Ambrosiaster — Commentary on Scripture

Paul now develops his argument in detail in order to show that knowledge without love is both useless and harmful.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Everything which exists has been created by the Father through the Son. It is impossible for God not to be Lord as well, and since the Lord is God, it is clear that Father and Son are one.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 8:10

Paul is afraid that the weaker brother may be tempted to eat meat sacrificed to idols, not because he also possesses the knowledge that there is no such thing as an idol but because he might think that there is some spiritual power in such food, which he will acquire if he eats it.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 8:13

It is all right to have a wife, but if she commits adultery she is to be rejected. Likewise, it is all right to eat meat, but if it has been sacrificed to idols it is to be refused.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 9:2

Those Jewish believers who nevertheless continued to observe the law of Moses denied that Paul was an apostle because he taught that it was no longer necessary to be circumcised or to observe the sabbath. Even the other apostles thought that he was teaching something different because of this, and they denied that he was an apostle. But to the Corinthians Paul was an apostle, because they had seen the signs of God’s power in him.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 9:3

Here Paul begins to develop the argument which he set out above, namely: “All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything” (6:12).

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 9:4

This is what Paul meant when he said that all things were lawful to him.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 9:6

Paul means by this that he and Barnabas do have this right, but they do not want to exercise it.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 9:8

Paul indicates here that his position corresponds to the teaching of Scripture and that his refusal to accept any payment from the Corinthians was with good reason.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 9:10

The whole of Scripture applies to us by way of analogy.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 9:12

Paul does not exercise his rights because they might be an obstacle to the gospel. That left him free to argue that he was not one of the false apostles.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 9:14

It was not by the law of Moses that God followed the practice of the Gentiles, but natural reason itself decrees that a person should live from his labor.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 9:15

Paul says he would rather die because he knew it would be better from the standpoint of his future salvation.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 9:16

The servant sent by the Lord does what he has to do even if he is not willing, because if he does not do it he will suffer for it. Moses preached to Pharaoh even though he did not want to, and Jonah was forced to preach to the Ninevites.8.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 9:19

Paul is free from all human claims because he preached the gospel without getting any praise for it and never wanted anything from anyone, except their salvation.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 9:20

Did Paul merely pretend to be all things to all men, in the way that flatterers do? No. He was a man of God and a doctor of the spirit who could diagnose every pain, and with great diligence he tended them and sympathized with them all. We all have something or other in common with everyone. This empathy is what Paul embodied in dealing with each particular person.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 9:21

To be under the law of Christ is to be under the law of God, because everything which is of Christ is of God.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 9:22

Paul became weak by abstaining from things which would scandalize the weak.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 9:26

Paul means that he fights not merely with his words but with his deeds.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 9:27

To pommel the body is to fast and to avoid any kind of luxury. Paul shows that he disciplines his own body so that he will not miss out on the reward about which he preaches to others.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES