Gospel-centric Self-discipline
1 Corinthians • Sermon • Submitted
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· 21 viewsThe apostle illustrates the need for self-denial and discipline from the ancient Greek games. He argues that everything else must be secondary.
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Transcript
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 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. 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 his commentary on 1 Corinthians, Leon Morris titles our text “Paul’s self-control.” This, no doubt, accurately captures the theme of these verses, but it fails to express their purpose. Why did Paul exercise self-control? Why did he maintain such rigorous discipline in his ministry? Our text answers answers this, and it does so by reminding us always to live with the end in view. What’s our telos? our purpose? our goal in everything we do? And are we moving in the right direction?
Paul made his case using an illustration that everyone who lives in Corinth in the first century would have understood. He compared the Christian life to an athletic competition. The contests that come immediately to our minds are the famous Olympic games, which began in the eighth century BC and were held every four years. But Paul probably had the lesser known Isthmian games in mind. These began in the sixth century BC and took place just outside of Corinth every two years. Since Paul spent a year and a half ministering in Corinth (Acts 18:11), it’s possible that he attended these games. And knowing him as we do, it’s likely that he went to the stadium to preach the gospel. But in a sense, it doesn’t make any difference whether Paul was talking about the Olympic games or the Isthmian games. Both included footraces (mentioned in v. 24) and boxing (mentioned in v. 26).
The reason Paul’s illustration works so well is that it speaks to both the discipline that one must have in order to win as well as the purpose. Winners must give themselves entirely to the pursuit of the goal.
Run to Obtain the Prize
Run to Obtain the Prize
In verse 24, Paul wrote that, although all the contestants in a race run, only one receives the prize. Our version reads,
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
On the surface, this doesn’t seem to help. In the Christian faith, it isn’t true that everyone runs but only one wins. Every believer wins. Every believer is saved. There are no losers. But, of course, this isn’t the point here. Instead, Paul wanted to impress upon us the importance of persistence and determination and doing our absolute best. In a race, even those who ending up in second or third, or even last, place need to put forth just as much effort as the one who wins. And in our Christian walk we must all devote ourselves wholly to moving forward in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The exhortation that Paul himself drew from this is simple: So run, that ye may obtain.
Verse 25 explains this further. Paul wrote,
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.
Two words here require a little explanation.
The word translated striveth for the mastery is ἀγωνίζομαι. We get our words ‘agony’ and ‘agonize’ from it. It means to fight hard, to struggle, to give it your all. Athletic contestants in ancient Greece did exactly that. They trained intensely for ten months, during which they subjected themselves to severe struggles of mind and body. Their agony included long periods of training, exercises, drills, a strict diet and more. Second Timothy 2:5 reflects the same idea. Paul wrote,
And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
Every contestant enters the competition with a full understanding of what it will require and he willingly devotes himself to it.
The second word to consider is translated temperate (ἐγκρατεύεται). It means to restrain one’s impulses and desires. Paul used the same word in chapter 7, where he said that those who struggle with single life should get married. He wrote,
But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.
The point here is this: if an athlete is to stay in peak condition, he cannot indulge himself in candy bars, ice cream and a sloppy lifestyle. He can’t just sit on the couch and watch soap operas all day. His self-control or self-discipline requires him to avoid things he might want and pursue other things that he doesn’t.
Sacrifices like these are necessary to obtain the prize. But was it worth it? The prize in the Isthmian games was a pine wreath, which, of course, dried up after a few days, just like a Walmart Christmas tree. The fact that the athletes gave up almost everything for a worthless prize should be a rebuke us. How often is our service half-hearted and lazy, indulging their desires, rather than engaging strenuously in the service of Jesus Christ and his kingdom. After all, the crown that we pursue is not temporary but eternal. It’s a crown of righteousness. Paul wrote,
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
It’s also a crown of glory. Our glorification is the last link in the golden chain of salvation. Peter wrote,
And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
The Lord has called many to go before us. Every believer who has left this world is a witness who can testify that, by the grace of God, he was able to exercise self-discipline and finished his course. He did so by keeping his eyes fixed on Jesus. The first two verses of Hebrews 12 puts it like this:
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.
So, if we will run and obtain the prize like this great cloud of witnesses, we too must look to Jesus every step of the way!
Paul’s Race
Paul’s Race
The apostle Paul applied the exhortation of our text to himself. In verse 26 and the first part of verse 27, he wrote,
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.
How did Paul live out his faith in Jesus Christ? How did he conduct his ministry of the gospel? Here we see that he ran with purpose, just like the Isthmian athletes. He wasn’t ignorant of where the finishing line was. He didn’t waste his time punching the air (either on purpose as in shadow boxing or accidently by missing his opponent). Instead, he directed and dedicated everything in his life toward the goal of winning the prize.
I particularly like the way Paul put this in verse 27. Literally, he said that he gave his body a black eye to bring it into submission. This, too, comes from the Isthmian games, in which no fighter walked away without at least a black eye. Why? Because their rules allowed things that our boxing rules don’t. For example, their boxers’ gloves were covered with nails and filled with either iron or lead. Just imagine the bruise that would leave! Jesus used the same word in his parable of the persistent widow. The unjust judge eventually gave this woman the justice she wanted because he didn’t want a legal ‘black eye.’ According to Luke 18:5 he said,
Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
Paul’s use of this word in our text gives us a sense of how diligently and faithfully he subjected his body to the pursuit of the prize.
There have been some in church history who have taken the idea of beating the body into submission literally. They believed that the human body was evil and that its evil tendencies had to be curbed by self-inflicted suffering. Thus, they whipped themselves as a means of sanctification.
Self-flagellation, of course, is not Biblical. The body isn’t either good or evil in and of itself, but it becomes good or evil according to how we use it. The source of sin is not our arms and legs, but a corrupt and depraved nature. Sin arises from our hearts or inward desires. It’s a result of lusts that percolate within us all the time.
It’s not hard to demonstrate from Scripture that the body is not inherently evil. The Lord created Adam and Eve with physical bodies, and he pronounced them good. Jesus has a real body. That’s what made it possible for him to eat, sleep and die. Yet, he had no sin. And in glory we’ll also have bodies, but in our glorified state there’ll be no possibility of sin at all.
For the Gospel
For the Gospel
And finally, this evening’s text ends with a negative purpose statement. At the end of verse 27 Paul wrote,
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.
Paul ran his race well. In some ways, all of 1 Corinthians is a play-by-play description of his race. He refused to eat certain foods to avoid offending weaker brethren. Although he insisted that ministers should ordinarily be paid for their work in the gospel, he refused a paycheck because he didn’t want anyone claiming that he was preaching for personal gain. To communicate the gospel, he did whatever he had to do and gave up many things that he had a right to. He put it like this in verse 22:
To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
Isn’t this essentially what the Christian life should be for every believer? Calvin argued that the most fundamental feature of Christian living is self-denial, i.e., putting the work of the kingdom and the needs of others ahead of your own needs. Jesus said,
And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?
When Paul wrote in our text that he endured all these things so as not to be judged a castaway, he meant that he didn’t want anything to disqualify his service. Nothing about us, our character or our personal opinions should get in the way of others seeing Jesus.
Joel Beeke puts it this way: “Do you love your liberties more than you love your brothers?” Liberties, as precious as they are, can become idols of the heart. And the bad thing about them is that they’re hard to recognize. Over the last few months, as the coronavirus scare has taken hold of the world, Beeke’s question is the one question that we’ve had to keep coming back to. Do we love our liberties more than we love Matt Daffern or Florence Yee or Jonathan Opie? Paul’s answer was clear. The Lord had called him to preach the gospel for the salvation of believers, and that’s what he was going to do. Everything else was secondary.
All of this is to say that mature Christians sometimes have to limit themselves in order to accomplish this objective. The things that Paul had given up — certain foods, a paycheck — he gave up voluntarily to fulfill his ministry. His goal was to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ and call his people out of sin to salvation.
And isn’t this what Jesus did for us? He is the Son of God, eternally equal to his Father in all things. Yet, he humbled himself, came into the world, called a manger his first bed, had no home or place to lay his head. And why did he do all of this? It’s so that you and I, and everyone who believes, might win the incorruptible crown of everlasting life. Amen.