Lesson 8: Run For The Prize (1st Corinthians 9:24 – 10:33)
The Yankees Win! The Yankees Win! The Yankees Win! I was rooting for the Phillies.
To the victors belong the spoils, in this case the World Series trophy, or as the Apostle Paul would call it, a perishable wreath.
In 1 Corinthians 9:23-27 Paul challenges us to apply the discipline required to win a championship in sports to our spiritual lives…to discipline ourselves so that we will win the ultimate, imperishable prize of salvation in heaven.
There is a sports adage that goes like this, “It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.” In the game of life, it’s all about whether we win or lose. How we play the game, so to speak, will ultimately determine whether we win or lose. Ours is a “winner takes all” endeavor (better yet, “winner receives all”). Close enough is not good enough.
John Piper has become my mentor over the last several lessons. I’ve benefitted much from his teaching on 1st Corinthians. Ponder his thoughts on this passage.
Eternal Life Hangs on the Way We Run
"In other words, life is not a game with no lasting consequences. The way we live our lives has eternal consequences. Life is a proving ground where we prove who we are, whom we trust, and what we cherish. Eternal life, the upward call, the crown of righteousness—all these hang on what our life says about who we are, whom we trust, and what we love.
Make no mistake here! Life is not a place for proving to God or anybody your strength. Life is a place for proving whose strength you trust—man's or God's. Life is not a place for proving the power of your intelligence to know truth. It's a place for proving the power of God's grace to show truth (Matthew 16:17). Life is not a field for demonstrating the force of our will to make good choices. It's a field for showing how the beauty of Christ takes us captive and constrains us to choose and run for his glory.
The race of life has eternal consequences not because we are saved by works, but because Christ has saved us from dead works to serve the living and true God with Olympic passion (Hebrews 9:14).
The race of life has eternal consequences not because grace is nullified by the way we run, but because grace is verified by the way we run. "By the grace of God I am what I am and his grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored [I ran, I fought] more exceedingly than all, yet it was not I but the grace of God which was with me" (1 Corinthians 15:10). Paul's running did not nullify the purpose of grace; it verified the power of grace.
Eternal life hangs on the way we run and the way we fight not because salvation is based on the merit of works, but because faith without works is dead (James 2:26). Life is a proving ground for whether faith is alive or dead—a proving ground for whom we trust. "
Memory Verse: 1 Corinthians 13:8
Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
Real love never fails because it flows from the source of living water that never runs dry, from Christ our Savior. Does your love fail? Drink deeply from the truth of the scriptures. The words of God are God’s power for your life. Commit yourself to live by God’s words with all of your might so as to win the imperishable prize.