Limitless Word

1 Corinthians 9:17

If my preaching is voluntary, I have a reward. But if it is not voluntary, I am still entrusted with a responsibility.
1 Corinthians 9:17 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.
  • KJV For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.
  • NKJV For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship.
  • NASB For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a commission nonetheless.
  • NLT If I were doing this on my own initiative, I would deserve payment. But I have no choice, for God has given me this sacred trust.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

If Paul preached by his own choice he would earn a reward, but since he is entrusted with a stewardship, he is simply discharging a duty. He serves as a steward under obligation to his Master.

Overview

Paul frames his ministry as a "stewardship"—a trust committed to him by God, which he is bound to carry out faithfully. A steward earns no special merit merely for doing what he is commissioned to do. This humbles any notion of personal credit and locates Paul's distinctive "reward" elsewhere: in the privilege of offering the gospel without charge, as the next verse explains.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 28

  • Gal 2:7On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted to preach the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised.
  • 1 Cor 3:8He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.
  • Matt 10:41Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward.
  • 1 Chr 28:9As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.
  • Col 1:25I became its servant by the commission God gave me to fully proclaim to you the word of God,
  • 1 Pet 5:2–4Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but because it is God’s will; not out of greed, but out of eagerness;
  • 1 Chr 29:9And the people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given to the LORD freely and wholeheartedly. And King David also rejoiced greatly.
  • 1 Th 2:4Instead, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, not in order to please men but God, who examines our hearts.
  • Neh 11:2And the people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.
  • 1 Cor 4:1So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
  • 1 Chr 29:5for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now who will volunteer to consecrate himself to the LORD today?”
  • 1 Cor 3:14If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward.
  • Isa 6:8Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” And I said: “Here am I. Send me!”
  • Ezek 3:14So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.
  • Jer 20:9If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.
  • 2 Cor 8:12For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.
  • Jonah 1:3Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
  • Matt 24:25See, I have told you in advance.
  • Jonah 4:1–3Jonah, however, was greatly displeased, and he became angry.
  • Exod 4:13–14But Moses replied, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”
  • Phlm 1:14But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness will not be out of compulsion, but by your own free will.
  • 1 Cor 9:16Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
  • Eph 3:2–8Surely you have heard about the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you,
  • Mal 1:10“Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would no longer kindle useless fires on My altar! I take no pleasure in you,” says the LORD of Hosts, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.
  • Luke 12:42And the Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their portion at the proper time?
  • 1 Tim 1:11–13that agrees with the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.
  • Phil 1:16–17The latter do so in love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.
  • 1 Chr 29:14But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and from Your own hand we have given to You.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

Christ at the center

Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.

How 1 Corinthians 9:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.