1 CORINTHIANS 9:24 DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT THOSE WHO RUN IN A RACE ALL RUN BUT ONLY ONE RECEIVES THE PRIZE?: Ouk oidate (2PRAI) hoti oi en stadio trechontes (PAPMPN) pantes men trechousin, (3PPAI) eis de lambanei (3SPAI) to brabeion?: (Those who run: Ho 12:10) (Run: Ps 19:5 Ec 9:11 Jer 12:5)
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS
LIKE A RACE
If you have time, read the pithy, poignant and practical Puritan paper entitled The Heavenly Race by Thomas Watson
"Whatever your hand finds to do,
do it with your might"
(Ecclesiastes 9:10)
In the preceding context, Paul discussed how he labored to win as many as possible (1Cor 9:19). Paul now gives a strong exhortation for Christian self-discipline and self-denial, using himself as an example and employing athletic figures familiar to the Corinthians at their own Isthmian athletic games, which were hosted by the city of Corinth.
Dr John Piper introduces his sermon on 1Co 9:23-27 with these remarks...
When Paul wrote these words to the Corinthian Christians, he assumed that they all knew about the games. The Olympic Games took place in Greece every four years without interruption from 776 BC until they were suppressed by the Emperor Theodosius in AD 393. That's 1,169 years. Everyone knew about the games. So Paul didn't have to explain the games. Everybody was aware of the games then. And everybody is aware of the games today.
What Paul did with the games-just like he (and Jesus) did with everything else in life-was to see them in relation to God. Paul was so saturated with Christ and the gospel that he couldn't see anything without thinking of how it related to eternity and the great issues of the Christian life. So he took the games and he taught the Christians to transpose them into a different level, and to see in the games a reality very different than everyone else is seeing. He said in effect,
"The games are played at this level of reality. They run at this level. They box at this level. They train and practice and deny themselves at this level. They set their sights on gold at this level. Now I want you to see all that at another level. I want you to transpose the temporary struggles and triumphs of the Olympic Games onto a different level of reality-the level of spiritual life and eternity and God. When you see the athletes run, see another kind of running. When you see them boxing, see another kind of boxing. When you see them training and denying themselves, see another kind of training and self-denial. When you see them smiling with a gold medal around their neck, see another kind of prize." (Olympic Spirituality, Part 1) (Bolding and italics added)
Do you not know - Paul asks a rhetorical question (asked purely for effect with no answer expected) because every citizen of Corinth would be very familiar with the famous foot races which were held at the Isthmian games. Furthermore they would have common knowledge of the foot races that were held at those games in the stadium. This introduction would have secured the reader's attention to pay heed to his important point about the Christian's "spiritual race."
Know (1492) (eido/oida - eido is used only in the perfect tense = oida) means in general to know by perception. Literally eido/oida refers to perception by sight (perceive, see) as in Mt 2:2
Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw (eido) His star in the east, and have come to worship Him."
Eido/oida suggests fullness of knowledge, absolute knowledge (that which is beyond doubt). The perfect tense speaks of an experience in the past in which the readers had received an understanding which persists to present. Paul is saying in essence to his Corinthian readers "You've been to the games and you know that when you go to the foot races, there are a number of athletes running but only one wins the prize.
As John Saul Howson explains "They "knew" well that each race was eagerly contested, and that "one" obtained the prize. (The Metaphors of St Paul-interesting book published in 1868 <> See Index = 4 metaphors - Soldier; Architecture, Agriculture, Greek Games)
John Piper adds that...
When Paul wrote these words to the Corinthian Christians, he assumed that they all knew about the games. The Olympic Games took place in Greece every four years without interruption from 776 BC until they were suppressed by the Emperor Theodosius in AD 393. That's 1,169 years. Everyone knew about the games. So Paul didn't have to explain the games. Everybody was aware of the games then. And everybody is aware of the games today. What Paul did with the games-just like he (and Jesus) did with everything else in life-was to see them in relation to God. Paul was so saturated with Christ and the gospel that he couldn't see anything without thinking of how it related to eternity and the great issues of the Christian life...
"Now I want you to see all that at another level. I want you to transpose the temporary struggles and triumphs of the Olympic Games onto a different level of reality-the level of spiritual life and eternity and God. When you see the athletes run, see another kind of running. When you see them boxing, see another kind of boxing. When you see them training and denying themselves, see another kind of training and self-denial. When you see them smiling with a gold medal around their neck, see another kind of prize...
Every time you turn the television set on, I want you to hear God talking to you through the games. If I understand Paul in this text, the games in Barcelona are meant to be seen and heard by Christians as a tremendous impulse to fight the fight of faith and run the race of life with nothing less than Olympic passion and perseverance. (1 Corinthians 9:23-27 Olympic Spirituality 1 - Beyond the Gold)
Adam Clarke - It is sufficiently evident that the apostle alludes to the athletic exercises in the games which were celebrated...on the isthmus or narrow neck of land, which joins the Peloponnesus (Click map of Isthmus of Corinth)...to the main land; and were thence termed the Isthmian Games.
EARNESTNESS
OF PURPOSE
Run in such a way - By setting aside anything that might hinder your witness. The picture of running (by analogy with the Greek runner) was that of running with an earnestness of purpose (See discussion below).
Jonathan Edwards, felt by many to be America's greatest theologian once wrote 70 resolutions to stir himself up so that he might not grow weary and lose heart in his once in a lifetime race. Here is one that speaks particularly to running with earnestness of purpose...
"Resolved: to live with all my might
while I do live."
Matthew Henry - There is the greatest encouragement, therefore, to persevere with all our strength, in this race. Those who ran in these games were kept to a spare diet (cp Jn 6:27). They used themselves to hardships (2Ti 2:3,4-note)). They practised the exercises (1Ti 4:7, 8). And those who pursue the interests of their souls, must combat hard with fleshly lusts (1Pe 2:11-note). The body must not be suffered to rule. The apostle presses this advice on the Corinthians. He sets before himself and them the danger of yielding to fleshly desires, pampering the body, and its lusts and appetites (1Co 9:25). Holy fear of himself (his own evil flesh) was needed to keep an apostle faithful: how much more is it needful for our preservation! Let us learn from hence, humility and caution, and to watch against dangers which surround us while in the body (...that we might enabled by His Spirit to run this one time race with endurance and passionate purpose.)
Only one life
Twill soon be past
Only what's done
For (in) Christ will last!
Jerry M. Hullinger's description of the serious nature of athletics in ancient Greece helps us understand Paul's charge for believers to run their spiritual race with similar gravity...
Athletics in the Greco-Roman world were approached with great vigor and passion. (Ed: Think of your own manner of "spiritual running" - would you describe it as one with great vigor and passion?) This fact helps explain why Paul applied this imagery to the Christian life. In sporting events the goal of the athletes was not merely to take part but to win. To lose, in many cases, was a disgrace.
Pindar, a Greek poet of the fifth century B.C., noted that
"the athlete delights in the toil and the cost."
And Philo wrote,
"I know wrestlers and pankratiasts often persevere out of love for honor and zeal for victory to the point of death, when their bodies are giving up and they keep drawing breath and struggling on spirit alone, a spirit which they have accustomed to reject fear scornfully.. .. Among these competitors, death for the sake of an olive or celery crown is glorious."
The Stoic philosopher Epictetus (ca. A.D. 55-135) noted the same common belief.
"In the Olympic Games you cannot just be beaten and then depart, but first of all, you will be disgraced not only before the people of Athens or Sparta or Nikopolis but before the whole world. In the second place, if you withdraw without sufficient reason you will be whipped. And this whipping comes after your training which involves thirst and broiling heat and swallowing handfuls of sand."
The word Paul used to depict this spirit is agonizomai (1Co 9:25), which referred to an athletic contest ("engaging in a contest") or to any struggle.
In classical Greek the noun agon was used in a number of ways: (a) a gathering, (b) a gathering place of the gods on Mount Olympus, (c) the "gathering" of ships in a harbor, and (d) a fight. In the Apocrypha agon occurred primarily in this fourth sense.
Paul's use of the word with athletic overtones could refer to an "expression of the contestants' manly discipline." Stauffer described the force of this word in this way:
"First is the thought of the goal which can be reached only with the full expenditure of all our energies. .. a passionate struggle, a constantly renewed concentration of forces on the attainment of the goal....The struggle for the reward [demands] not only full exertion but also rigid denial. The final assault is so exacting that all forces must be reserved, assembled, and deployed in it. The final goal is so high and glorious that all provisional ends must fade before it...If a man is not ready to set aside his egotistic needs and desires and claims and reservations, he is not fit for the arena." (BSac 161:643 July 2004 p. 344.)
Run (5143)(trecho from dremo = to run or walk hastily) means literally to move faster than a walk, making rapid linear movement. Webster says to run is "to go steadily by springing steps so that both feet leave the ground for an instant in each step." Trecho therefore describes someone in haste (Mt 28:8, Mk 5:6, Jn 20:2, 4, Lk 24:12). Figuratively trecho describes rapid propagation of doctrine, spreading without restraint (2Th 3:1). It also pictures one exerting effort, striving hard, spending strength to attain a goal (Ro 9:16-note, Gal 5:7, 2:2, Php 2:16-note, He 12:1-note). In Gal 5:7 trecho describes the course of the conduct.
Here in 1Cor 9:24 Paul uses trecho to emphasize the preparation and effort necessary to run spiritually. He is not using running in the sense of defeating an opponent in a race as in the actual Olympics.
BDAG characterizes the figurative use of trecho as "to make an effort to advance spiritually or intellectually."
The metaphor of a runner is frequent in Paul's writings but sometimes is not obvious. For example, the phrase "fought the good fight" (2Ti 4:7-note). J S Howson explains that...
We must be careful here to give the right meaning to the word " fight." This term has nothing to do with war. It denotes an athletic contest. And the particular kind of athletic contest, which he specifies in his customary way, is the foot-race. But now he is writing near the close of life. The race is nearly run, the struggle is all but over, he is weary, as it were, and panting with the effort, but he is successful, the crown is in sight, and the judge, the "righteous" Judge (2Ti 4:1-note), Who cannot make a mistake, is there, ready to place that bright wreath upon his head. (The Metaphors of St Paul - page 140)
John Piper makes the poignantly powerful statement that...
Eternal Life Hangs on the Way We Run - In other words life is not a game with no lasting consequences. The way we live our lives has eternal consequences. Life is a proving ground where we prove who we are, whom we trust, and what we cherish. Eternal life, the upward call, the crown of righteousness-all these hang on what our life says about who we are, whom we trust, and what we love.
Make no mistake here! Life is not a place for proving to God or anybody your strength. Life is a place for proving whose strength you trust-man's or God's. Life is not a place for proving the power of your intelligence to know truth. It's a place for proving the power of God's grace to show truth (Matthew 16:17). Life is not a field for demonstrating the force of our will to make good choices. It's a field for showing how the beauty of Christ takes us captive and constrains us to choose and run for his glory.
The race of life has eternal consequences not because we are saved by works, but because Christ has saved us from dead works to serve the living and true God with Olympic passion (Hebrews 9:14).
The race of life has eternal consequences not because grace is nullified by the way we run, but because grace is verified by the way we run. "By the grace of God I am what I am and his grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored [I ran, I fought] more exceedingly than all, yet it was not I but the grace of God which was with me" (1 Corinthians 15:10). Paul's running did not nullify the purpose of grace; it verified the power of grace.
Eternal life hangs on the way we run and the way we fight not because salvation is based on the merit of works, but because faith without works is dead (James 2:26). Life is a proving ground for whether faith is alive or dead-a proving ground for whom we trust. (1Corinthians 9:23-27 Olympic Spirituality 2- How Then Shall We Run?)
Thomas Watson said...
Faith will make us walk, but assurance will make us run.
Race (4712) (stadia from histemi = to stand) was a measure of distance which when allowing for variations according to locale was about 600 Greek feet (625 feet = Roman; circa 607 feet = English) or 192 meters. Stadia also described the actual arena for the public athletic contests (spectacles) which was surrounded by tiers of seating for the spectators.
John uses the related word stadion writing...
Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles (stadion), they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. (John 6:19)
Comment: The Greek for "about 3-4 miles" is more literally "about twenty-five or thirty stades". The stade was a unit of linear measure equaling about 607 feet or 187 meters. Since the Sea of Galilee was only about 7 miles wide (at its widest point) the disciples were coming near the midpoint of the Sea (really a "lake").
Vincent has a lengthy comment on stadia noting that it is derived...
From histemi = to place or establish. Hence a stated distance; a standard of length. In all other New Testament passages it is used of a measure of length, and is rendered furlong, representing 606¾ English feet (1/8th of a Roman mile). From the fact that the race-courses were usually of exactly this length, the word was applied to the race-course (or "stadium" - the best known race-course at Olympia was a exactly a stade long) itself. The position chosen for the stadium was usually on the side of a hill, which would furnish a natural slope for seats; a corresponding elevation on the opposite side being formed by a mound of earth, and the seats being supported upon arches. The stadium was oblong in shape, and semicircular at one end; though, after the Roman conquest of Greece, both ends were often made semicircular. A straight wall shut in the area at one end, and here were the entrances and the starting-place for the runners. At the other end was the goal, which, like the starting-point, was marked by a square pillar. Half-way between these was a third pillar. On the first pillar was inscribed excel; on the second, hasten; on the third, turn, since the racers turned round the column to go back to the starting-point.?? (See the description of the stadium at Ephesus in Wood's "Discoveries at Ephesus")
The isthmus of Corinth was the scene of the Isthmian games, one of the four great national festivals of the Greeks. The celebration was a season of great rejoicing and feasting. The contests included horse, foot, and chariot-racing; wrestling, boxing, musical and poetical trials, and later, fights of animals. The victor's prize was a garland of pine leaves, and his victory was generally celebrated in triumphal odes called epinikia, of which specimens remain among the poems of Pindar (See a fine description of the Olympic games, on which the others were modeled, in J. Addington Symonds' "Studies of the Greek Poets," Volume I. Chapter 11).?? At the period of Paul's epistles the games were still celebrated, and the apostle himself may very probably have been present.?? At the same time, he would have been familiar with similar scenes in Tarsus, in all the great cities of Asia Minor, especially Ephesus, and even in Jerusalem.
Metaphors and allusions founded upon such spectacles abound in Paul's writings. Racers, 1Co 9:24; boxers, 1Co 9:26, 27; gladiators fighting with beasts, 1Co 15:32; the judge awarding the prize, 2Ti 4:8-note); the goal and the prize, 1Co 9:24; Php 3:14-note; the chaplet, 1Co 9:25; 2Ti 2:5-note); 2Ti 4:8; the training for the contest, 1Ti 4:7, 8; the rules governing it, 2Ti 2:5; the chariot-race, Php 3:14-note. These images never occur in the gospels. See on of life, Rev 2:10-note).
TDNT writes the following on "the stadium"
Runners in the Olympic games rank high, and the term has a cultic nuance in this connection. Yet there is also criticism of runners. Plato contends for intellectual achievement, and the Cynics point out that many animals excel men in running. Yet critics like to depict themselves as the true contestants who deserve the crown, even though wreaths in fact are better adapted for goats, which can eat them.
The New Manners and Customs explains that in the Ancient Greco-Roman world...
Running was one of the most popular of the Olympic games. The place prepared for the race was called the stadium because its length equaled a stadion, or six hundred Greek feet. The stadium was an oblong area, with a straight wall across one end, where the entrances were, the other end being round and entirely closed. Tiers of seats were on either side for the spectators.... The starting place was at the entrance end and was marked by a square pillar. At the opposite end was the goal, where the judge sat and held the prize. The eyes of the competitors remained fixed on him: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus" (Hebrews 12:2-note). The goal, as well as the starting point, was marked by a square pillar, and a third was placed midway between the two...The competitors, through severe training, had no superfluous flesh, and ran unclothed. Flesh and clothing were laid aside as a "weight" that might hinder them in the race. (Freeman, J. M., & Chadwick, H. J. The New Manners and Customs of the Bible: Page 545)
RUN TO WIN!
Only one receives the prize - Here Paul draws a distinction with his analogy with the Olympic runners - they were competing against each other because there was only one "first place." Christian "runners" are in the same race but are not in competition with one another for one prize. To the contrary, the "prize" is within the reach of every Christian runner. We each have our own "lane" in which to run (see note) and do not need to compare ourselves with other "runners" (see illustration).
Do you really believe there is a prize worth winning? If you do then 1Corinthians 9:24-27 is Paul's "secret message" instructing us how we can run to win! Too many believers either don't understand the Biblical truth about "the prize" or they have grown indifferent to this incredible truth, which is a divine promise from the "non-lying God" to all who determine to discipline themselves in this present passing life because the eyes of their heart are fixed on the prize in the eternal life to come! (see 1Ti 4:7-note, 1Ti 4:8, 9, 10-note)
A W Tozer - Nothing spiritual can be gained in competition..When two men step into a prize ring they know that only one can win, and whoever wins can do so only by forcing the other to lose. When five men line up on the track for a race they know that only one can come in first. Four men must lose that one may win. It is not so in the kingdom of God. Christians do not run against each other. All can win the race. Paul likens a Christian to a fighter, but the Christian's fight is not with other Christians. Each one can win and no one need lose. The man of faith fights against the devil, the flesh and the world. He wins as they lose; but he never wins anything truly spiritual in competition with a fellow believer. In the nature of things he cannot. To think so is to entertain an absurdity. (The Tozer Topical Reader 1:112)
Prize (1017) (brabeion - kindred verb brabeuo = to be an umpire, Col 3:15) is used only here in the NT. The crown is not salvation, which is God's gift to those who trust in Christ; it is, rather, the future reward of one who is a Christian and seeks to honor Christ in his life. The reward will be received at the Judgment Seat of Christ (See 2Co 5:10-note, Ro 14:10, 11, 12-note 1Co 3:11, 12, 13, 14, 15).
As emphasized, Paul does not mean there is only one prize so only one person wins! Unfortunately denominations and individuals sometimes act as like this were true!
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia has the following description of the ancient Greek foot race and the prize to the winner...
(e) The Foot-race. -- The words for "run" and "race" (Greek trecho and dromos) sometimes clearly, and in other cases probably, allude to foot-races at the games. For obvious references compare 1Co 9:24; He 12:1-note; 2Ti 4:7-note; for possible references see Acts 13:25; 20:24; Ro 9:16-note; Gal 2:2; 5:7; Phil 2:16-note; 2Th 3:1. The second of these passages (Heb 12:1-note) alludes to the necessity for the greatest possible reduction of weight, and for steady concentration of effort. All the passages would remind the first readers of the single-course and double-course foot-races of the games.
Addendum: The races took place in an enclosure of about six hundred feet in length called a stadia. Three kinds of races were held in these enclosures. "In the stade-race the competitors had to run a single length of the stadium, a distance of 192.28 meters. In the diaulos, which was the middle distance event at the ancient Olympics, they ran twice the length of the stadium, once in each direction, which means that they covered 384.56 meters. In the long-distance event, i.e., the dolichos, they had to run twenty-four lengths of the stadium, a total distance of 4614.72 meters." Considering the stamina required by the long-distance event, it is probable that this is the running event Paul referred to in his epistles when he likened the Christian life to a race that comprises one's entire earthly life.
Paul told the Philippians to "press on toward the goal" (Php 3:14-note). The Greek word for goal is skopos, which is most likely a reference to the square pillars located at each end of the track on which the runner could fix his eyes in order to run accurately as well as have something to encourage him.
Gardiner explained that "it is obvious that in a straight two hundred yards race the runner must have some point to fix his eye on if he is to run straight, and a post with a distinguishing mark would have been of great value as a guide." (BSac 161:643 July 2004 p. 348)
(f) The Goal. -- The goal of the foot-race, a square pillar at the end of the stadium opposite the entrance, which the athlete as far as possible kept in view and the sight of which encouraged him to redouble his exertions, is alluded to once: "I press on toward the goal" (Phil 3:14-note, Greek skopos).
(g) The Herald. -- The name and country of each competitor were announced by a herald and also the name, country and father of a victor. There may be an allusion to this custom in 1Co 9:27: "after that I have been a herald (Revised Version margins, Greek kerusso) to others"; compare also 1Ti 2:7; 2Ti 1:11, where the Greek for "preacher" is kerux, "herald."
Addendum: The first day was occupied with sacrifices to the gods and the taking of oaths by the judges and competitors. The second morning began with the naming of the competitors by the herald, and was followed by chariot races, horse races, and the pentathlon for men. Contests for boys were held on the third day. On the fourth day the men's games in foot racing, jumping, wrestling, boxing, and pankration were held. The final day of the games was spent in sacrifices and an evening banquet in which the victors were entertained. (BSac 161:643 July 2004 p. 344)
(h) The Prize. - Successful athletes were rewarded at the great games by a wreath consisting in the apostolic age of wild olive (Olympian), parsley (Nemean), laurel (Pythian), or pine (Isthmian). This is referred to in a general way in Php 3:14-note, and in 1Co 9:24: "One receiveth the prize" (Greek in both cases brabeion; compare also Col 3:15: "Let the peace of Christ arbitrate (Revised Version margin) in your hearts," where the verb is brabeuo). The wreath (stephanos) is directly alluded to in 1Co 9:25: "They (the athletes) do it to receive a corruptible crown"; 2Ti 2:5: "A man .... is not crowned, except he have contended lawfully"; and 1Pe 5:4-note): "Ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away." There may be allusions also in Phil 4:1; 1Th 2:19; He 2:7,9; Jas 1:12-note; Re 2:10-note; Re 3:11-note). In the palm-bearing multitude of the Apocalypse (Rev 7:9) there is possibly a reference to the carrying of palm-branches by victors at the games. The judges who sat near the goal and who, at Olympia at any rate, had been carefully prepared for their task, may be glanced at in 2Ti 4:8: "The crown .... which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day." (The Games)
Paul's use of metaphor of a runner to emphasizes each believer's individual responsibility. Therefore we are all (each individual believer) to run like a runner who wants the prize and there is prize for all believers who run faithfully. But there are rules for the race --We are to run the race as God says run it. If someone else "drops out" of the race, that should not affect us because we will each be judged individually. We are not trying to "outrun" other believers (See illustration of the danger of looking around - Illustration)
Run the straight race through God's good grace,
Lift up thine eyes, and seek His face;
Life with its way before us lies,
Christ is the Path, and Christ the Prize.
The Bema Seat of Christ (2Co 5:10-note, Ro 14:10, 11, 12-note) is not to be confused with the judgment at the Great White Throne (Re 20:11-note, Re 20:12-note, Re 20:13-note, Re 20:14-note, Re 20:15-note) which is only for unbelievers. On the other hand the Bema seat is only for believers. At the Bema Seat we will not be judged for sins because our sins have been finally judged and paid for in full at the Cross! Every believer will stand before Christ the Judge and our works will be tested by fire (1Co 3:13, 14; Rev 1:14-note eyes "like a flame of fire") Works that are burned are those deeds which were initiated by our flesh and which we then ask Him to bless! Works that will not be burned are good deeds which are initiated by or prompted by and energized by God's Spirit. Christians who fail to keep a "Bema Seat" mentality (not in a bad sense but a good sense - an event you look forward to) are more likely to think lightly of sin in this present life.
Beloved, we are developing our capacity to enjoy God right now. If we don't enjoy Him in this life, what makes us think we will enjoy Him in the life to come. In some way, the degree of the reward corresponds directly to the way which we run the race. For example, to whom much is given, much is required. Don't look at others as you run. Look to Jesus and He will guide you know in how you are to run. Too often we are trying to work out someone else's salvation instead of our own!
We need to run this "once in a lifetime" Christian race as if we were Olympians -- we need to the same heart, the same intensity and the same enthusiasm as a runner who seeks to win an Olympic gold medal.
Awake, our souls! away, our fears!
Let every trembling thought be gone!
Awake, and run the heavenly race,
And put a cheerful courage on.
--Isaac Watts
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In order to help us run in such a way that we may win the prize, someone has compiled a set of "tests" to help us discern whether an action should be pursued.
1. THE WORLD TEST. Is it worldly? Will it make me worldly to do it (John 15:19, 1John 2:15-17-note)
2. THE QUALITY TEST. Is it good for me physically, emotionally, and spiritually (Ro 12:9b-note)
3. THE TEMPLE TEST. Can I do it when I remember my body is God's temple and must not be marred or misused (1Co 6:19-note)
4. THE GLORY TEST. Will it glorify my Lord, or will it on the other hand possibly bring shame to His name (1Co 6:20-note, 1Co 10:32)
5. THE BLESSING TEST. Can I honestly ask God's blessing on it and be sure I'll not regret doing it (Pr 10:22, Ro 15:29-note)
6. THE REPUTATION TEST. Is it apt to damage my testimony for the Lord (Php 2:15-note)
7. THE CONSIDERATION TEST. Am I being considerate of others and the effect this might have on them (Ro 14:7-note, Ro 14:21-note)
8. THE APPEARANCE TEST. Will it look bad? Does it have the appearance of what is wrong or suspicious (1Th 5:22-note)
9. THE WEIGHT TEST. Could this slacken or sidetrack me in running the Christian race (He 12:1-note, 1Co 9:24)
10. THE COMING OF CHRIST TEST. Would I be ashamed to be found doing this when He comes again (1Jn 2:28)
11. THE COMPANION TEST. Can I invite Christ to go with me and participate with me in this (Mt 28:20b, Col 3:17-note)
12. THE PEACE TEST. After having prayed about it, do I have perfect peace about doing it (Col. 3:15a-note, Php 4:6-note, Php 4:7-note)
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How much greater is the race believers are called to run! One of the most grueling of all bicycle races is the Tour De France. A contestant in that event, Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle, describes it in a National Geographic article titled, "An Annual Madness.? The race covers about 2000 miles, including some of France's most difficult, mountainous terrain. Eating and drinking is done on the run. And there are extremes of heat and cold. To train for the event, Lassalle rides his bicycle 22,000 miles a year. What kind of prize makes people endure so much hardship and pain! $10,000? $100,000? No. It's just a special winner's jersey. What then motivates the contestants? Lassalle sums it up: "Why, to sweep through the Arc de Triomphe on the last day. To be able to say you finished the Tour de France."
No pain, no gain.
Know pain, great gain.
RUN IN SUCH A WAY THAT YOU MAY WIN: Houtos trechete (2PPAM) hina katalabete. (2PAAS): (1Co 9:26 Ga 2:2 Gal 5:7 Php 2:16-note Php 3:14-note 2Ti 4:7,8-note Heb 12:1-note Jas 1:12-note Rev 3:11)
"Be steadfast, immovable
always abounding in the work of the Lord"
(1Corinthians 15:58-note)
In such a way - Paul says not to sit and soak up sermons, but run to win! Christianity is not a spectator sport! We need to heed the words of the track coach who said "If you have anything left ten yards past the finish line, you didn't give your all." (Are you as convicted as I am!)
Just live your life before your Lord,
Rise to that higher, nobler plane--
With single eye His glory seek,
And you shall His approval gain.
--Rae
In such a way includes heeding the exhortations in the following passages...
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance (bad things for sure, but even "good things" what "weigh us down" - Ask God to search your heart - Ps 139:23, 24) and the sin which so easily entangles us ("The easily besetting, encompassing or surrounding sin". What is your "besetting sin"? You need to set it aside by the power of the Spirit, Ro 8:13), and let us run with endurance (hupomone [word study]) the race that is set before us (He 12:1-note)
Comment: Run is in the present tense which conveys the truth that this is a lifelong struggle/race, one which ultimately can be run successfully only in His strength. Many Christians are just "spiritually" jogging, some just walking slowly, and others are sitting or even lying down. Yet the biblical standard for holy living is a race, not a morning constitutional. Race is the Greek agon, from which we get agony. A race is not characterized by indulging and luxury, but is a demanding, sometimes grueling and agonizing task which requires our utmost in self-discipline, determination, and perseverance.
Note that each runner has "the race" laid out before him or her. The point of the verb "set before" (prokeimai [word study]) is that of something lying before one. It is like a road that stretches out before one's gaze. In short, dearly beloved of God, our Father has a "lane" set out and prepared for each of his children to run in and a goal for each one to reach. We are not competing with each other. We are competing with ourselves (specifically in regard to our continual battle against the world, the flesh and the devil) striving (agonizomai) to run the race. Remember, we are not running the race in order to get into heaven. It is only through faith in Jesus Christ that our sins are forgiven and we have the assurance of heaven (Jn 14:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). It is also worth noting that in the Greek and Roman games, the contestants had to be citizens and no slaves or outsiders were permitted to compete. In the Christian race, each runner is a citizen of heaven (Php 3:20-note) and is running to bring glory to the Lord. (Mt 5:16-note)
Spurgeon comments: In (the Greek) games, those who ran and wrestled wore very little clothing, or often nothing at all. A runner might lose the race through being entangled by his scarf, so he laid aside everything that might hinder or hamper him. Oh, for that blessed consecration to our heavenly calling, by which everything that would hinder us shall be put aside, that we may give ourselves, disentangled, to the great gospel to race!
BESETTING
SINS
John Angell James: Besetting sins are powerful hindrances to Christian progress. In the case of most people, there is some one sin to which, either from their situation, taste, constitution, or other circumstances-they are more powerfully tempted than to others. Satan knows very well what in every case this is, and skillfully adapts his temptations to it. He is an expert angler, and never chooses his bait, or throws his line, at random! Independently, however, of him, the very tendency of the heart is in that direction. That one sin, whatever it is, while indulged, will hold you back! You cannot make progress in holiness, until it is mortified. Even its partial indulgence, though it may be considerably weakened, will hinder you! Study then your situation, circumstances, and constitution. You cannot be ignorant which temptation and sin, you are most liable to succumb to. You must know in what way you have most frequently wounded your conscience, and occasioned to yourself shame and sorrow....Study yourselves! Examine your own heart! You must find out this matter, and it requires no great pains in order to know it. It floats upon the surface of the heart, and does not lie hidden in its depths. There, there, is your danger! As long as that one sin, be it what it may, is indulged, you cannot advance in the Christian life! Other sins are like unnecessary clothing to the racer. Besetting sins are like a ball and chain around his ankle! Direct your attention more fixedly, and your aim more constantly, to the destruction of besetting sins. You know what they are, whether . . .lusts of the flesh, or lusts of the mind, or bad tempers toward man, or sinful dispositions toward God, or violations of piety. Let us be distinguished by a great mortification of besetting sins, which, more than anything else . . .distress us, disgrace us, and hindered us in our progress heavenward. No sins require . . .such severe mortification, such incessant labor, such earnest prayer, such strong faith for their destruction as besetting sins. But all this is necessary, for if they are not destroyed, they will probably destroy us.
Richard Baxter, Puritan writer: It is a most lamentable thing to see how most people spend their time and their energy for trifles, while God is cast aside. He Who is all seems to them as nothing, and that which is nothing seems to them as good as all. It is lamentable indeed, knowing that God has set mankind in such a race... that they should sit down and loiter, or run after the childish toys of the world, forgetting the prize they should run for. Were it but possible for one of us to see this business as the all-seeing God does, and see what most men and women in the world are interested in and what they are doing every day, it would be the saddest sight imaginable. Oh, how we should marvel at their madness and lament their self-delusion! If God had never told them what they were sent into the world to do, or what was before them in another world, then there would have been some excuse. But it is His sealed word, and they profess to believe it.
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