1. This lesson is a part of the long four-chapter instruction Paul
gives the Corinthians. Therein he teaches them how to deal with those
weak in the faith, and warns rash, presumptuous Christians to take
heed lest they fall, however they may stand at the present. He
presents a forcible simile in the running of the race, or the strife
for the prize. Many run without obtaining the object of their pursuit.
But we should not vainly run. To faithfully follow Christ does not
mean simply to run. That will not suffice. We must run to the purpose.
To believe, to be running in Christ's course, is not sufficient; we
must lay hold on eternal life. Christ says (Mt 24, 13), "But he that
endureth to the end, the same shall be saved." And Paul (1 Cor 10,
12), "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he
fall."
2. Now, running is hindered in two ways; for one, by indolence. When
faith is not strenuously exercised, when we are indolent in good
works, our progress is hindered, so that the prize is not attained.
But to such hindrance I do not think Paul here refers. He is not
alluding to those who indolently run, but to them who run in vain
because missing their object; individuals, for instance, who pursue
their aim at full speed, but, deluded by a phantom, miss their aim and
rush to ruin or run up against fearful obstacles. Hence Paul enjoins
men to run successfully while in the race, that they may seize the
prize and not lose it by default. In consequence the race is hindered
when a false goal is set up or the true one removed. The apostle says
(Col 2, 18), "Let no man rob you of your prize." It is true, however,
that an indolent, negligent life will eventually bring about loss of
the prize. While men sleep, the enemy very soon sows tares among the
wheat.
3. The goal is removed when the Word of God is falsified and creations
of the human mind are preached under the name of God's Word. And these
things readily come about when we are not careful to keep the unity of
the Spirit, when each follows his own ideas and yields to no other,
because he prefers his own conceit.
Such must be the course of events where love is lacking. The strong
and the learned desire to be looked upon as peculiarly commendable,
while the weak in the faith are despised. Thus the devil has abundant
opportunity to sow tares. Paul calls love the unity of the Spirit, and
admonishes (Eph 4, 3) that we endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace. In Second Thessalonians 2, 10 he proclaims the
coming of Antichrist "because they received not the love of the
truth"; that is, true love.
"And every man that striveth in the games [that striveth for the
mastery]."
4. Were he who competes in a race to attempt other things or to make a
success of other matters at the same time, he would not gain much;
rather he would soon be defeated, lose the race and everything. If he
would truly strive, he must attend to no other thing. All else must be
neglected and attention centered upon the contest alone. Even then the
winner must have fortune's favor; for they who neglect all to run do
not all gain the prize.
Likewise in the Christian contest it is necessary, and in an even
higher degree, to renounce everything and to devote oneself only to
the contest. He who would in addition seek his own glory and profit,
who would find in the Word and Spirit of God occasion for his own
praise and advantage after the manner of the dissenters and
schismatics--what can such a one expect to win? He is wholly entangled
in temporal glory and gain; bound hand and foot, a complete captive.
The race he runs is the mere dream race of one lying upon his couch an
indolent captive.
"I therefore so run, as not uncertainly; so fight I, as not beating
the air."
5. Paul here points to himself as exemplar and hints at the cause of
failure, viz., lapse from love and the use of the divine word in a
wilful, ambitious and covetous spirit, whereas the faith which worketh
by love is lacking. Under such conditions, false and indolent
Christians run indeed a merry race; yet God's Word and ways in which
they are so alert and speedy are merely a show, because they make them
subserve their own interests and glory. They fail, however, to see
that they race uncertainly and beat the air. They never make a serious
attempt, nor do they ever hit the mark. While it is theirs to mortify
ambition, to restrain their self-will and to enlist in the service of
their neighbors, they do none of these things. On the contrary, they
even do many things to strengthen their ambition and self-will, and
then they swear by a thousand oaths that they are seeking not their
own honor but the honor of God, their neighbor's welfare and not their
own.
Peter says (2 Pet 1, 9-10) this class are blind and cannot see afar
and have forgotten they were purged from their old sins, because they
fail to make their calling sure by good works. Therefore, it comes
about that, as Paul says, they run uncertainly, beating the air. Their
hearts are unstable and wavering before God, and they are changeable
and fickle in all their ways, James 1, 8. Since they are aimless and
inconstant at heart, this will appear likewise as inconstancy in
regard to works and doctrines. They undertake now this and now that;
they cannot be quiet nor refrain from factional strife. Thus they miss
their aim or else remove the goal, and cannot but deviate from the
true and common path.
"But I buffet [keep under] my body, and bring it into bondage
[subjection]."
6. The apostle's thought is the same as in his statement above, "Every
man that striveth in the games exerciseth self-control in all things."
By "keeping under the body" Paul means, not only subduing the carnal
lusts, but every temporal object as well, in so far as it appeals to
bodily desire--love of honor, fame, wealth and the like. He who gives
license to these things instead of subduing them will preach to his
own condemnation, however correct his preaching be. Such do not permit
the truth to be presented; this is true particularly of temporal
honor. These words of the apostle, then, are a fine thrust at
ambitious and self-centered preachers and Christians. Not only do they
run in vain and fight to no purpose; they become actual castaways with
only the semblance--the color--of Christianity.