1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Salvation Is A Free Gift Of God

We who follow Jesus are saved by faith in Christ, not by our works. Salvation is a gift from God given to whosoever will receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. What does the Scripture say?

Romans 10:8-13 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the LORD Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same LORD over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved.

When God the Holy Spirit convicts a person of sin, and of righteousness, and of certain judgment (John 16:8), opening the eyes of the convert, that convert “calls upon the name of the LORD” and is saved. The necessary part of saving faith is that you confess Jesus is Lord, and that Jesus resurrected from the dead, being the full payment for our sins.

“The Gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD”
(Romans 6:23)

“For by Grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the Gift of God, NOT of works, lest any man should boast”
(Ephesians 2:8-9)

“Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what Law? Of works? Nay: but by the Law of Faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified {made right with God} by faith without the deeds of the Law.” (Romans 3:27-28)

Salvation is not something you can earn nor deserve. It is a state that is graciously granted to those who acknowledge God as God, and Jesus Christ as the Only Means to reach God.

Salvation has a past tense for every believer. You can remember the day that you gave your lives to Jesus. However, once you are saved, the saved live their lives under the Lordship of God. Salvation was not just given to make us fit for Heaven. The Scripture says:

Hebrews 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

The Christian is saved to “serve the living God”. If a person say “I am saved” and yet continually yields themselves to darkness and not to God, then the Scripture says that this person was not saved in the first place. The Apostle wrote:

Romans 6:14-18 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

The Christian is freed from sin to be “servants of righteousness”. Does this mean that Christians absolutely never sin? No, of course not. While we are in the flesh we will periodically wander into sin – sometimes willfully, other times blindly. Yet the Christian who wanders off the path of life will feel uncomfortable, unnatural, in a strange place.

All Runners Sometime Stumble

1 Corinthians 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

If you are saved by faith in Christ, this life is the proving ground of your faith. The person who is saved by the Lord Jesus Christ will want to run following Jesus. If Jesus runs, we run following Him. If He walks, we walk by His side. The Scripture says:

Hebrews 12:1-3 … seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Saved by Grace, we follow our Savior. We put aside every sin that hinders, and pursue Him Who both Authors and Finishes our faith.

The saved will stumble, just as every runner will stumble. But when we stumble, we look to Jesus. We confess our sin in His Name, and casting off the dead thing we continue to run.

The great preacher C.H. Spurgeon noted: “Although we are sure that men are not saved for the sake of their works, yet are we equally sure that no man will be saved without them; and that he who leads an unholy life, who neglects the great Salvation, can never inherit the crown of life which fadeth not away. In one sense, true religion is wholly the work of God; yet there are high and important senses in which we must ourselves ‘strive to enter in at the straight gate’. We must run a race, we must wrestle even in agony; we must fight a battle before we can inherit the crown of life”.

What do I do if I stumble? I correct my footing. I stand together with my brothers and sisters in Christ. I confess my sin before the Lord, in the name of Jesus. We are promised that:

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we stumble in our race, we reach out our hand to Jesus, and steady ourselves in Him. He has promised to never leave nor forsake us.

We MUST Run, Because Faith Without Works Is Dead

1 Corinthians 9:24-25 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

There are some who say, “I am saved by faith in Christ, but I see no need to run. I am saved only for Heaven.” This is the type of Christianity that is embraced by many Churches today. And yet, it is a false faith. The Apostle said “run, that ye may obtain”. Though not saved by works, once saved, the believer MUST work.

The work is the proof of their genuine faith.

The Christian does not blend into the world, but is hated of the world. The world runs on a different track than the Christian does. Our Jesus told us:

John 15:18-19 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you are of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

We “run, that we may obtain”. We are looking to obtain Heaven, and to bring as many to Heaven with us as we can. This we run for and with Jesus. The Bible says:

James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

Running is hard. There are daily temptations to cease running with Jesus, and to change course and run with the world. Yet for the Christian this siren call will not be heeded. God the Holy Spirit indwells the believer. “The Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if any person doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His” (Romans 8:9). The Holy Spirit of God leads us to Christ. We must run. We must follow after Jesus.

Jesus told His disciples: “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). When a young man wanted to first bury his father, then afterward to follow Jesus, our Lord said “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their dead” (Matthew 8:22). When Jesus passed by Matthew the Tax Collector, He said “Follow Me” (Matthew 9:9). Matthewq got up from his tax table, and followed our Lord. Jesus said, “If anyone will come after Me, let them deny themselves, take up their Cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). To the rich young ruler Jesus said,

“If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that which thou hast, and give to the poor: and come and follow Me” (Matthew 19:21).

To the person who never follows Jesus, they have failed the test of true life. The stepbrother of Jesus said:

James 2:20-26 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. 24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Genuine faith in God will always express itself in loving works for God.

1 Corinthians 9:26-27 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Word Study: Paul ran with certainty, knowing that he was indeed saved by faith in Christ. Paul monitored the lusts of his body, not wanting to be found “a castaway”. The word “castaway” is very interesting. It is the Greek ἀδόκιμος adókimos, {pronounced ad-ok’-ee-mos}, which means “one that will not stand the test, one who is unfit or false, a counterfeit, worthless”. Since Paul was NOT adókimos, a false convert to our faith, he labored and ran the race for God. Paul writes:

1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

If you are saved by Grace, you love the Lord Who saved you by Grace. You labor for Him. You run the race for Him. You do this because you are a genuine believer in Jesus, and stand amazed that He loves you so.

Every Christian, like Paul, should examine themselves, examine their faith. Is it genuine, or just skin deep? Do you remember the word adókimos, rendered in our focal text as “castaway”? The same word is found in this text:

2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

The word rendered “reprobates” is the Greek ἀδόκιμος adókimos, {pronounced ad-ok’-ee-mos}, which means “one that will not stand the test, one who is unfit or false, a counterfeit, worthless”. The saved in Christ will pursue Christ. The saved love Jesus, and want to be in His company at all times. Thus, dear Christian, the Apostle tells us to “prove your own selves”. Am I really saved? Have I truly received Jesus as Lord and Savior? Do I know that Heaven is my destiny, and that I am a member of God’s Kingdom on this earth?

In a world that says, “It’s MY BODY, and I can do what I want with it”, the Christian is to realize “I am bought with a price: I will glorify God in my body, and in my spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:20). If the Great Apostle Paul wrote:

1 Corinthians 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

The proof of eternal life is found in how we live for Jesus on this present earth. Let us live to glorify Him. Let us live as lights in this present darkness! May God the Holy Spirit and His Word touch your hearts. Amen and Amen.