Sermon Tone Analysis

Becoming Relevant

For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more.

20 And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law, though not being myself under the Law, that I might win those who are under the Law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, that I might win those who are without law.

22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.

23 And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

Should We Imitate Paul's Strategy?

The first question to ask is whether this remarkable testimony of Paul is something we should imitate, or is this just something that apostles did—or that missionaries do who must adapt to other cultures?

The answer comes from one of the clearest commentaries on these words that Paul himself wrote in the next chapter.

Look at .

Here the issue is exactly the same as in 9:19ff., namely, how to relate to Jews and Greeks so as to win them for Christ.

He says,

–11:1Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

32) Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; [in other words, adapt as much as you can in non-sinful ways] 33) just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved.

[That's the same as 9:22, "I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some."

Then comes the answer to our question, in 11:1.]

Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

32) Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; [in other words, adapt as much as you can in non-sinful ways] 33) just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved.

[That's the same as 9:22, "I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some."

Then comes the answer to our question, in 11:1.]

Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

So that answer is: No, this is not a specifically apostolic or missionary way of life.

It is something that he meant for all the Corinthian believers to imitate.

He was imitating Christ, and he wants us to imitate him.

So hear this message this morning a Word from God for you particularly and not just for someone else.

Ask how you, in your sphere of life, can use your freedom the way Paul and Jesus did, if by any means you might save some.

What Is Paul's Aim? 

Now the second question to ask in this text is what Paul's aim is.

Why has he made himself a slave to all?

Why is he becoming "as a Jew" to the Jews?

Why did he make himself as a "lawless one" to the lawless, and weak to the weak?

Which is the same now as asking, Why should we?

It's a tremendously important question.

Paul is telling us to live and act in ways that are different from the way we would act if we didn't share his aim in life.

So it makes a big difference if we have the same aim Paul does here.

What was his aim?

To Win Others

Five times he says that his aim is to win people.

Verse 19: "that I might win the more."

Verse 20: " that I might win the Jews . . .

that I might win those under the law."

Verse 21: "That I might win those who are without law."

Verse 22: "That I might win the weak."

To Save Others

So five times he says that his aim in adapting to the way people live is to win them.

Then at the end of verse 22 in his summary statement he says, "I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some."

So he says his aim differently here.

Five times it was "to win" people; and now it is "to save" people.

To Be a Partaker of the Benefits of the Gospel

Then in verse 23 he gives one last aim: "And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it."

I believe this means exactly what R.H. Lenski says it means.

Paul is saying, "If I omit this concern of love for others, although through my work, devoid of such love, many others may be saved, yet I myself would not be saved."

In other words, Paul knew that his faith in Christ would be utterly inauthentic and false, if he abandoned the pattern of life set by Jesus and no longer cared for other people.

So Paul tells us his aim in three ways:

to win others;

to save others;

to be partaker in the benefits of the gospel himself.

Now what does this mean?

Win others for what?

Save others from what? Partake in what benefits of the gospel?

Saved from the Wrath of God

The most straightforward answer is given in

: "Having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath [of God] through Him."

Of all Paul's uses of the word "save" in his letters this is the one place where he tells us explicitly what we are saved from.

When we put our trust in Christ, we are saved from "the wrath of God."

"Having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath [of God] through Him."

Of all Paul's uses of the word "save" in his letters this is the one place where he tells us explicitly what we are saved from.

When we put our trust in Christ, we are saved from "the wrath of God."

So that is the aim of Paul in becoming all things to all people.

Verse 22: "I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some"—from the wrath of God.

The gospel is the good news that God has made a way to save us from his own wrath.

In

Paul says that "Jesus delivers us [=saves us] from the wrath to come."

Paul says that "Jesus delivers us [=saves us] from the wrath to come."

Partaker of Eternal Life

That's what Paul seeks to save people from, when he adapts to their way of life.

But now what does he win them for?

Or: what benefits of the gospel does Paul hope to share in when he is saved from the wrath of God?

Jesus tells us the alternative to the wrath of God.

In

The alternative to the wrath of God abiding on us is eternal life.

This is what Paul wins people for.

This is what he wants to be a fellow partaker of.

So now we know our goal and aim.

Our aim, like Paul's is to save people from the wrath of God and to win them for eternal life; and in loving people like this we prove the reality of our own faith and confirm our participation in the gospel.

Do We Really Believe the Wrath of God Is Coming?

A question that presses itself on me here is this: is one of the reasons that we make as little effort as we do in winning others the fact that we don't believe the wrath of God is coming?

For many today the good news of Jesus Christ is conceived almost entirely as another strategy to handle psychological needs—depression, grief, abandonment, loneliness, anger, low self-esteem, fear, etc.

And the gospel does have an impact on all those things.

But that is not what makes it the gospel.

If the gospel did not touch any of those things in this life (which is conceivable), it would still be unspeakably good news.

Do you believe that?

What makes the gospel good news is that I am already acquitted in the courtroom of heaven.

There is no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus.

The sentence of infinite, holy wrath has been revoked in my case.

Jesus absorbed it for me.

Therefore,

says, "God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ."

But O what a difference there is for those who do not embrace the gospel!

says, "Because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God."