The Freedom Trap | 1 Corinthians 9:1-18
1. There is freedom in Christianity (v.1-6)
1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? 2 If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. 3 This is my defense to those who would examine me. 4 Do we not have the right to eat and drink? 5 Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? 7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?
1. You have the right to enjoy the good things in life
Ecclesiastes 3:13: That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.
2. You have the right to expect to be treated lovingly
Matthew 7:12: So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
3. You have the right to not live in guilt
Romans 8:1: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
2. There is freedom in servanthood (v.8-14)
8 Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? 10 Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. 11 If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 12 If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. 13 Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? 14 In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.
1. Pastors and ministers should be generously supported
1 Timothy 5:17-18: 17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those
who labor in preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,’ and, ‘The laborer deserves his wages.’
2. Pastors and ministers should not feel guilty about receiving support
3. Pastors and ministers should not be taken for granted
3. There is freedom in sacrifice (v.15-18)
15 But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. 16 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. 18 What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
