John Calvin Commentary 1 Corinthians 9:1

"Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not ye my work in the Lord?" — 1 Corinthians 9:1 (ASV)

Am I not free? He confirms by facts what he had stated immediately before—that he would rather never taste flesh during his whole life than give occasion for stumbling to a brother; at the same time, he shows that he requires nothing more from them than what he had himself practiced.

And, assuredly, natural equity requires that whatever law is imposed by anyone upon others should be submitted to by himself. More especially, a Christian teacher should impose this necessity upon himself, so that he may always be able to confirm his doctrine by an exemplary life. We know by experience that it is a very unpleasant thing Paul required from the Corinthians—to refrain, for the sake of their brothers, from using the liberty that was allowed them.

He could scarcely have demanded this if he had not taken the lead and shown them the way. And he had, it is true, promised that he would do this; but, as he might not be believed by all on his simply promising for the future, he mentions what he had already done.

He brings forward a remarkable instance regarding his having denied himself the liberty which he might otherwise have used, purely so that he might give the false Apostles no occasion for slander. He had preferred to earn his food with his own hands rather than be supported at the expense of the Corinthians, to whom he administered the Gospel.

He treats, however, at great length the right of the Apostles to receive food and clothing. This he does, partly to stir them up more to forgo many things for the sake of their brothers after his example (because they were unduly tenacious in retaining their own rights), and partly to more fully expose the unreasonableness of slanderers, who took occasion to revile from what was anything but blameworthy.

He also speaks interrogatively, to press the matter home more closely. The question—Am I not free?—is of a general nature. When he adds—Am I not an Apostle?—he specifies a particular kind of liberty: “If I am an Apostle of Christ, why should my condition be worse than that of others?” Hence he proves his liberty on the ground of his being an Apostle.

Have I not seen Jesus Christ? He expressly adds this so that he might not be reckoned inferior in any respect to the other Apostles, for the malevolent and envious loudly asserted this one thing on all occasions—that he had received from human hands whatever he had of the gospel, since he had never seen Christ.

And, certainly, he had not conversed with Christ while he was in the world, but Christ had appeared to him after his resurrection. It was no lesser privilege, however, to have seen Christ in his immortal glory than to have seen him in the abasement of mortal flesh.

He also mentions this vision later (1 Corinthians 15:8), and it is mentioned twice in Acts (Acts 9:3 and Acts 22:6). Hence this passage tends to establish his call because, although he had not been set apart as one of the twelve, the appointment Christ declared from heaven had no less authority.

Are not ye my work? He now, in the second place, establishes his Apostleship from its effect, because he had won the Corinthians to the Lord by the gospel. Now this is a great thing that Paul claims for himself when he calls their conversion his work, for it is, in a way, a new creation of the soul. But how will this correspond with what we read above—that
he that planteth is nothing, and he that watereth is nothing?
(1 Corinthians 3:7).

I answer that, as God is the efficient cause, while man, with his preaching, is an instrument that can do nothing by itself, we must always speak of the ministry’s efficacy in such a way that the entire praise of the work may be reserved for God alone.

But in some cases, when the ministry is spoken of, man is compared with God, and then that statement holds good—He that planteth is nothing, and he that watereth is nothing; for what can be left to a man if he is brought into competition with God? Hence Scripture represents ministers as nothing in comparison with God. But when the ministry is simply discussed without any comparison to God, then, as in this passage, its efficacy is honorably mentioned with high praise.

For, in that case, the question is not what man can do by himself without God, but, on the contrary, God himself, who is the author, is joined with the instrument, and the Spirit’s influence with man’s labor. In other words, the question is not what man himself accomplishes by his own power, but what God accomplishes through his hands.