1 Corinthians 9:26

I therefore so run,.... The apostle animates the Corinthians by his own example, telling them that he ran so as he exhorted them; he ran with cheerfulness and swiftness in the way marked out for him,

I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: I - return to his main subject, his own self-denial, and his motive.

The apostle proposeth his own example. As it is observed in country work, he that only bids his servants do work, and puts not his own hand to it, or at least doth not attend and overlook them in their work, hath little done: so it is as observable in spiritual work, that a minister of the gospel, who only, in the pulpit, dictates duty to others, but, out of it, doth nothing of himself, seldom doth any good by his preaching. People not naturally inclined to any spiritual duty, have the old proverb: Physician, cure thyself, at their tongue’ s end, and are hard to believe that teacher, who doth not in some measure live up to his own doctrine. Therefore, saith the apostle: I run; I am in the same race with you, and running to the same mark and for the same prize. I give you no other counsel than I myself take; I endeavour so to live, so in all things to behave myself, as I may not be at uncertainties whether I please God by my actions, or shall get to heaven, yea or not. I am a fellow soldier with you, fighting against sin; I make it my great business, not so to fight, so to resist sin, as if I did beat the air; that is, get no more fruit, profit, or advantage by it, than if I threw stones against the wind, or with a staff did beat the air. It is not every running, or every fighting, that will bring a man to heaven; it must be a running with all our might, and continuing our motion till we come to the end of our race; a fighting with all our might, and that against all sin.

26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: Ver. 26. Not as uncertainly] For, 1. I forget those things that are behind, all worldly things. I set those by. 2. I have oculum ad metam (which was Ludovicus Vives’ motto), an eye upon the Mark 3:1-35. I strain and stretch toward it. See all these Philippians 3:13-14. Duties are not to be done in a lazy, formal, customary strain, like the pace the Spaniard rides; but with utmost diligence and expedition. That beats the air] As young fencers use to do, but I beat mine adversary.

(26) I therefore so run.—The Apostle appeals to his own conduct as an illustration of the lesson which he is teaching, and by means of it reminds the reader that the whole of this chapter has been a vindication of his own self-denial, and that he has a clear and definite object in view. So fight I.—The illustration is changed from running to boxing, both being included in the word used in 1 Corinthians 9:25, “contending.” He has an adversary to contend against, and he strikes him, and does not wildly and impotently strike at him, and so only beat the air.

Verse 26. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly] In the foot-course in those games, how many soever ran, only one could have the prize, however strenuously they might exert themselves; therefore, all ran uncertainly; but it was widely different in the Christian course, if every one ran as he ought, each would receive the prize. The word αδηλως, which we translate uncertainly, has other meanings. 1. It signifies ignorantly; I do not run like one ignorant of what he is about, or of the laws of the course; I know that there is an eternal life; I know the way that leads to it; and I know and feel the power of it. 2. It signifies without observation; the eyes of all the spectators were fixed on those who ran in these races; and to gain the applause of the multitude, they stretched every nerve; the apostle knew that the eyes of all were fixed upon him. 1. His false brethren waited for his halting: 2. The persecuting Jews and Gentiles longed for his downfall: 3. The Church of Christ looked on him with anxiety: 4. And he acted in all things as under the immediate eye of God. Not as one that beateth the air] Kypke observes, that there are three ways in which persons were said, αεραδερειν, to beat the air. 1. When in practising for the combat they threw their arms and legs about in different ways, thus practising the attitudes of offence and defence. This was termed σκιαμαχια, fighting with a shadow. To this Virgil alludes when representing Dares swinging his arms about, when he rose to challenge a competitor in the boxing match:- Talis prima Dares caput altum in praelia tollit, Ostenditque humeros latos, alternaque jactat Brachia protendens, et verberat ictibus auras. AEn. v., ver. 375. Thus, glorying in his strength, in open view His arms around the towering Dares threw; Stalked high, and laid his brawny shoulders bare, And dealt his whistling blows in empty air. Pitt. 2. Sometimes boxers were to aim blows at their adversaries which they did not intend to take place, and which the others were obliged to exert themselves to prevent as much as if they had been really intended, and by these means some dexterous pugilists vanquished their adversaries by mere fatigue, without giving them a single blow. 3. Pugilists were said to beat the air when they had to contend with a nimble adversary, who, by running from side to side, stooping, and various contortions of the body, eluded the blows of his antagonist; who spent his strength on the air, frequently missing his aim, and sometimes overturning himself in attempting to hit his adversary, when this, by his agility, had been able to elude the blow. We have an example of this in Virgil's account of the boxing match between Entellus and Dares, so well told AEneid. v., ver. 426, c., and which will give us a proper view of the subject to which the apostle alludes: viz. boxing at the Isthmian games.

26. not as uncertainly] i.e. with no definite object, but “looking to some goal,” as St Chrysostom observes, and that goal the salvation of himself and others.so fight I] The Christian career is not merely a race, but a conflict, and a conflict not only with others, but with oneself. St Paul had to contend with the fleshly lusts of the body, the love especially of ease, the indisposition to hardship and toil so natural to humanity. See Romans 7:23; and for the life of pain and endurance to which he had enslaved himself, ch. 4 of this Epistle, 1 Corinthians 9:9-13, and 2 Corinthians 11:23-28.not as one that beateth the air] That is, not as one who struck out at random, but as one who delivered his blows with effect. Cf. Virg. Æn. v. 377, Verberat ictibus auras; 446, Vires in ventum effudit, and the German “ins Blaue hinein.”

I therefore so run - In the Christian race; in my effort to obtain the prize, the crown of immortality. I exert myself to the utmost, that I may not fail of securing the crown. Not as uncertainly - (οὐκἀδήλως ouk adēlōs).

26. Uncertainly—Making sure work; leaving nothing to chance. So fight—As a boxer.