Grace Economics (1) (7)
Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen God is concerned about? Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? 1 Corinthians 9.8-11
A basic principle
In this text the apostle Paul is taking the Corinthians to the woodshed because they failed to support him when he was ministering among them. He didn’t say anything about it while he was with them, but now he was trying to move them to give to the needy churches in Judea, and didn’t want negligence or stinginess to cause them to rob their needy brothers and sisters as they had robbed him.
Paul served in Corinth for some 18 months, evangelizing the lost, teaching the converted, building the church, and training leaders. For the whole time he was there he was forced to hold a day job—making tents—because it didn’t occur to the Corinthians that they should support him in his spiritual ministry, even though many of those people were Jews and would have had at least a working knowledge of Old Testament Law and the requirement of supporting those who minister. And all of them were benefiting from his tireless work, but no one felt the need to chip in for his support.
Now, in 1 Corinthians 9, Paul was trying to get the Corinthians to make a contribution to relieve suffering Christians in Jerusalem. As Paul later wrote to the Romans, after this gift had been collected and he was preparing to deliver it, it was altogether fair and proper for them to give it, since they had been blessed spiritually by the Judean believers (Rom. 15.26, 27).
In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul was not pressing them to catch-up with him on some unpaid salary; he had decided not to exercise his right to be paid for ministering. He was simply telling the Corinthians not to make the same mistake again.
Appeal to God’s Law
But notice how his argument proceeded: Paul appealed to the civil laws of ancient Israel, in particular, the law, in Deuteronomy 25.4, which says that you must not muzzle an ox while he is treading out the grain. The ox is working hard for you, so he should be allowed to munch on the grain in payment for his service.
It’s only fair, Paul went on to say, that those who work in sowing and harvesting should expect to reap some benefit from the crop. This in itself was an extension of the law from fairness to oxen into a general principle of fairness with respect to workers and their compensation.
Then Paul turned to the ceremonial or religious laws of Israel, again drawing out a principle that should have informed the Corinthians’ practice where he was concerned. Those who served the people by preparing and offering their sacrifices to the Lord shared in that offering by separating some of the meat or grain for themselves. And how did this apply to the Gospel? Paul concluded, “Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel” (vv. 13, 14)
Paul turned to the Law of God to move the Corinthians to participate in the economy of grace into which God had adopted them, using the Law to derive economic principles to guide Christian practice.
Principles of law and economics
All the ancient laws of Israel contain principles like this, principles which, if rightly understood and faithfully practiced, could tap into the grace of God and bring more honesty, respect, fairness, justice, generosity, forbearance, and love into the economic practice of a powerful nation such as the United States—more of grace and less of greed to our economic life. And we who inhabit the Kingdom of God are responsible to operate out of His economic principles. If we do, not only will the people around us be enriched by God’s grace, but over time significant improvements might be introduced into the economy of our nation.
Our approach as Christians must be, first, to demonstrate commitment and obedience to God’s Law as the Law of liberty, life, and love. We won’t have anything to say to the larger society if we continue to demonstrate indifference, or even scorn, toward the Law of God.
Instead, we must take up daily reading and meditating in God’s Law, as the psalmist commends (Ps. 1). Then we can begin to isolate the various laws and group them under common headings, according to our economic situation and needs today. This will open up vistas on how the grace of God, embedded in those ancient laws, can inform our economic lives today.
Next, we should look to the prophets of the Old Testament and the teaching of the New Testament to observe any applications made of these laws; and then prayerfully discern the principles that have enduring application to economic practice in our day.
Now we will be put off by some of these ancient laws—such as those permitting the taking and keeping of slaves, as well as certain laws pertaining to capital punishment. But if we follow the principle of later revelation, as in the prophets and the New Testament, helping us to understand and apply earlier revelation, we will see that the New Testament, because of its emphasis on grace, mitigates the harshness of some of those ancient laws while retaining the principle they encode.
Learn from our forebears
Finally, we should look to the practice of our Christian forebears, those who have gone before us in Church history, to see how they understood the use of these statutes and rules in their day.
In every age of Christendom, leaders within the believing community can be seen applying these laws in their day to address economic and other kinds of ethical questions. We can see in their practice both ways to derive the principles from those ancient laws as well as examples of how those principles might be put to work. By doing this diligently, faithfully, and prayerfully, we may prepare ourselves to live the Kingdom economy with more consistency and greater effects, so that we make a positive contribution to the American economy: less greed and more grace in our economic life.
For reflection
1. Can you see why it is wise to read and meditate daily in God’s Law, as Psalm 1 recommends? Explain.
2. How should we use the light of all Scripture to help us in ferreting out abiding principles from the laws of God?
3. Meditate on Matthew 5.17-19, Romans 7.12, and James 2.8-12. Why is it so important that Christians begin to make better use of the Law of God, and not only for our economic life?
Next steps—Preparation: Summarize in a few sentences what you have learned from this study, and from praying through the Law of God this week. Give thanks to God for His Word.
T. M. Moore
If you would like to look more closely at how to bring more of God’s Law into your daily life, order a copy of our book, The Ground for Christian Ethics by clicking here.
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest this week: Our Read Moore podcast continues our readings from the book, What in Heaven Is Jesus Doing on Earth? Our new Crosfigell series studies the life of Brigit, another of the great 6th-century saints of the Celtic Revival. Why not start your day with our worship devotional, The Scriptorium? We’re barely two chapters into this daily guide for the book of Ephesians, so it’s not too late to jump on board. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
