July 8 Click on verses for Full Scripture

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Today's Pathway: I Corinthians 9:1-6 Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord? If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord. Mine answer to them that do examine me is this, Have we not power to eat and to drink? Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas? Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working?

In chapter 8 Paul talked about the believer's responsibility to be willing to surrender his "rights" or his liberty for the benefit of another Christian. A believer might have the freedom to participate in a certain activity, but if it could cause a less mature brother to stumble in his walk with the Lord then he should not do it. Paul concluded chapter 8 by stating that he personally would "eat not meat while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend." Now in chapter 9 Paul expands on his own testimony of obedience to that principle. In verse 1 he raises rhetorical questions that all have a "yes" answer. He does have apostolic authority and also liberty in Christ. In addition, he had the blessings of not only seeing the Lord personally on the Damascus road (which none of the Corinthian believers had done), but also of being called audibly by Him into the ministry (Acts 26:16), and the church at Corinth itself was evidence of his faithful service to that calling. In verse 2 he acknowledges that there were some churches that rejected his apostolic authority, but the Corinthians believers were proof that those who opposed him were wrong.

Beginning in verse 3 Paul defends himself against accusations that were now coming from the Corinthian church members. While these are not spelled out by Paul, they may have been statements designed to defend the selfishness of the Corinthians by questioning whether or not he personally had ever been willing to give up his rights for the benefit of others. He begins by asking if he has a right to eat and drink. The question is not whether or not he has the right to partake of nourishment, but whether or not he has the right to have his needs taken care of by the church. Next, he asks if he has the right to be married, and to take his wife with him on his travels. When he writes, "a sister, a wife", what he means is a wife who is his sister in Christ. In other words, he states that he has the right to get married to a Christian woman. Others had done so, including some of the other apostles, some of the Lord's half-brothers, and Peter. Jack Arnold writes,

"This verse tells us that most of the Apostles were married to believing wives, and they were not separated from their wives and families when ministering. It also tells us that the church supported the Apostle, his wife and his family; therefore, we might conclude that the woman was not required to work for money outside the home. This also tells us that the privilege of being financially supported in the ministry applied to those who were not Apostles, for the half-brothers of Christ were not Apostles, except James. Even Peter and his wife were supported by the church in the work of the ministry."

In verse 6 Paul asks a sarcastic question: "Do only Barnabas and I not have the right to be taken care of financially?" The answer is that they certainly did have the right to be taken care of. In fact, the church at Corinth had the responsibility to take care of them. But Paul writes in I Corinthians 9:12,

"Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ"