1 Corinthians 9:24-27 - Homilies By R. Tuck

The laws of the Christian race.

The illustration used in these verses is one which St. Paul frequently employs, and we cannot but think that he must have actually seen some of these games, for the impression made by them on his mind is that which comes from personal observation and impression rather than from knowledge through books. There is special force in his allusions to the games in writing to the Corinthians, because the set of games known as the Isthmian were held in the isthmus on which Corinth stood. For details of the games, reference may be made to the exegetical portion of this Commentary, and to the articles in classical and Biblical cyclopaedias. They cannot be precisely compared with anything that we have in modern times, because they were regarded by the Greeks as great national and religious festivals. Dean Stanley, writing of these Isthmian games, says, "This was one of the festivals which exercised so great an influence over the Grecian mind, which were, in fact, to their imaginations what the temple was to the Jews and the triumph to the Romans." St. Paul refers to the game in order to enforce his exhortation to self restraint, and we may find three great practical laws commended by him.

I. THE LAW OF TRAINING . "For thirty days previous to the conflicts the candidates had to attend the exercises of the gymnasium, and only after the fulfilment of these conditions were they allowed, when the time arrived, to contend in the sight of assembled Greece." The training was very severe, conducted upon carefully prescribed rules, and designed to nourish vigorous physical power and precise skill for the kind of contest in which the man was to engage. We are to apply the illustration to moral and religious culture. Observing:

1. How God applies the law of training in the preparation of his servants for their work; as by sending Joseph into bondage; Moses to the Egyptian court and the Horeb desert; David into the wilderness of Judah; our Lord into the scenes of temptation; and St. Paul into Arabia. The providential dealings with men are meant to afford opportunities of training for their life work.

2. How men are required to meet the "law of training" by making personal efforts to secure fitness for the work to which they are called, such training taking the general form of soul culture, and the specific forms of adaptation to work. Anything that is worth our doing is worth our preparing to do well.

II. THE LAW OF TEMPERATENESS . (Verse 25.) We are wont to associate this law only with drinking. It applies to all the passions of the body, indulgences of the appetite, and relationships of the life. The Grecian philosopher says, "Wouldest thou conquer at the games? Thou must be orderly, spare in food, must abstain from confections, exercise at a fixed hour whether in heat or cold, and drink not cold water nor wine." Applied to moral and religious life, the law requires us

III. THE LAW OF SELF MASTERY . (Verse 27.) This reminds us that training means trial, and temperateness means severe and painful dealings with sell. "The Christian career is not merely a race, but a conflict; and a conflict, not only with others, but with one's self. St. Paul had to contend with the fleshly lusts of the body, the love especially of ease, the indisposition to hardship and toil so natural to humanity." The contest of life is between the regenerate will and the enslaved and corrupt body with its inclinations and motions (see Romans 7:1-25 .). St. Paul says that the renewed will must hold the body in subjection and service. But such complete self mastery is the product of long struggle. He who fully gains it has won the moral race, and may receive the "incorruptible crown."—R.T.