Transcript

Years ago, a world-class runner was invited to compete in a road race in Connecticut. On the morning of the race, this woman drove from New York City, following the directions given to her, or so she thought.

She got lost, stopped at a gas station, and asked for help. She knew that the race started in the parking lot of a shopping mall. The station attendant also knew of such a race scheduled just up the road and directed her there.

When she arrived, she was relieved to see in the parking lot only a modest number of runners preparing to compete. It was not as many as she’d anticipated and would be an easier race than she’d been led to expect.

She hurried to the registration desk, announced herself, and was surprised by the race officials’ excitement at having so renowned an athlete show up for their race.

She ran the race and won easily, some four minutes ahead of the runner in second place.

Only after the race, when there was no envelope containing a sizable prize, did she discover that the event she’d run was not the race to which she’d been invited. That race was being held several miles farther up the road in another town. She’d gone to the wrong starting line, run the wrong course, and missed her chance to win a valuable prize.

Many run the wrong race and give their lives and their full effort in life for things that are not lasting and have no true valuable reward in the end.

God also has a race He invites believers to run, and as we faithfully run that race in our service for Him, in the end, at the Judgment Seat of Christ, we will be rewarded with an eternal reward.

1 Corinthians 9:24: “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.”

In his epistles, the Apostle Paul often encourages a STAND for the truth in the Christian life. He further wrote that our lives are a WALK, giving instructions for how we are to live a consistent and godly life in Christ.

In these verses, Paul reminds the Church that the Christian life is also a race that we are to RUN, and like a runner, we are to put discipline and earnestness into our service and testimony for Christ.

In its context, verse 24 is after Paul had come to the end of his description of how he was willing to become all things to all men in order to save some. In these verses, we see Paul’s passion for people and the gospel of grace.

So it is in light of what is at stake in the ministry of the gospel and the salvation of souls that Paul wrote of the way we are called to run the race of the Christian life.

The Greeks had two great athletic contests, the Olympic games and the Isthmian games.

The Isthmian games were named after the Isthmus of Corinth, where they were held.

Thus, the Corinthian church would have been well-acquainted with this particular event, and that is why Paul wrote, “Know ye not…?”

The Isthmian games were held every 2 years and included contests in gymnastics, music, poetry, wrestling, boxing, running, and chariot racing.

The Bible is filled with metaphors or images that help us understand the importance of spiritual growth. And Paul often drew teaching from the illustration of an athlete.

A couple examples are, Galatians 5:7: “Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?” 2 Timothy 2:5: “And if a man also strive for masteries [or if anyone competes in athletics], yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.”

Paul asked the Corinthians, “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize?”

This was a rhetorical question to get their attention. Every citizen of Corinth would have been familiar with the famous foot races that were held at the Isthmian Games.

The answer was obvious; they knew that in the foot race, only one runner could win and receive the prize for first place.

The Greek word translated “race” in verse 24 is “stadion,” the word used to describe the standard 200-yard Greek race.

What Paul did was to use the race at the popular Isthmian Games as a picture to help the saints at Corinth understand that they were in a far greater, more important race than any of the races of the Greek athletes, and this spiritual race is something we each need to pay heed to and take seriously.

There are a couple of things that Paul is NOT teaching here. First, Paul is not urging the lost to run and work hard in order to reach the goal and win their salvation.

Rather running this race is about the effort and discipline that one who is already saved puts into their Christian life.

Only Greek citizens were allowed to participate in the Isthmian games, and likewise, only citizens of heaven participate in this race of the Christian life.

And second, Paul is not suggesting that of all the believers who run this race only one wins the prize. Rather, he teaches that all who run the spiritual race in life with the determination and effort of a victor will receive a reward.

Paul saw the Isthmian games in relation to God. Paul’s life was so taken with Christ and wrapped up in spiritual realities that he could not see anything without thinking of how it related to eternity and the great issues of the Christian life.

In these verses, he is telling the Corinthians that: “When you see the athletes run, see another kind of running. When you see the boxers boxing, see another kind of boxing.

“When you see them all training and denying themselves, see another kind of training and self-denial. When you see a wreath on their head, see another kind of prize.”

As Paul witnessed the intense determination of the contestants and runners in the Greek games to win their race, he was gripped by the thought of the need for believers to put as much effort into the issues of life and death in the ministry.

And thus, Paul challenged the Corinthians, “So run, that ye may obtain.” “So run” means to run the spiritual race in the same manner and with the same kind of effort given by the victors in the Isthmian games.

And the word “run” is a command in the present imperative in the original Greek, and means to continually run.

For us to obey this grace command, like we must “walk in the Spirit,” we also need to depend on the strength of the Holy Spirit in order to faithfully run the race.

This is not exactly like the old Christian phrase, “Let go and let God,” but rather, it’s more like, “Let God and let’s go.” In His strength, we run, and we go.

Paul wrote that we are to “run, that ye may obtain.” The word “obtain” means to lay hold of or to win. We are called to run to win, to lay hold of the first-place prize.

Christian “runners” are all in the same race but we are not in competition with one another for one prize. In the Christian race, all can run, and all can win the prize.

Paul challenges the Church to run the Christian race like runners who run to win and strive hard to obtain the first-place prize.

One author wrote this, “So what does faithful running look like? Who are those who run in such a way that they may win? Christians who finish their lives still growing, still serving. Senior saints that persist in daily prayer until the Lord calls them home.

“Husbands and wives who stay faithful to each other “until death do us part.” Pastors who stay passionate about ministry until their last breath. Church members who weather the rougher patches and remain joyful, loving, and faithful.”

1 Corinthians 9:25: “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.”

The words, “Every man that striveth for the mastery,” mean “all the athletes who compete in the games,” or the Isthmian games, whether it was the runners, boxers, gymnasts, or wrestlers, and so on.

The words, “striveth for the mastery,” is one word in the original Greek, and we get our English word “agony” from it.

With concentration, conviction, and a full effort the athletes competed in the games. It pictures a runner straining every nerve to the uttermost towards the goal. Or a wrestler using every bit of strength to win the match and pin his opponent. Or a boxer competing in pain and totally exhausted, but he keeps on fighting.

There was no half-hearted effort by those who participated in any of the Isthmian games in competing to win the prize. And likewise, in the spiritual race, we, too, need to put a strong and earnest effort into our service to the Lord.

And Paul further points out that regardless of the contest they competed in, all these athletes were “temperate in all things.”

Both the greatest effort in the contest and the greatest self-denial in preparation were necessary for the success of the athlete in their particular event.

The word “temperate” refers to controlling the strength of self. A temperate person is one who exercises power and dominion over self and the flesh.

Athletes then and now give their whole body, soul, and spirit fully to their specific sport. Every aspect of the athlete’s life is disciplined, so that he may win the prize.

These athletes, for these Isthmian games, rigidly controlled and denied themselves as they tirelessly trained in preparation for their event.

They disciplined themselves to get the proper exercise, to practice, and to do the drills to sharpen their skills. They watched how much they ate and what kind of food they ate, what they drank, and they were careful to get enough sleep. And they trained for 10 solid months in preparation for the games.

They were temperate in all things in order to assure maximum performance in their event with the goal that they might win the contest and gain the prize.

Galatians 5:22-23 tells us, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, TEMPERANCE: against such there is no law.”

Part of the fruit of the Spirit is “temperance.” As runners in the Christian race, we also need to exercise temperance, discipline, and self-mastery. Paul shows us in this section that running to win is also about the pursuit of holiness.

And Paul’s argument here is that if those who participated in the Isthmian games needed temperance to compete in their events, the believer surely needs to also exercise this fruit of the Spirit as we run our race.

A new believer once said to a mature saint: “I’d give my life to know the Bible like you do.” To which the seasoned believer said, “That’s what it took.”

As we give our life to God’s Word, learning and applying it by faith, the Spirit will work out temperance and self-control in our lives and we will run the race well.

Proverbs 25:28 reads, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.”

Solomon gives a vivid picture of the danger of the lack of self-control, that a person without self-control is like a defenseless city, always subject to attack and defeat in life.

No self-control leaves us wide open to attack from the devil and our old sin nature.

If a runner has any chance of winning, he has to stay on course. And for the long race we are called to run, it requires temperance to stay “on track” as it were.

The spiritual runner is called to exercise control over the strength of self and their fleshly emotions, reactions, behavior, and desires by the Spirit so that they might keep running forward faithfully for the eternal, avoiding unnecessary distractions and foolish pursuits, running toward the goal so that we finish our course with joy.

Running to win requires a determined effort and self-control in the power of the Spirit. We do this so we might give our maximum performance in the race as we serve Christ.

Paul then stated, “Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.”

As Paul thought of the contestants at the games, he saw the winner stepping up to receive his prize. And the prize was a corruptible, or perishable crown.

The crowns for the Isthmian games were said to be a wreath made out of either parsley, wild celery, or pine. The wreath represented fame, acclaim, and glory. But all that soon passed and lasted little longer than the wreath did when it withered in a matter of weeks.

The athletes for these games put all that time, effort, sacrifice, and discipline so they might receive a fleeting, temporal reward and a corruptible crown.

But the competitions of the Isthmian games had only passing, temporal consequences, whereas the race the Church runs in has eternal consequences.

Paul argues from the lesser to the greater here, from the useless to the priceless.

And Paul’s point here is that if these athletes agonized to win their events, and they disciplined their bodies until they hurt, if these athletes did all this for a corruptible crown, how much more should we, the Church, do for our incorruptible crown?

Because one day, at the Judgment Seat of Christ, Christ will give an imperishable, priceless crown to all those who ran the race faithfully in their service to Christ.

Believers do not run our race for a short-lived, withering pine wreath. Our crown is totally unlike any earthly crown. Our crowns will be given to us by the Lord of glory.

And Christ does not give cheap rewards. The crowns and rewards that Christ will give at that day will be unfading, uncorruptible, glorious, and they will last forever and ever.

There is no second race. We have only this one race to run. And life is not a race with no lasting consequences. The way we live our lives, run this race, and serve the Savior has eternal consequences. The Judgment Seat of Christ will reveal those consequences.

What we do here in our lives and in our service in the time we are given bears eternal significance before God.

And Christ will justly reward us or justly withhold reward from us according to how we run this race. And the rewards He grants by His grace will be with us for all eternity.

We are being challenged here in this passage to run this race and give our all in it. As a result, we will be given an incorruptible crown, and we will receive this crown from the One Who gave His all, Who gave Himself for us, that we might be reconciled to God.

1 Corinthians 9:26-27: “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

In verses 26-27, Paul stopped using the plural, “we,” and spoke in first-person singular, “I.” Paul wrote, “I therefore so run” showing us that the apostle also took part in this race. He wasn’t a spectator; he was a runner in this race just like we are.

And Paul practiced what he preached, as he “therefore” ran his race, just like he instructed the Corinthians to do in verses 24 and 25.

Paul is an example to all of us of one who ran to win, who gave it his all in His life and service, who practiced self-control and kept his focus on the eternal, and who faithfully finished his course. And thus, he will be rewarded at the Judgment Seat.

As he wrote in 2 Timothy 4:7,8, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day.”

In view of this imperishable crown, Paul said, “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly,” meaning that he did not run as one who had no specific objective.

He did not run aimlessly or give every ounce of strength in his ministry as one without a purpose or goal ahead of him. He knew why he ran the race.

Thus, Paul teaches in these verses that the Christian life is a race. The race calls for a determined effort. It requires self-discipline. And it demands definiteness of purpose.

Then switching sporting events from the racetrack to a boxing ring, from a runner to a boxer in the Isthmian games, also in view of the imperishable crown, Paul wrote, “so fight I, not as one that beateth the air.” The word “fight” means to box with fists.

Paul both ran and he boxed with purpose. He did not run aimlessly or in the wrong direction, and he did not beat the air, or he did not swing wildly and miss.

He did not serve the Lord or live his life like a boxer who was constantly shadowboxing or throwing punches at his opponent but never landing a punch.

For Paul, in the good fight of the faith, every punch was to be meaningful, and he did not beat the air. Every punch landed on its intended mark, and everyone counted. Paul lived his life so that what he did counted for eternity.

His service was neither purposeless nor ineffectual. He had a definite aim before his eyes, and his intention was that his every action in his ministry should count. He wanted there to be no wasted time or energy.

Paul’s purpose for running the race, Paul’s aim in fighting and landing punches is found in verses 19-22 of this chapter, which can be summed up in verse 22, “I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” His goal was the salvation of souls.

Christian service is not just activity. It is activity focused on a target, namely, the work of the gospel, the building of the church, and the battle against the enemy.

And one of the enemies that Paul dealt with and hit here as a boxer was his flesh. Paul wrote of the athletes who were temperate and exercised self-control, encouraging the Corinthians to do the same in their lives as they ran the race. And in verse 27, he recognized that he had to fight to control the strength of his flesh personally as well.

The phrase “keep under my body” literally means “I discipline my body,” or “I buffet my body.” This verse has been used by some as spiritual justification for going to Golden Corral and eating big meals, “I buffet my body.”

A considerable part of Paul’s fight was against his own body. He did not want his body to have mastery and control over his entire being.

The words, “I keep under,” is from a Greek word that means “to hit under the eye.” He figuratively, not literally, gave his body a black eye and would knock it out if necessary.

He did so to “bring it into subjection,” or to bring his body into submission. Paul did not want to be a slave to his body, but rather that his body be the slave.

He wanted his body to be the servant to his spirit, that the new man through the Holy Spirit be the master of his life.

By a rigid and firm self-denial, Paul beat down any desires of the flesh that might lead him into sin or away from Christ or away from his purpose in his ministry.

Paul wanted his body to be in subjection to the aim, purpose, and goal of his ministry in reaching souls for Christ.

And then finally, Paul wrote, “lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

In the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, Ben Johnson of Canada won the 100-meter dash, setting a new Olympic record and a new world record.

Our American contender, Carl Lewis, came in second, and most were shocked that he hadn’t won the gold.

After the race, the judges learned that Johnson had an illegal substance in his body. He ran the race illegally, so the judges took away his medal.

Though he ran faster and made an unforgettable impression, he did not deserve the reward. And Ben Johnson had to face the shame of being disqualified and having his reward taken from him.

This was Paul’s concern in the last part of verse 27, when he wrote, “lest…I myself should be a castaway.” The word “castaway” means tested and disapproved or disqualified.

Some have erroneously taught that this phrase teaches that a person can lose their salvation and be disqualified from entering heaven. But nothing could be farther from the truth. Nothing can ever separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.

It is impossible for anyone to lose their salvation and Paul had no fear of that. The whole emphasis is on rewards in this context, and what Paul could lose was a reward.

Being disqualified also comes from the Isthmian games that Paul had been referring to.

Runners and athletes were sometimes disqualified when they broke the rules. And they would be deprived of their prize.

Paul did not want to preach the requirements for the race to others and then be disqualified for not meeting the requirements himself.

He preached that in the race we must be “temperate in all things,” but he did not want to be disqualified from a crown or reward, or even from being an effective witness among those he preached the gospel to, through his own lack of self-discipline.

So that is why he buffeted and disciplined his body also, and gave it a black eye as it were, so he would not be hypocritical and would live consistently with what he preached to others.

In the Christian life, the race is REAL. The reward is REAL and eternal. And the possibility of being disqualified from a reward is also REAL.

And as we run this real race, and run to win, Hebrews 12:1-2 puts it so well how we must do so: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”