\nPaul’s Rights (I Corinthians 9:1-6)<\/h2>\n
Having mentioned in I Corinthians 8:13 his willingness to forego his rights to benefit others, Paul now illustrates the extent of what he does. He asks a series of rhetorical questions. In each question, the answer is the opposite of what is being asked. Paul is an apostle, he is a free man, he has seen Jesus, and the Corinthians’ existence as a church is the result of Paul’s efforts. Each of these points means that Paul has rights because of his position. Yet, we get a hint that it is in exercising those rights – or, more specifically, his choice not to exercise his rights – that some seek to claim that Paul is less than who he is. Thus, this chapter is both a defense of Paul’s apostleship and an illustration of how Christians can show restraint in exercising their liberties. The latter point is the primary one. The former is actually more incidental.<\/p>\n
Paul points out that he has seen Jesus because this was a critical characteristic of an apostle. The apostles were eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:32; 10:39-41; I John 1:1-3). Having witnessed Christ was a critical qualification when selecting a replacement for Judas (Acts 1:21-22). Paul, too, was a witness, though born out of due time (I Corinthians 15:8).<\/p>\n
Paul points out that even if other people claim to doubt his apostleship, the Corinthians are one group who should have no doubts since their existence is proof of his apostleship. He claimed to be an apostle while he was with them, and God supported that claim with the signs that Paul had done in their present. They, too, had responded to the gospel message he brought, showing their acceptance of what he taught.<\/p>\n
Thus, Paul defends his rights as an apostle against those who claim he is not an apostle. As a human being, he has the right to meals. Implied in this is the argument that a laborer has the right to be supported by his work. He also had the right to marry a Christian woman, just as the other apostles and leaders in the church had done.<\/p>\n
Neither Paul nor Barnabas exercised that right to be supported by those they were teaching. But Paul clarifies that it wasn’t because they didn’t have a right to support. A right can exist without it being used. Paul had sometimes chosen to support himself and others (Acts 18:3; 20:34; I Thessalonians 2:9; II Thessalonians 3:8).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Why only a sister in Christ? The apostles are dedicated to spreading the Gospel. The job is difficult enough without dealing with an unbelieving wife who would hinder their mission. The same should be a concern for any Christian. It isn’t wrong to marry an unbeliever, but it often makes life more difficult to remain faithful to Christ and live a fully devoted Christian life.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Hello, What is the meaning of I Corinthians 9:5? Is Paul implicitly stating he can only take a fellow believer as a wife? I know there are other verses for circumstances that touch situations where believers are married to non-believers. Answer: Here is something I wrote about the context in Paul’s Restraint in Exercising…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[64],"class_list":["post-79693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-marriage"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":92363,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-baptism-only-for-the-jews-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":79693,"position":0},"title":"Was baptism only for the Jews? (3)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day. Does I Corinthians 12:13 refer to Holy Spirit baptism? Was water baptism only for the Jews? Did it stop when Paul got his assignment to the Gentiles? Thanks. Answer: I Corinthians 12:13 tells us who was behind the means by which we can be saved. The Holy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37210,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-change-your-mind\/","url_meta":{"origin":79693,"position":1},"title":"Is it wrong to change your mind?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, If someone stated they were never going to do something that wasn't wrong can they change their mind and not be in sin? For example, if I said I was never going to get married and then change my mind and get married is that a sin? I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91726,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/boasting-of-his-weakness\/","url_meta":{"origin":79693,"position":2},"title":"Boasting of His Weakness","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: II Corinthians 12:1-10 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0False teachers of the Jewish persuasion had entered the congregation in Corinth \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They wanted to convince the brethren that they had to follow the Law of Moses to be acceptable to God. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The problem was dealing with Paul. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83738,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-pauls-thorn-in-the-flesh-his-bad-eyesight\/","url_meta":{"origin":79693,"position":3},"title":"Was Paul’s thorn in the flesh his bad eyesight?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In II Corinthians 12:1-10, Paul talks about his \"thorn in the flesh,\" which kept him from exalting himself, especially after entering paradise.\u00a0 Does Galatians 4:15 show his thorn in the flesh was his eyes? Also, did he see Paradise or just hear words he couldn't repeat? Answer: \"Boasting is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90243,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/imitating-paul\/","url_meta":{"origin":79693,"position":4},"title":"Imitating Paul","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh DeLong \"Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ\" (I Corinthians 11:1). Jesus gave the great commission to \"go into all the world and make disciples of every nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Teaching them\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22754,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/inspiration-and-trivia\/","url_meta":{"origin":79693,"position":5},"title":"Inspiration and Trivia","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Short Talk \u00a0 Question:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How can the Bible claim to be from the mouth of God when it contains so much trivial information, such as Paul\u2019s request to bring his cloak in II Timothy 4:13? Surely, these things cannot be inspired! Answer: I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What superficially appears to be trivial may, upon deeper\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79693\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}