1 Corinthians 9:24-27

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.
25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.
27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

I am somewhat surprised that in our trek through passages that address the conditional security of the believer, we are just now considering 2 Corinthians 9 & 10. It may be that as a lengthy passage I felt overwhelmed in approaching it, or that it hits a few sensitive spots that need to be addressed in my own walk with the Lord. What ever the issue, let us not be fearful of the truth.

Paul begins this passage with a picture of an athlete, a runner whose goal is to run and win a race. The connecting theme between the runner and the believer is the exercise of self control in all things. He is looking to provoke the believers into exercising self control for the sake of obtaining a prize.

Yet this passage has somewhat bothered me, in that it conjures up in my mind a competitive spirit between believers. Is Paul seeking to pit believer against believer in this passage. Only one can win! Run (against your brother) to win.

But I don’t think Paul intends to communicate that believers are running against each other, but that they all need to exercise self control, as those of the world do. The world competes for a leaf that fades, and in the midst of that effort, may employ methods that are less than of the highest morals in order to get an edge.

Not so with Paul’s audience. Paul is comparing their goals with our goals – not of beating our competition – i.e. other believers, but of attaining to a reward, an eternal reward. The act of self control is similar in both competitors fields, but for the believer, the motivation is for an eternal goal, an eternal crown.

As it is with those who seek a leafy crown, some believers fall away, some are taken out of commission (go home seemingly early), and some are disqualified. And in this passage Paul is considering the threat of disqualification for himself!

Disqualified

It is the term that I couldn’t explain away when I was a young believer, so I often skipped over the verse, or connected the passage with rewards – which made some sense since Paul speaks of rewards just a verse earlier. Yet to be disqualified may mean more than simply the loss of rewards.

Disqualified is the translation of the Greek term ἀδόκιμος adókimos, and has the sense of being unapproved, rejected, worthless, a castaway, a reprobate. Harsh words.

I ask my reader to consider that if an athlete is rejected from the games, being considered not worthy of entering future competition (worthless to the judges), any rewards he may think are coming to him will also be lost. His loss is not only the rewards, but also his reputation, his name, his career, his livelihood, his very life focus that he had committed to for years.

Disqualification is a brutal set back, a judgement that one may never recover from. Remember, Paul is speaking of his own disqualification in this passage. Yes the great apostle Paul did no consider himself beyond this possibility.

Later on, he speaks of disqualification regarding those in the Corinthian church, using the very same word. (See Conditional Security – 2 Corinthians 13:5-9) There didn’t seem to be any believer that were immune to this danger! Every believer, from the apostle Paul to the young girl who served the saints a drink of water. All believers were in this potential danger of being disqualified!

However you see this passage, whether it be of service or of salvation, it is a dire warning to us all to heed the word of the Lord in keeping his ways, his commandments, his principles.

Breaking His law of love may bring about disqualification. No believer wants that, and certainly the Lord seeks to avoid this judgement on a believer. May we never give reason for this to be an issue before our Redeemer.

May we all seek Him, and His ways in our lives, for His glory and our benefit!

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