Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Corinthians 9:27

"but I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected." — 1 Corinthians 9:27 (ASV)

But I keep under my body. — Or better, but I bruise my body. The word is very strong, implying to beat the flesh until it is black and blue. The only other place this word occurs is in Luke 18:5. The body is spoken of as his adversary, or the seat of those lusts and appetites which war against the mind (Romans 7:23; Galatians 5:17).

Bring it into subjection. — Or better, and make it a slave. The idea is continued that the body is not only conquered but also led captive.

We must remember that the language throughout this passage is figurative. This statement refers not to the infliction of actual pain on the body, but to the subduing of the appetites and passions located in it.

The true position of our natural appetites is that they should be entirely our servants, not our masters. We “should not follow or be led by them”; instead, they should follow and be led by us.

Lest that by any means. — Or better, lest having been a herald to others, I myself should be rejected.

This image is continued. The Apostle states that he has a further motive to live a life of self-denial: namely, that after having acted as a herald—proclaiming the conditions of the contest and the necessary preliminaries for it—he himself should not be found to have failed to fulfill them.

This same image of the race is continued, along with that of the herald who announced the victor's name and the fact that the victor had fulfilled the necessary conditions. It was not customary for the herald to join in the contest, but the Apostle was himself both a runner in the Christian course and a herald of the conditions of that race to others. Hence, he naturally speaks of these two characters—which in the actual illustration would be distinct—as united in one when applied spiritually to himself. The term cast away conveys a wrong impression; the Greek word signifies one who had not behaved according to the prescribed regulations.