And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now I do this for the sake of the Good News, that I may be a joint partaker of it.
- BSB I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.
- NKJV Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.
- NASB I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.
- NLT I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.
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
Paul does all this for the sake of the gospel, so that he may share in its blessings. He labors to spread the good news and to partake of its promised salvation.
Overview
Paul sums up his motive: everything—his self-denial, his flexibility, his servanthood—is "for the gospel's sake," that he might be a fellow partaker of its saving benefits. This reveals that even the apostle works out his own salvation with eager dependence on God's grace. His ministry and his hope are bound together in the gospel, and he longs to share fully in the eternal blessings it brings.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 2 Tim 2:10Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
- Mark 8:35For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.
- 1 Cor 9:25–27And 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.
- 1 Jn 1:3That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
- Gal 2:5To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.
- Heb 3:14For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
- 2 Cor 2:4For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.
- 1 Cor 9:12If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.
- 2 Tim 2:6The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.
- 1 Pet 5:1The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
- Heb 3:1Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
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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 9:23 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
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