Know ye not that they who run in [the] race-course run all, but one receives the prize? Thus run in order that ye may obtain.
Paul points his readers to something they saw every day: runners in a race. Two questions follow. What is a Christian running for? And does the picture mean only one person can win?
The picture was familiar to people who lived beside famous games.
The figure from these games would be most striking to the Corinthians, who were used to the games held at the Isthmus. Indeed the point is plain to anyone. Even in the games the competitors had to be temperate in all things, though their crown was a fading one and ours lasts forever.
In a stadium, only one runner takes the prize. That is where the picture stops.
Again, in a human race only one can win, only one receives the prize. In the heavenly race every runner, every one who strives, wins. Yes, sovereign grace says he shall surely win. Let us therefore so run that we may obtain. The word of God, the Cross, the Resurrection, the Coming, the promised Glory, are all pledges of our winning. But the runner who is most sure in his heart of winning is the one most aware of almighty and sovereign grace.
If the prize were salvation itself, a Christian would live in constant suspense.
Here it is not a question of life or salvation, but simply of "running in a race," and "so running that we obtain" — not life, but "an incorruptible crown." The call to run assumes you already have life. No one would tell dead men to run a race... He does not give us life as sinners and then set us to run for it as saints. He does not leave us with the gloomy fear that we may lose the precious gift by failing in the race. That would be to "run uncertainly," as many are sadly trying to do. They claim to have entered the course, yet they do not know whether they have life or not.
One writer names the prize Paul was reaching for.
The course run by a Christian is compared to races in which "one receives the prize," with the exhortation, "So run that you may obtain it." 1 Cor. 9:24-27. The prize Paul was stretching forward to win was that of being with and like the Lord in the glory. Phil. 3:14.
The crown at the end answers to how the course was run, not just to entering it.
The crown the Apostle speaks of is not given for being a Christian, but for a faithful walk... It ought to be a solemn thought to our hearts: the Lord means to notice how people have stood as witnesses for Him, and what their walk was like. All will be in glory on the ground of free grace. But Christ watches to see if we run well, and He will give a reward if there has been faithfulness.
God's purpose is settled. The road still tests us.
There are no "ifs" in the purpose of God, and no "ifs" in the accomplishment of His salvation. But there are "ifs" in the way He leads us, humbling us and testing us... There is no "if" as to my being in Christ: I know I am in Christ... but the moment He takes me as an actual living man down here, He says, "So run that you may obtain it."
The runner does not supply his own footing or his own strength.
The race, then, is the race of Christian life, and the contest is that of pleasing the Lord. Christ is its starting point, and Christ is also its goal. The race must be run with patience, by a faith that looks away from everything else and fixes its gaze on Him alone. Men did not compete at the Greek games with nooses round their necks. In the same way, the Christian is not called to save himself by his own effort from the wrath to come. As a sinner, he has already fled for refuge to the hope set before him... It is in his Saviour's name that he appears as a competitor, and by his Saviour's strength alone that he can hope to win.
- Start — God gives life at the starting post, not at the goal; the call to run assumes you are already alive.
- Stakes — The crown is at risk, not the life. The crown answers to a faithful walk, while glory itself rests on free grace.
- Scope — In the stadium one wins and the rest lose; here every runner who strives wins.
- Strain — There is no "if" over God's purpose, but there are "ifs" along the road, where He humbles and tests us.
- Sight — The prize is being with and like the Lord in glory. The way there is a faith that looks away from everything else and runs in His strength.
But every one that contends [for a prize] is temperate in all things *they* then indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown, but *we* an incorruptible.
Paul ends his defence of his rights as an apostle with a picture every reader in Corinth knew: the athlete in training. It raises questions the verse still puts to us. What does self-control cost? Who can win? What is the crown at the end?
The Isthmian games took place near Corinth, so its readers knew athletes and prizes first-hand. One writer notes how sharp the image would have felt, and where it differs in our favour:
This picture from the games would strike the Corinthians hard. They knew the games of the Isthmus well. Indeed the use is plain to anyone. Spiritually, the prize is not for one, but for all, if all run well. But even in the games the competitors had to be self-controlled in all things. And theirs was only a fading crown; ours is everlasting.
The word translated "self-control" (older versions say "temperate") comes from the athlete's routine. It covers what he eats, what he refuses, and how he trains:
Here the Apostle uses a picture from the athletic games at the Corinthian Isthmus. We all know the strenuous training an athlete will put himself through. He will keep away from foods and drinks that would spoil his fitness. In other words he is self-restrained, for that is the meaning of the word "temperate" in our text.
The logic of the verse runs upward. If a fading prize is worth that much discipline, the lasting one is worth more. So when Paul gave up his rights earlier in the chapter, it was not softness:
No one should think that the Apostle fitted in with the world to escape reproach and spare the flesh. To clear away any such mistake, the Apostle shows in the closing verses that the path of service is one of self-denial. There is indeed a reward for service, and it is far better than the prize the world's games offer. There they run for a corruptible crown; the Christian runs for an incorruptible one. If winning an earthly crown needs a disciplined life, how much more must we be self-controlled in all things to win the incorruptible crown.
In a stadium race only one wins, and that limit does not carry over. Yet certainty about the end does not remove the need to strive:
Paul was striving, and so he was self-controlled. That is why he can say, sure of gaining the mastery, "I therefore so run, not as uncertainly." If there is no uncertainty, why strive? The prize is sure to the one who strives, however feeble his striving may be; but the one who does not strive at all is a castaway. Again, in a human race only one can win, only one receives the prize. In the heavenly race every runner, everyone who strives, wins. Yes, sovereign grace says he shall surely win... But the one who is most assured in his heart of winning is the most deeply conscious of almighty and sovereign grace.
The older wording quoted here, "not as uncertainly," is "So I do not run aimlessly" in the ESV.
The strong language is easy to misread as a scramble to be saved. A Bible dictionary sets that aside plainly:
All ran, but only one received the prize. So let each one lay aside every weight and sin, and run to win — not for a fading crown of laurel, pine, or parsley, but an incorruptible one. This is not a contest where those who are not converted have to strive in the hope of gaining salvation. It is a race the Christian has to run as a matter of experience.
The crown here is a victor's wreath, not a royal crown. The New Testament describes it from several angles:
In the New Testament the word usually translated "crown" is stephanos. It is more a symbol of victory than of royalty... It covers both the perishable crown won by victors in the ancient contests and the imperishable crown of the Christian, 1 Cor. 9:25. This latter is further described as a "crown of righteousness," "crown of life," "crown of glory," 2 Tim. 4:8; James 1:12; 1 Peter 5:4; Rev. 2:10. These may refer to the same crown, seen in different aspects.
- Race: The image comes from the games near Corinth. It pictures the Christian's daily experience, not a struggle to gain salvation.
- Restraint: "Temperate" means self-restrained, like an athlete who refuses what would spoil his fitness. The path of service is one of self-denial.
- Ratio: If a fading wreath is worth strict training, how much more the crown that cannot fade.
- Reach: In the stadium only one wins. In this race every runner who strives wins, and the surest runner is the most conscious of grace.
- Reward: The crown is a victor's wreath, not a king's. Other verses call it the crown of righteousness, of life, and of glory.