What does "to the weak I became weak" mean (1 Corinthians 9:22)?

And this spirit of service went even further; for he would use every effort to adapt himself to the circumstances of those to whom he brought the gospel. If theirs was a Jewish background and culture, he would adapt himself to this. If they were under law, he would from this viewpoint deal with them, with the object of presenting Christ. If they were without law, he would leave aside the question of the law's claims in his contacts with them, but use their own viewpoint by which to win them to Christ. Not that he would be lawless, "but in lawful subjection to Christ," as is a more exact translation. If they were weak, he would come down beside them, to show them the weakness that finds its answer of strength in Christ, and to gain them for Him. Being "made all things to all men" was by no means giving up proper moral principles but sacrificing his own comfort and natural preferences in order to enter into the circumstances of others.

But the Apostle's zeal for the Gospel carried him further even than this. He was perfectly free. He lay under obligations to no man. Yet in calculating love he made himself servant to all that he might gain "the more," or, "the most possible." He was out to win as many as possible, so, within the limits of the will of God, he adapted himself to those he sought to win. He specifies four classes, the Jews, those under law, those without law and the weak. He accommodated himself to each class as he approached them, but of course without doing anything contrary to the revealed will of God. Testimony to this is found in the short parenthesis which occur in verses 20 and 21.

The parenthesis in verse 20 does not appear in our Authorized Version. But it should be there. "As under the law (not being myself under law) that I might gain them that are under the law." In verse 21 the parenthesis is quite evident, being printed in brackets. In the New Translation it is rendered, "not as without law to God, but as legitimately subject to Christ." This signifies that when Paul approached the man under law, he observed the conventions which the law imposed, so as not to offend their susceptibilities — everything in fact, so long as it did not deny the fact that he himself was not under the law. When he approached the man without law he did so on that basis. Only he was always careful to let it be seen that he himself was not a lawless man but rightly subject to the Lord. It is evident then that the Apostle really studied the people that he approached, and their idiosyncracies, so that he might avoid everything which would needlessly prejudice them against the Message that he brought. He was far removed from that mistaken spirit that would say, "God can save and take care of His own elect," and as a result almost hurl the Gospel at people's heads, without much care as to the result.

Fancy the Apostle becoming as weak to the weak — talking in very simple and elementary terms for people of small intellect! No easy task that for a man of giant intellect! Yet he did it. This is the holy art which every really devoted and efficient teacher in a Sunday School has to learn. They need to become as a child to gain the children. This does not mean that they become childish. No, but they should become child-like, and study the mind of a child. And the one end in view is, salvation.

"For being free from all, I made myself bondman to all, that I might gain the most. And I became to the Jews as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; and to those under law, as under law, not being myself under law, that I might gain those under law; to those without law, as without law, not being without law to God, but under law to Christ, that I might gain those without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak; to all I have become all things, that by all means I might save some. And all things I do for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow-partaker of it." (Vers. 19-28.) How bright a reflection of the spirit of the gospel! The apostle was ready to yield at every side where Christ was not concerned. He was free, but free to be a bondman of any and everyone, in order that he might gain, not ends of his own, but the most possible for Christ. Hence among the Jews he raised no question about the law. His heart was set on their salvation; he would not be turned aside by legal questions. He became as a Jew; but while he declares that to those under law he was as under law, he carefully guards his own standing in grace by the clause left out in so many of the more modern copies, "not being myself under law," that he might gain those under it. Such was the only gain he sought — not theirs, but them; and them for God, not to mould after any opinions or prejudices of his own.

He was just the same with the Gentiles. (Compare Gal. 4:12.) Such is the elasticity of grace. "To those without law, as without law," while he carefully adds, not being without law to God, but duly or legitimately subject to Christ, that he might gain those without law. It is in vain to speak of natural character or education. If there ever was a soul rigidly bound by Pharisaic tradition within the straitest limits, it was Saul of Tarsus. But if any man be in Christ, there is a new creation. The old things passed; behold they are become new. Such was Paul the apostle; and so he lived, laboured, and speaks to us livingly. He would not wound the scruples of the feeblest; nay, to the weak he became weak, that he might gain the weak; in short, he could, and does, say, "to all I am become all things, that I may by all means save some." It was not, as some basely misuse his words, to excuse tampering with the world, and so spare one's own flesh, which is really to become the prey of Satan. His was self-sacrifice in a faith which had only Christ for its object, and the bringing of every soul within one's reach into contact with His love.

Nor is it only in our intercourse with our fellow Christians that we forget ourselves, or rather forget the Lord; but also in our intercourse with the world. How often, when we meet with unconverted people, do we slip into the current of their thoughts, and find a theme in common with them! Sometimes this is mourned over, sometimes it is defended, and the defence is founded upon an erroneous view of the apostle's expression, "I am made all things to all." This surely, does not mean that he entered into the folly and nonsense of worldly men. By no means. This would be to assert entirely too much. What then does the expression mean? It means, that Paul denied himself amongst all classes of men, in order that he might "by all means save some." His object was to bring sinners to Christ, and not to please himself by entering into their vain and foolish habits of conversation.

(Vv. 19-23). Thus, entirely free from all, he used his freedom to become the servant of all. When preaching to the Jews he could meet them on their own ground, adapt himself to their modes of thought, and avoid wounding their scruples. With those under law he could appeal to them as entering into all their exercises as one under law, though he is careful to add, “not being myself under law” (N.Tn.). As to those without law, he could appeal to them on their ground, though again he guards himself by saying that he was “not as without law to God, but as legitimately subject to Christ” (N.Tn.). To the weak he could become as one weak. He was made all things to all men, that he might by all means save some. Moreover, he acted thus for the sake of the glad tidings, which he personifies when he says, “that I may be fellow-partaker with them” (N.Tn.).

Verses 20-22. "And unto the Jews I became as a Jew," etc. He here expands and illustrates this master principle of his action as a wise winner of souls.5 As a man in Christ, he belonged no more to any category of natural standing or description; but in the spirit of a love which seeks its object everywhere,6 he would put himself indifferently upon any footing which might give him a more ready access to his wish. Among Jews, therefore, he was as a Jew. How he acted on this principle, and with what discouraging effect, we are told in the inspired narrative of his earlier work.7 Receiving hatred for his love, he learnt in that school conformity to Him who had once endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself.8 But while tender to the Jewish conscience, he withstood their doctrinal pretensions like a rock. He was "to them that were under law as one under law, though himself in nowise under law."9 The class here referred to comprises not born Jews only, but all of any nation who had learnt and acknowledged the doctrine of Moses Himself standing fast in the liberty with which Christ had made him free, he would willingly conform to legal usages, and submit to legal restraints, if by so doing he could gain a more willing ear for his Gospel among those who bore still upon their necks the yoke of bondage.

1 Corinthians 9. The apostle was exposed to the accusations of false teachers, who asserted that he carried on his evangelisation and his labours from interested motives, and that he took the property of Christians, availing himself of their devotedness. He speaks therefore of his ministry. He declares openly that he is an apostle, an eye-witness of the glory of Christ, having seen the Lord. Moreover, if he was not an apostle to others, doubtless he was to the Corinthians, for he had been the means of their conversion. Now the will of the Lord was that they who preached the gospel should live of the gospel. He had a right to take with him a sister as his wife, even as Peter did, and the brethren of the Lord. Nevertheless he had not used this right. Obliged by the call of the Lord to preach the gospel, woe unto him if he failed to do it! His glory was to do it gratuitously, so as to take away all occasion from those who sought it. For, being free from all, he had made himself the servant of all, that he might win as many as he could. Observe that this was in his service; it was not accommodating himself to the world, in order to escape the offence of the cross. He put this plainly forward (1 Corinthians 2:2); but in preaching it, he adapted himself to the religious capacity and to the modes of thought belonging to the one and to the other, in order to gain access for the truth into their minds; and he did the same in his manner of conduct among them. It was the power of charity which denied itself in all things, in order to be the servant of all, and not the selfishness which indulged itself under the pretence of gaining others. He did so in every respect for the sake of the gospel, desiring, as he said, to be a partaker with it, for he personifies it as doing the work of God's love in the world.

Your correspondent raises a most interesting question, viz. “What are the best means for reaching souls in the gospel? The word “reach” may be equivocal in this connection, but his idea is, of course, to gain or win. Paul writes of having a “measure to reach even unto you” (see 2 Cor. 10:13-15), but that is clearly figurative. He uses the word “gain” much more directly, e.g. “What is my reward then?”, that, when I preach the gospel, “I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel. For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. 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” (1 Cor. 9:18-22). Here “gaining” and “saving” are equivalent—to gain is to save; and, no doubt, the best means of saving souls is in the mind of your correspondent. May I ask whether the verses I have quoted suffice for an answer? As I copied them out I felt how searching is the truth they contain. The first to be “reached” is the preacher himself! So Paul felt and so he acted. It is not enough, therefore, to gather an audience, and to proclaim the precious gospel ever so earnestly to it, though that is undoubtedly one way of reaching souls, and, indeed, the usual way in which the seed is sown, but there must be, on the part of the servant of Christ, a hearty repudiation of himself and his natural predilections, together with a kind of moral affinity—that of compassion and not surrender of truth—with those whose salvation he seeks. Here is the test for him.

On the other hand, the apostle has shown elsewhere — and we should always endeavour to remember it — that it is a wise and important thing to meet souls in grace as far as possible, not to impose upon others what they have not strength to bear. In writing to the Corinthians the apostle had insisted on this, as his ministry exemplified it. He had become a Jew to the Jews, that he might gain the Jews. He was made all things to all men, that he might by all means save some. There was no kind of pressing points. There was the hearty desire for the good of souls; for we may have this without the pressure of our own particular thoughts and feelings, however right they may be. It is the elasticity of the Christian if established in grace. We rarely can pull the cord too tightly in dealing with our own souls, or be too stringent in our vigilance and prayer against slipping here and there. But it is a totally different thing in having to do with others. We have to bear their infirmities, if, in truth, we are strong; it is for their good that the Lord lays them upon our hearts. We find that, even with His own disciples, He went not beyond what they were able at that time to bear. But the very desire to meet souls, and not to raise questions that would gender strife, might expose a gracious Christian to be taking the colour of those outside himself, and giving up his own principles. On every side he has to watch.

We should notice the self-denying way in which the apostle met the needs of the weakest; being free from all, he made himself the servant of all, that he might gain the more: "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."