Christ? Do our words express God's goodness and grace to the world or are we critical and judgmental? Do we display God's characteristics or are we displaying our own personalities, desires, and foibles? Paul was a slave to Christ's purposes. Are we slaves to Christ's plans or have we skewed the gospel so much that our form of Christianity accommodates our worldly lives? All of these questions must be considered daily in our walk with God. In this Twenty-first Century, we can easily bind ourselves to an electronic world, a world of separation and self-fulfillment, forgetting God's free gift to us is life eternal. Christ came to give life, real life, to anyone who would hear and accept his words. Paul reminded Timothy of the faith of his mother and grandmother and his own faith, and told him not to become complacent.
Are we sold out to Jesus, a slave to this ministry of Christ, or are we living for ourselves, with at best a tangental relationship to God. Do we allow him to touch our lives only when we desire him to do so? Such an existence is not the life of a servant, a love slave. A lukewarm love mocks the Word of God. God did not offer his only Son to be only a part of us. He wants all of us when we commit to him. His attitude, desires, and plans should be ours. As we wake up in the morning, we give the day to our Father. When we close the day in prayer, we thank him for the day. Paul, a Christian, saw himself as A SLAVE TO THE GOSPEL BUT NO LONGER A SLAVE TO SIN. Are we slaves, bond servants to our Lord? Most of us around this table love the Lord. Perhaps this morning He is calling us closer. Certainly, He reminds us that in view of his great love, can we give less than all we have, all we are!
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