In verse 24 Paul goes on to say, “Do you not know that those who run in a racecourse all run, but one receives the prize? So run, that you may lay hold.” This reveals that the Christian life is a race we must run successfully. The prize is a reward as an incentive. To lay hold is to obtain the prize.
Actually verse 24 should not be separated from verse 23, for verse 24 is the explanation of what it means to be a fellow-partaker of the gospel, as mentioned in verse 23. To run in a racecourse is to labor, but to receive the prize is to have enjoyment. As we preach the gospel today, we are running the course. But to receive a reward, a prize, at the coming of the Lord is to have a particular enjoyment.
We have seen that in 9:17 Paul speaks of a reward. In Acts 20:24 he refers to the course: “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” Paul regarded his preaching of the gospel as the running of the Christian race. Verse 24 indicates that all believers are running a race. Here Paul exhorts us to run so that we may obtain, lay hold of, the prize.
We have seen that the Christian course involves the preaching of the gospel. To preach the gospel is to dispense Christ into God’s chosen ones. Since God’s chosen ones were to be found among the Gentiles, Paul preached the gospel to the Gentiles. If a person receives our preaching, this proves that he has been chosen by God. We should dispense Christ into such receptive ones. In this way we run the Christian course. However, because many believers today are not running the race, we need Paul’s word, “So run, that you may lay hold.”
In verse 25 Paul continues, “And everyone who contends exercises self-control in all things; those, therefore, that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.” All those who contend in the games, Paul says, exercise strict self-control. For instance, they watch their diet very carefully. If athletes exercise self-control in order to receive a corruptible crown, we should exercise self-control even more to obtain an incorruptible crown.
This incorruptible crown, which the Lord will award His overcoming saints who win the race, is a reward in addition to salvation. As believers, we have all received His salvation through faith in Him. This has been settled once for all. But whether we shall be rewarded by Him depends on how we run the race. Here in this chapter the apostle is running the course. In Philippians, one of his last Epistles, he was still running (Phil. 3:14). It was not until the last moment of his running, in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, that Paul had the assurance that he would be rewarded by the Lord at His appearing. With this prize in view, the apostle charged the Corinthian believers to run the race that they might obtain the reward.
In verses 26 and 27 Paul says of himself, “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so I box, not as beating the air; but I buffet my body and lead it as a slave, lest having preached to others, I myself should become disapproved.” The Greek word translated buffet literally means to beat the face under the eye black and blue. This is not to ill-treat the body as in asceticism, nor to consider the body evil as in Gnosticism. This is to subdue the body and make it a conquered captive to serve as a slave for fulfilling our holy purpose. It is the equivalent of putting to death our earthly members (Col. 3:5) and putting to death the practices of the body (Rom. 8:13), not allowing our body to be used for the indulgence of lust nor doing anything on our own except what is holy to God. The Corinthians misused their body by indulgence in fornication, not caring for God’s temple (1 Cor. 6:19), and in the unrestrained eating of sacrifices to idols, not caring for weak believers (8:9-13).
Paul also tells us that he leads his body as his slave. This is a metaphor which means to lead the vanquished one as a captive and a slave, to bring the captive into slavery and make him a slave to serve the conqueror’s purpose. Our body should be such a captive, something vanquished to be a slave serving the purpose of the conqueror. This indicates that we need to conquer our body and subdue it. Our body has been captured by lusts. Now we must deliver it and bring it into captivity, into a very positive kind of slavery where our body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit and a member of Christ.
We need to practice buffeting our body and leading it as a slave, just as Paul did. For example, when your eyes do not want to read the Bible, you need to buffet them and subdue them so that they will serve your purpose in reading the Bible.
According to verse 27, Paul was concerned lest having preached to others, he himself would become disapproved. The context indicates that preaching here refers to the preaching of the reward as an incentive to the Christian runners. This is related to the kingdom, the manifestation of which will be a reward to the overcoming saints, those who win the Christian race.
The Greek word rendered disapproved also means disqualified, rejected, that is, unworthy of the prize. The apostle was surely saved by grace through faith in Christ. Not only so, he was also called to be an apostle to carry out God’s New Testament economy. Nonetheless, in verse 27 he is very much on the alert to run his course (Acts 20:24) by subduing his body to serve his holy purpose, lest he be disapproved and rejected at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10) and be found unworthy of the reward of the coming kingdom.
The judgment which will take place at the judgment seat of Christ will determine whether we are approved by the Lord or disapproved, whether we shall be known by the Lord or be rejected by Him. In Matthew 7:22 the Lord Jesus says that on that day many will tell the Lord that they prophesied in His name, cast out demons in His name, and did many mighty works in His name. However, the Lord will say that He never knew them (v. 23). This means that He does not approve of what they have done. Their Christian life was not a pleasure or joy to Him. On the contrary, their work was done presumptuously according to their own will and choice. Therefore, instead of approving them, the Lord rejects them as far as the reward in the coming kingdom is concerned. Paul was afraid lest having preached the gospel regarding the reward to others, he himself would be disapproved by the Lord.
First Corinthians 9 reveals Paul’s faithfulness. In his spirit he was utterly faithful to the Lord’s charge and commission. The Lord had charged him to run the course, and he was endeavoring to run it. We also need to run the Christian course in such a way that we shall not be disapproved, rejected, disqualified, from the enjoyment in the coming kingdom as a reward.
This truth of the reward has been neglected by the majority of today’s Christians. Some have even accused us of being heretical for teaching it. Brother Nee and others before him also spoke of the reward given to the overcoming believers. In the New Testament we are told definitely that God has prepared not only salvation for us, but also has a reward for the faithful ones. In 3:14 Paul says, “If anyone’s work which he has built upon it shall remain, he shall receive a reward.” The reward here is different from salvation. In the next verse Paul explains, “If anyone’s work shall be consumed, he shall suffer loss, but he shall be saved, yet so as through fire.” This indicates clearly that receiving a reward is different from being saved. We may suffer loss and not receive a reward, but we shall never lose our salvation.
The fire in 3:15 refers to some kind of suffering or punishment. However, it is certainly not the purgatory heretically taught by Catholicism in its devilish interpretation of this verse. The principle of Roman Catholic teachings is to mix truth with error or heresy. Thus, the doctrines of Catholicism are often a mixture of truth and heresy. The Lord prophesied of this in Matthew 13 when he spoke of the woman adding leaven to the fine flour. We absolutely do not teach the Catholic doctrine of purgatory. We simply teach what is revealed in the Bible. The Bible tells us that if we are faithful, we shall receive a reward in addition to our salvation. If we are not faithful, we shall lose the reward and suffer punishment, but we shall not lose our salvation, for it is eternal and settled once for all.
In 1 Corinthians 9 Paul was on the alert, concerned lest after preaching to others he would be disapproved. Paul certainly was faithful. In these verses we see a brother who was absolutely faithful to the Lord’s commission and faithful in running the Christian course.