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If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? 1 Corinthians 9.12
Paul saw himself as being like the ox in Deuteronomy 25.4. He had rights, and they were being denied him by his “masters.”
The Corinthians, in Paul’s view, were like the greedy masters who took advantage of their “ox” and did not share with him from the “harvest.” Paul switches metaphors freely in making this application. He has to in order to bring out the principle of justice involved here.
Paul had worked feverishly to sow spiritual things among the Corinthians and to bring forth spiritual fruit in them. He expected them to allow him to participate in the “fruit” of his ministry, but not merely in a spiritual way. He sowed spiritual goods, they should have repaid him with material goods, to support him in his material needs as he ministered the Gospel among them. He would argue this very point with the Romans a bit later (cf. Rom. 15.26, 27).
So Paul derives yet another principle from Deuteronomy 25.4: There are larger,spiritual lessons and applications to be derived from the statutes of God as originally given. Only the Spirit of God can lead us into this depth of truth (1 Cor. 2.12, 13). These larger applications do not necessarily abrogate or negate the plain teaching of the text, although, given certain situations, they may. More on this to come.
Paul was no babe in Christ; the Corinthians, however, were. Paul was an advanced student in the Holy Spirit’s school of disciple-making (Ezek. 36.26, 27), and he would thus have been well-versed in the spiritual meanings embedded in the letter of God’s Law. And even though they were but babes in Christ, Paul did not hesitate to chide the Corinthians for having failed to do their homework and to understand and follow the statutes of God’s Law for justice in their community.
What would he say to our Law-neglecting churches today?
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