1 Corinthians Chapter 9, Verse 1
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1: ουκ ειμι αποστολος ουκ ειμι ελευθερος ουχι ιησουν χριστον τον κυριον ημων εωρακα ου το εργον μου υμεις εστε εν κυριω
1: Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?
1: Am I not I free? Am not I an apostle? Have not I seen Christ Jesus
our Lord? Are not you my work in the Lord?
Am I not an apostle? This was the point to be settled; and it is probable that some at Corinth had denied that he could be an apostle, since it was requisite, in order to that, to have seen the Lord Jesus; and since it was supposed that Paul had not been a witness of his life, doctrines, and death.
Am I not free? Am I not a free man; have I not the liberty which all Christians possess, and especially which all the apostles possess? The liberty referred to here is doubtless the privilege or right of abstaining from labour; of enjoying, as others did, the domestic relations of life: and of a support as a public minister and apostle. Probably some had objected to his claims of apostleship that he had not used this right, and that he was conscious that he had no claim to it. By this mode of interrogation, he strongly implies that he was a freeman, and that he had this right.
Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Here it is implied, and seems to be admitted by Paul, that in order to be an apostle it was necessary to have seen the Saviour. This is often declared expressly. See "Acts 1:21, Acts 1:22.
The reason of this was, that the apostles were appointed to be WITNESS of the life, doctrines, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and that in their being witnesses consisted the PECULIARITY of the apostolic office. That this was the case is abundantly manifest from Mt 28:18, Mt 28:19 Lk 24:48 Acts 1:21, Acts 1:22, Acts 2:32; Acts 10:39ff. Hence it was essential, in order that any one should be such a witness, and an apostle, that he should have seen the Lord Jesus. In the case of Paul, therefore, who was called to this office after the death and resurrection of the Saviour, and who had not therefore had an opportunity of seeing and hearing him when living, this was provided for by the fact that the Lord Jesus showed himself to him after his death and ascension, in order that he might have this qualification for the apostolic office, Acts 9:3ff, Acts 9:17. To the fact of his having been thus in a miraculous manner qualified for the apostolic office, Paul frequently appeals, and always with the same view, that it was necessary to have seen the Lord Jesus to qualify one for this office, Acts 22:14, Acts 22:15, Acts 26:16 1Cor 15:8.
It follows from this, therefore, that no one was an apostle in the strict and proper sense who had not seen the Lord Jesus. And it follows, also, that the apostles could have no successors in that which constituted the PECULIARITY of their office; and that the office must have commenced and ended with them.
Are not ye my work in the Lord? Have you not been converted by my labours, or under my ministry; and are you not a proof that the Lord, when I have been claiming to be an apostle, has owned me as an apostle, and blessed me in this work? God would not give his sanction to an impostor, and a false pretender; and as Paul had laboured there as an apostle, this was an argument that he had been truly commissioned of God. A minister may appeal to the blessing of God on his labours in proof that he is sent of him. And one of the best of all arguments that a man is sent from God exists where multitudes of souls are converted from sin, and turned to holiness, by his labours. What better credentials than this can a man need, that he is in the employ of God? What more consoling to his own mind? What more satisfactory to the world?
