The Glorious Compulsion: Paul's Peculiar Reward Text: 1 Corinthians 9:15-18
Introduction: The Logic of Liberty
We live in an age that is obsessed with rights. We are constantly told to stand on our rights, to demand our rights, to fight for our rights. The modern man's catechism begins and ends with what he is owed. And so, when we come to a passage like this, it sounds like a strange and foreign tongue. The apostle Paul has just spent the first part of this chapter meticulously establishing his apostolic rights. He has every right to be married, every right to take a believing wife on his travels, and every right to be financially supported by the churches he serves. He argues from common sense, from the Law of Moses, and from the direct command of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself: "the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel" (1 Cor. 9:14).
And then, having built this ironclad case, he does something that short-circuits the modern mind. He says he refuses to use any of it. He has rights, yes, but he has a greater right, and that is the right to lay down his rights for the sake of the gospel. This is the logic of Christian liberty. It is not freedom to do what you want, but freedom to do what you ought. It is not freedom to please yourself, but freedom to serve others. Paul is not an ascetic who believes money is dirty or that ministry support is somehow less spiritual. He is the one who says the Lord Himself ordained it. But he is also a strategist, a spiritual warrior who knows that in certain contexts, the most powerful weapon in your arsenal is the one you deliberately choose not to use. He will not have anyone questioning his motives. He will not allow the slightest suspicion that he is in it for the money to become a stumbling block for the gospel.
In our text today, Paul unpacks the inner machinery of his motivations. He reveals what drives him, what compels him, and what, in the final analysis, he considers his true reward. And in doing so, he gives us a master class in the difference between duty and delight, between compulsion and compensation. He shows us what it means to be gloriously enslaved to the gospel of free grace.
The Text
But I have used none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case, for it would be better for me to die than have anyone make my boast an empty one. For if I proclaim the gospel, I have nothing to boast, for I am under compulsion. For woe is me if I do not proclaim the gospel. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. What then is my reward? That, when I proclaim the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my authority in the gospel.
(1 Corinthians 9:15-18 LSB)
A Hill to Die On (v. 15)
Paul begins by drawing a sharp line in the sand, distinguishing his practice from his established rights.
"But I have used none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case, for it would be better for me to die than have anyone make my boast an empty one." (1 Corinthians 9:15)
First, Paul makes it clear that his refusal to take payment is his consistent, settled policy. "I have used none of these things." He is not just having a fit of piety in Corinth. This is his way. Second, he wants to head off any misunderstanding. He is not writing this chapter as a subtle fundraising appeal. He is not hinting that the Corinthians should start supporting him. He is teaching them a principle by using himself as an exhibit. The principle is that love sometimes lays down its rights.
But then he raises the stakes to the highest possible level. "It would be better for me to die than have anyone make my boast an empty one." This is not hyperbole. Paul would rather face a firing squad than have his particular boast nullified. What is this boast? It is not the boast of a proud man. The Bible condemns all self-centered pride. Paul's boast is in something he is able to do, a strategic advantage he has in his gospel presentation. His boast is that he offers the gospel free of charge, silencing any critic who would dare suggest he is just another traveling sophist peddling wisdom for cash.
This is a crucial point for us. There are some things in the Christian life that are matters of wisdom and prudence. But there are other things that are matters of principle, hills that we must be willing to die on. For Paul, the absolute, unhindered, no-strings-attached proclamation of the gospel was one such hill. He would not allow the shadow of a mercenary motive to fall upon the glorious message of free grace. He was determined to live out the freeness of the gospel he preached. The message is free, and so is the messenger.
The Divine Necessity (v. 16)
In verse 16, Paul explains why he cannot boast in the mere act of preaching. It is not an optional career choice for him.
"For if I proclaim the gospel, I have nothing to boast, for I am under compulsion. For woe is me if I do not proclaim the gospel." (1 Corinthians 9:16)
Here we get to the heart of a true divine calling. Paul cannot boast about the fact that he preaches because, for him, it is not a choice. He is under compulsion. The Greek word is ananke, a necessity, a divine constraint. This is not the reluctant drudgery of a slave being whipped to his task. This is the internal, explosive pressure of a man who has been apprehended by the living God. It is Jeremiah's "fire in my bones" (Jer. 20:9). It is the sense that you must preach or you will pop.
This is what separates a true minister from a mere religious professional. A man who can take the ministry or leave it ought to leave it. A man who goes into the ministry because he is not particularly good at anything else is in the wrong line of work. The true call is a glorious burden, a holy necessity laid upon the soul by God Himself. Paul did not choose this life; he was chosen for it on the Damascus Road. He was arrested, commissioned, and sent. To not preach would be an act of high treason against the one who had shown him such astonishing mercy.
"Woe is me if I do not proclaim the gospel." This is the cry of a man who understands the stakes. He has seen the glory of Christ and the desperation of a world without Him. He knows the terror of the Lord (2 Cor. 5:11) and the surpassing worth of knowing Him (Phil. 3:8). For such a man, silence is not an option. It is a damnable dereliction of duty. The woe is not just the fear of punishment, but the horror of betraying such a great salvation and such a gracious King.
Stewardship and Reward (v. 17)
Paul now introduces a crucial distinction between doing his duty and earning a reward.
"For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me." (1 Corinthians 9:17)
This is a tightly reasoned argument. Paul is saying that the basic act of preaching the gospel is not, for him, a voluntary act in the sense that it earns him a special reward. It is a "stewardship entrusted" to him. The word for stewardship is oikonomia, from which we get our word economy. It refers to the management of a household. A steward, often a slave, did not own the master's goods; he was simply entrusted with managing them. He did not get a special bonus for simply doing his job. That was the baseline expectation.
So, Paul says, "if against my will," meaning, if I am just doing the non-negotiable duty that was assigned to me without my consent, then I am simply discharging my stewardship. I am doing what the Master told me to do. There is no special credit in that. The preaching itself is the obligatory part.
But if he does it "voluntarily," he has a reward. The word "voluntarily" here does not contradict the earlier "compulsion." It refers to the manner in which he carries out his compelled duty. He is compelled to preach, but he is not compelled to preach for free. That part is extra. That part is voluntary. He is going above and beyond the call of duty. And it is in this voluntary, extra act that his reward is found.
The Reward is the Work (v. 18)
Finally, in verse 18, Paul answers his own rhetorical question and defines his reward. And the answer is stunning.
"What then is my reward? That, when I proclaim the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my authority in the gospel." (1 Corinthians 9:18)
What is his pay? His pay is the privilege of not being paid. What is his reward? His reward is the joy of offering the priceless gospel for free. This is sanctified, God-centered logic. The world says, "The reward for a job is the money you get." Paul says, "The reward for my job is the way I get to do it."
His reward is the freedom to preach without putting an obstacle in anyone's path. His reward is the joy of imitating the Lord Jesus, who, though He was rich, for our sakes became poor (2 Cor. 8:9). His reward is the clean conscience and the strategic high ground he occupies in his fight for the truth. He is not "making full use of his authority," which is another way of saying he is not insisting on his rights. He is laying them down.
This turns our entire merit-based, compensation-driven world on its head. For the Christian, the highest joys are not found in getting, but in giving. The greatest rewards are not in what we receive, but in what we are privileged to offer up for the sake of Christ and His kingdom. Paul's boast was his freedom. His compulsion was his duty. And his reward was the joyful sacrifice itself.
Conclusion: Free Slaves
So what does this mean for us? We may not all be apostles, but we are all stewards. Each of us has been entrusted with a stewardship, a set of gifts, resources, and opportunities to manage for the glory of God. The baseline expectation is faithfulness. We are compelled by the love of Christ to live for Him and not for ourselves (2 Cor. 5:14-15).
But God, in His grace, invites us to find our reward not in a transaction, but in the joyful, voluntary, above-and-beyond service that flows from a heart captivated by grace. The reward is not a wage earned, but a joy discovered. It is the joy of the parent who willingly gives up sleep for a sick child. It is the joy of the church member who gives generously and secretly, not for a tax receipt, but for the sheer delight of advancing the kingdom. It is the joy of sharing the gospel with a neighbor, not out of grim duty, but out of a genuine overflow of love.
Paul was a slave of Jesus Christ, and yet he was the freest man on the planet. He was under a divine compulsion, and yet he acted with profound voluntary joy. This is the paradox of the Christian life. We are most free when we are most bound to Christ. Our greatest reward is the privilege of serving Him with no thought of reward. May God grant us the grace to understand this glorious compulsion, and to find our highest boast and truest reward in offering our lives as a free-will offering to the one who bought us at the highest possible price.