John Calvin Commentary 1 Corinthians 9:15

"But I have used none of these things: and I write not these things that it may be so done in my case; for [it were] good for me rather to die, than that any man should make my glorifying void." — 1 Corinthians 9:15 (ASV)

Nor have I written these things as if he were aiming for the Corinthians to give him remuneration in the future. He dismisses that suspicion and declares that, far from desiring this, he would rather die than give cause for him to be deprived of this basis for glorying—that he labored for the Corinthians without any reward.

Nor should we be surprised that he valued this glorying so highly, since he saw that the authority of the gospel depended on it to some degree. For in that case, he would have given the false apostles an opportunity to triumph over him. Therefore, there was a danger that the Corinthians, despising him, would receive them with great applause. So much did he prefer the advancement of the gospel, even over his own life.