1 Corinthians 9:19-27
Paul Uses His Freedom to Share the Good News
I am free and don’t belong to anyone. But I have made myself a slave to everyone. I do it to win as many as I can to Christ. To the Jews I became like a Jew. That was to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one who was under the law. I did this even though I myself am not under the law. That was to win those under the law. To those who don’t have the law I became like one who doesn’t have the law. I did this even though I am not free from God’s law. I am under Christ’s law. Now I can win those who don’t have the law. To those who are weak I became weak. That was to win the weak. I have become all things to all people. I have done this so that in all possible ways I might save some. I do all this because of the good news. And I want to share in its blessings.
Training to Win the Prize
In a race all the runners run. But only one gets the prize. You know that, don’t you? So run in a way that will get you the prize. All who take part in the games train hard. They do it to get a crown that will not last. But we do it to get a crown that will last forever. So I do not run like someone who doesn’t run toward the finish line. I do not fight like a boxer who hits nothing but air. No, I train my body and bring it under control. Then after I have preached to others, I myself will not break the rules. If I did break them, I would fail to win the prize.
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Warnings From Israel’s History
Brothers and sisters, I want you to know something about our people who lived long ago. They were all led by the cloud. They all walked through the Red Sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food. They all drank the same spiritual water. They drank from the spiritual rock that went with them. That rock was Christ. But God was not pleased with most of them. Their bodies were scattered in the desert.
Now those things happened as examples for us. They are supposed to keep us from wanting evil things. The people of Israel wanted these evil things. So don’t worship statues of gods, as some of them did. It is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink. Then they got up to dance wildly in front of their god.” (Exodus 32:6) We should not commit sexual sins, as some of them did. In one day 23,000 of them died. We should not test the Messiah, as some of them did. They were killed by snakes. Don’t speak against God. That’s what some of the people of Israel did. And they were killed by the destroying angel.
Those things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us. That’s because we are living at the time when God’s work is being completed. So be careful. When you think you are standing firm, you might fall. You are tempted in the same way all other human beings are. God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted any more than you can take. But when you are tempted, God will give you a way out. Then you will be able to deal with it.
