In 1 Corinthians 9:27, Paul writes about his fear of being disqualified by God. Does this mean that Paul thought that he could lose his eternal life?
When I was in High School, I had a teacher who read 1 Corinthians 9:27 in class (I attended a Christian school), and said that all of us need to be careful how we live our lives, or else we could end up in hell if we disobeyed God.
She said, “Look at Paul! He was an apostle. He wrote a large amount of the New Testament. He was the greatest missionary the world has ever seen! But even Paul was afraid that if he sinned, he would go to hell when he died. We should all be concerned about the same thing!”
Is this right? Is this really what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians 9:27? Here is what he wrote:
But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:27).
So was Paul afraid that although he had loved and served Jesus for many years, if he messed up late in life, he might end up being eternally separated from God?
The short answer is No. Let me explain why.
(Note: The following article is drawn from what I teach in my “Gospel Dictionary” online course. This comes from the lesson that looks at the word “approved.”
The key term in 1 Corinthians 9:27 is “disqualified”
The key term in 1 Corinthians 9:27 is the word “disqualified” which is the opposite of the word “qualified” or “approved.”
The Greek word used in the biblical texts which use this word is dokimos. The word approved is a good translation of this Greek word, but it can also be translated as acceptable or pleasing.
What is most important is that the word was often used in connection with money. The ancient world did not have paper money, but used coins as currency. The precious metals used for these coins were melted down and poured into molds. Once the metal cooled, the coins would be put into circulation. Some people, however, would shave the edges off these coins so they could take the shavings and make additional coins.
But since the coins were valued based on weight, such a practice would reduce the value of the coins that had been shaved. This was such a problem that during one year in Athens, over 80 laws were passed to try and stop the practice of coin shaving.
Not surprisingly, there were people who had the job of examining coins to make sure they had the proper weight. If you were selling something for 10 silver coins, and you suspected that you were getting paid with shaved coins, you could take your coins to this person and have them weigh the coins to make sure that they were the proper weight.
You didn’t want to get cheated by being paid with coins that contained less silver than they were supposed to. This person who examined and weighed the coins was called a dokimos, an approver. A dokimos made sure that only coins of the proper weight were kept in circulation (cf. Gen 23:16; Zech 11:13).
This helps us understand several of the New Testament texts where God is described as the dokimos of men.
God is the weigher of men, the one who make sure that we are not cutting corners, taking shortcuts, or cheating others.
The problem with this word as it relates to the gospel is that some people teach that God’s approval has something to do with whether or not we receive eternal life from God.
They teach that if God does not approve of someone, this means that God does not give them eternal life.
But this is not what the word means at all.
The approval of God has nothing to do with whether or not a person has eternal life, but instead has to do with whether or not God’s finds a person useful and honest in their dealings with others.
Due to this, “useful” is a good synonym for the Greek word dokimos.
So what was Paul teaching in 1 Corinthians 9:27?
First Corinthians 9:27 is sometimes quoted to show that not even Paul was certain that he would go to heaven when he died. Paul writes that he keeps close watch over his body so that he does not end up disqualified (adokimos).
I remember listening to a sermon not long ago in which the pastor said that if even the Apostle Paul could not know for sure that he had eternal life, it was the height of arrogance to believe that we had it. All we can do, this pastor taught, was try our hardest and hope that when we stood before God, we discovered that we had done enough.
Thankfully, that hopeless message is not what Paul is teaching at all.
In context, Paul compares his ministry to that of a runner who seeks to obtain a prize. The prize that people compete for in a game is a perishable crown, but we seek an imperishable crown. Toward this end, Paul runs with certainty, not with uncertainty (1 Corinthians 9:23-26).
In the following context, Paul gives the example of people who were disqualified. He writes about some of the Israelites who had all the same blessings and benefits as everyone else, but who died in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:1-12).
The point in the entire context is not about receiving eternal life or going to heaven when Paul dies, but is instead about being faithful and useful to God in what God wants to accomplish in Paul’s life. The prize is not eternal life, for eternal life is a free gift of God.
The prize, or the crown, is significance in the Kingdom of God, blessing in his life and ministry, and praise from God when he stands before Him for a life well-lived in His service.
So Paul is not concerned with losing his eternal life, but is very much concerned with being disqualified for ministry.
Since Paul desires to continue his ministry, and to run in a way that is pleasing and honoring to God, he runs with care and perseverance.
The same thing is true for your life. Being disqualified does not mean losing eternal life, but losing your ministry, or your opportunity to serve God in this life. It is these things Paul could lose, and which any of us can lose as well if we fail to love, follow, and obey God.
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In the past, honor was very important, like a credit score for us.
Right. Yes, this concept was related to honor and shame in biblical times.
anyone who uses adokimos in regards to justification, should be adokimos from teaching the bible…
Ha! Yes! Very true!
These presentations are chalked full of truths , hold on it’s going to fill you up.
Thanks, David!
I believe Paul meant that he could disqualify himself as a messenger for Christ and the Kingdom of God. One is held to a very high account that gives the word and feeds the Church. I don’t believe Paul meant he could loose his salvation.
You are right. He is talking about disqualifying himself from ministry, NOT about losing eternal life.
Paul is not speaking of being “disqualified as a child of God, but rather being disqualified as as a leader in the church.
Here, Paul is referring to such fleshly sins that disqualify a man from preaching and leading the church, particularly being blameless and above reproach in the sexual area, since such sin is a disqualification (see Ps. 101:6; 1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:6).
That is exactly right, and is what I teach in the article and podcast related to this post. I’m glad you see this too!
Jeremy Myers glad to be friends with you on Facebook… God bless your ministry!
Paul is not talking about losing Salvation. He is talking about not doing his very best. The running to win the prize does not mean the prize is Salvation. The running to win the prize is figure of speech indicating that when God assigns Spiritual Gifts, the recipient must utilize them to the best of his ability. If they don’t they have lost the race or have been disqualified from God’s main purpose. If he were to accept money for his work, in his opinion, there would be a lesser Blessing than if not accepted. A prize is something that you win because of what you did. Salvation is a gift because of what Christ did.
Very true! I like how you explained the difference between the gift and the prize. A very important distinction!
Redeeming God with Jeremy Myers We go way back Jeremy. God Bless
I love how you explain the words and bring a whole lot more meaning to the passages.
Glad you found it helpful.
I respectfully disagree with you sir.. Immorality and wordiness separates us from God.. Unconditional Eternal security preachers seems to be doing a lot of harm to church… Let’s rightly divide the word of truth.. Christianity is never a licence to continue sinning without damnation.. the wages of sin is death.. blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God… except the sinning believer repents and receives forgiveness he will not see God’s kingdom… let’s not undermine the sin of impurities or living for the flesh… in first Corinthians 15 vs 31 the apostle elaborated on his self discipline that he is talking about in 1 Cor. 9:27 when he said “I die daily.”.. at other times in Galatians 2 when Apostle peter tends to be exhibiting racism, he rebuked him and said “i am crucified with Christ…” I really disagree with you on this one..
“Being disqualified does not mean losing eternal life, but losing your ministry, or your opportunity to serve God in this life. It is these things Paul could lose, and which any of us can lose as well if we fail to love, follow, and obey God.”
If a believer fail to follow Jesus or obey God… and do not return then he cannot see or enter the kingdom of God.. see James 5:19-20.. and many passages in Hebrews… The straying believer is in danger of death(eternal damnation).. Salvation does not remove the free will of man… Demas left Apostle Paul… because he loved this world and left by his own free will.. Friendship with the world is enmity with God..
You can quote a lot of verses, but that means nothing. Remember, even the devil quoted verses at Jesus. The key is properly understanding these verses. Many of the texts you quoted have been explained elsewhere on this site. I encourage you use the search area at the bottom to find some of them.
The real damage to the gospel is churches and Christians who tell others that in order to receive eternal life, they have to live a life of obedience and faithfulness. This is a gospel of works, and is no gospel at all. Eternal life is a free gift of God’s grace, or else nobody could ever earn it or work for it on their own.
You can say whatever you want but the truth remain absolutely objective and nobody can actually change it.. Thank God i had a good conversation with one of those who had been thought these half baked gospel recently… then he saw it from scriptures himself and had a change of heart to take the lust, pornography and masturbation problem seriously and take them to God in prayers and ask for mercy, grace to overcome it and repent where need be… because he had always thought he was in heaven already after salvation experience according to Romans 8:30 which had been heavily misinterpreted by these preachers making believers to start normalizing sin… i pray the eyes of others are opened too… John Calvin started these teachings in the early 1500s but we need to check the bible ourselves like the bereans(Acts 17 vs 11)… because nobody has a monopoly of bible interpretation… But the Holy SPIRIT who had been given to everyone…
The fact is that: Salvation is not an excuse to sin.. Scriptures says “if a believer sin.., we have an advocate so we can ask for mercy….”, it is not when a believer sin… Jesus came to save us from sin not in our sin(Matthew 1:21)… Salvation is a gift but we have a responsibility to follow Jesus and his righteousness after receiving it or else we will forsake it and start accommodating sin in our lives..
You can say whatever you want but the truth remains absolutely objective and nobody can actually change it. Thank God I have had many good conversations with people who have studied and taught these things for their entire lives, and thank God that I myself have studied and taught these things for my entire life as well, so that I do not present a work-based gospel which is no gospel at all.
I pray the eyes of others are opened to see that if we depend upon and look to our own good works as the evidence or basis of our eternal life, then we will forever live in despair, fear, and doubt, for we cannot earn, keep, or prove our eternal life by our own good works. The religious leaders in Jesus’ day were teaching such things, which is why they hated the message of Jesus, just as many religious leaders today hate the message of grace that I am teaching here on this site.
Nobody has a monopoly on Bible interpretation. Not me. Not you, and especially not that one teacher you had a conversation with.
Do you still sin? Be careful how you respond, for if you say you are not sinning, then you are making God out to be a liar, which is itself a serious sin (1 John 1:8). If you do still sin (and you do), then according to your own theology, you cannot have eternal life. Isn’t it better to recognize that eternal life is the absolutely free gift of God? This is, after all, what Jesus, Paul, and all other biblical authors taught.
Forsake your own efforts at righteousness and thank God instead for giving you His righteousness as a free gift.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
I agree with you completely. Like any gift you must take care of it or you don’t get the benefits of the gift. Each of us need to watch and protect ourselves from being pulled back into worldly sins. It is a slippery slope that once you are on it, you may not get off and then lose your salvation.
It is a shame that people believe that once they are saved they are always saved. People are being mislead by this and in return they will go to hell because they believed the lie. II Corinthians states, “being saved.” It is a process, not a once and for all time event.
Hi
Thank you for your interpretation, I came across this verse today during my quiet time and googled to find a fuller understanding ….to me which I have not found confirmation in my search was that certain aspects of one’s lifestyle or weakness could discredit your witness to a non-believer so you must examine and submit your body and actions to the service of the Lord (Romans 12:1-2) . Am I totally off-base?
This verse scares me a little
What does it mean 2 Chronicles 15:2 I read an article and the author said this was proof we can lose salvation.
I have a question about the context of this verse. You cite 1 Corinthians 9:23-26 and (this is my interpretation, correct me if I’m wrong) that it claims Paul “runs with confidence,” implying of course that he cannot lose his salvation. But verse 23 says “All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it.” I think the word “gospel” here is key (“euaggelion,” of course meaning the “glad tidings” of salvation.
It makes me question: What would it be like to NOT “have a share in it.” It seems to me that to “not have a share in” the gospel would be to not have salvation. In this and the following verses, it does not seem that Paul is talking about ministry, but about the Gospel of Salvation itself. Instead of focusing on the word “disqualified” (though your exegesis above is interesting and insightful…I mean that, even if over text it could come across as sarcastic) I would focus on “euaggelion” to shed light on this passage. That Gospel of salvation is what he is afraid of losing, of not being “a partaker thereof with you.”
My second question regards Paul’s “examples” from the beginning of Chapter 10. You mention them as examples of people who have simply lost their “ministry,” but retain the blessings of the other people. I just want to be clear; do you believe, from these passages, that these unfaithful Israelites received salvation from “drinking the same spiritual drink, which was Christ,” yet because He was unpleased with them, “they were overthrown in the wilderness”? So they lost their temporal lives, but still enjoy eternity? Just clarifying.
Scripture is so often misread today because we have forgotten the biblical languages and world, so I thank you for your work to shed light upon the author’s meanings. God’s blessings on your blog and your ministries!
Thank you for your comments. I have a M.Div. degree and had never heard about the coin weighing definition. I love history and context; all related to one’s personal relationship with Jesus. If one is a believer, the very thing we want to do is to please our Heavenly Father and to hear the “well done, thou good and faithful servant.” You’ve put them both together very nicely. Thank you for helping to clarify this Bible verse and encouraging us all to run the race with patience; fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Blessings
Awesome answer! Loved it, I feel VERY blessed I found this answer. Spirit led , Praise God!
I believe Paul simply wanted us, the Church of Jesus Christ to understand the importance if our testimony to others by the life we live. So he keeps in body, his flesh in subjection to the spirit &to the Word to ensure that his life is above reproach. This victory will allow him to speak openly without condemnation. Because he is living what he is preaching .
Thank you so much for this article. I have been a Christian for many years but have found myself becoming increasingly discouraged and fearful of whether “I will make it”. My church has been using this verse to teach that Paul feared he too would not make it and so we should make sure we “don’t give up”, “die to self daily”, ” live a life of humble service” etc and basically hope we get to heaven. Matthew 7 v 23 is quoted at least once a week to “show” that many people who thought they were Christians will find themselves in Hell! There is the weekly call to be more surrendered, obedient etc. To be honest it is tiring and does not reflect a loving father’s attitude to his children. I found this article and the comments below very helpful. Thanks again.
Thank you for that answer I was somewhat confused.
Knowing how key words were used and their true meaning then and now makes, to me, the difference between right and wrong understanding. I look forward to this key word teaching.
If what you say is true then the strongs concordance must be false cause the exact interpretation used for the word castaway in 1 Corinthians 9:27 kjv is “That which is thrown away.”
“A person ABANDONED BY GOD, as unworthy of His favor; A REPROBATE”
“REJECTED; USELESS; OF NO VALUE”
strongs number is AV1611 search for yourselves don’t believe what I tell you or anyone else till you prove it’s true cause your own soul is at stake where you’ll be spending eternity.
2 Corinthians 13:5-6
“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you [b]are disqualified. 6 But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified.”
Paul made it clear that we are not disqualified. So then, this should make it clear.
So this is not the definition of ἀδόκιμος (adókimos) in the dictionary. This is what the modern church teaches because they have bought into Calvinism pillar 5 (P). But the definition of ἀδόκιμος is that which does not prove itself to be such as it ought: γῆ, of sterile soil, in a moral sense [A. V. reprobate]. Finally, although the Israelites as a group may have been disqualified from ministering, those in the desert fell as the warning in 1 Corinthians 10 also shows. In v12, we are warned to be careful of falling (not stumbling; they are different) which is Greek πίπτω (píptō) meaning to fall from a state of uprightness. But the same word is used in Hebrews 4:11 where it means to fail of participating in, miss a share in, the Messianic salvation.
I thank God I found such a platform where the undiluted gospel of Jesus Christ is taught, God bless you for being a blessing to us
Considering chapter 10 is Paul giving an example of people who went through the “same” baptism and drank from the rock of Christ as we do, but God destroyed as they fell into deep sin it sure seems to be about salvation to me.
It’s the most immediate context.
Joh 15:6 KJV If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Mat 7:19 KJV Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
I feel like I’ve been rejected and the door closed on me. I don’t have a lot of hope. I believe in God and Jesus as the Son of God, who did die on the cross for our sons and resurrect on the third day. But I also read scripture which states God will close the door on those who fell away and no chance of repentance for those who fell away. And I did, and now I am wanting to turn back to Christ , accepted and acknowledged invited Christ into my heart even got baptized again, and all I’m getting is condemnation and pointed to the scriptures of being disqualified and rejected by God because of my sins.
I know this is a few years ago but maybe someone might read this. To those who believe Paul is referring to Salvation as the prize…this is not the context of the letter. Let me show you what Paul is talking about:
Paul is referring to earlier in the letter, in chapter 3, where he refers to receiving rewards in Heaven based on the fruits or, in his words, what you build here on Earth. If it is of yourself, it will be burned, if it is of Christ, it will be jewels. In fact, Paul says all Believers will be put through the flames of the judgement (not the Judgement of the unbelievers) and some will be burned but they will be Saved.
The prize, therefore, is Paul wanting to live his life in a way that what he builds isn’t burned and he receives the rewards. You must interpret ALL OF 1 Corinthians through the context of chapter 3 and STOP COMPARTMENTALIZING Scripture and cherry picking what you want to support your own theology. What Paul is simply saying is this: I want to live my life according to what I preach so I don’t look like a hypocrite and lose my rewards in Heaven. This letter has nothing to do with Salvation.
Chapter 13 proves this as well. Where he says that you can do all kinds of righteous works but if it’s not in Love then it’s useless. Then he defines Love and he defines Love as IRRESISTIBLE UNMERITED ETERNAL GRACE. He says: “Love doesn’t keep record of wrongs” and “Love never fails”. If losing Salvation is true then this chapter is a lie.
The only people who believe in salvation loss struggle with either one or both of these two things:
1) someone has sinned greatly against you and you haven’t forgiven them.
2) you have a secret sin in your life that you’re trying to hide via good works.
I’ve always seen those two. They eventually manifest. The latter is you feel shame and are afraid if God sees your sin then He will condemn you. So you can’t trust God with your spirituality. He Loves you…trust Him. Let go of maintaining your own salvation and put it in His hands.