Paul’s Kingdom Purpose
Paul’s purpose as he maneuvers in and around cultures is that I might win the more (v19). He is willing “to accommodate himself to whatever social setting he found himself in, so as to win as many as possible.”13 Paul accommodated himself to varied cultural milieus to gain a hearing for the gospel and be used by God to bring men into the Kingdom and to strengthen the faith of those already in the Kingdom. When interfacing with Jews and Greeks, Paul sought to win them in the sense of evangelize them: that I may by all means save some (9:22).14 When interacting with the weak among the brethren, Paul sought to strength their faith and to edify them.15 That a brother can yet be won is evident by Jesus’ words in Mat 18:15,
And if your brother sins, go and reprove him in private; if he listens to you, you have won (ἐκέρδησας) your brother.
In 1 Cor 9:13-22 to win and to save are terms that are qualified by the objects of the verb. If Paul is ministering to the unconverted, win and save are terms of evangelism. If Paul is ministering to the weak believer, they are terms of edification, so as to stimulate sanctification.16
Paul’s purpose was to advance the Kingdom, the rule of King Jesus among all men: unbelievers and believers alike. He labored that men might be won: converted and saved, saved and sanctified.
13. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, 426.
14. “The substitution of the verb ‘save’ in this final clause makes it certain that the verb ‘win’ in the five earlier clauses meant precisely that – eschatological salvation for the perishing through Christ’s death and resurrection.” Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, 431. Dr. Fee is reluctant to allow 8:7-13 to “too specifically identify” the weak and thus likely would not endorse allowing the terms win and save to serve the double duty of evangelism and edification depending on who is being ‘won’ and ‘saved.’
15. “We now see why Paul selects the verb ‘gain’ when he writes this refrain. It is wider in force than ‘save.’ The weak are saved, indeed, because they are Christians, but they can be gained for greater strength, for an advance in knowledge and in faith.” R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Paul’s First and Second Epistles to the Corinthians (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg House, 1963), 380.
16. But women shall be preserved (σωθήσεται – saved) through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint (1Tim 2:15). Here σωzw is not synonymous with conversion but with sanctification. So too in 1 Cor 9:19ff, Paul would become weak so as to encourage the weak in their growth in sanctification.