1 Corinthians 10:33 Commentary and Bible Study

We have a witness to mount before a lost world. This consideration governed so much of what Paul did. His whole life was a sacrifice for others. He forfeited his rights and gave them up easily without resistance if he could see some advantage for the gospel. His own needs and interests came after the Lord’s. He lived as the servant of God, and as a servant he expected to serve and not to be served. His rest and his reward would come later when his work was complete. Until then, there were hardships to face, and injustices to suffer, and persecutions to bear. All these things were part of the cost of following Christ. But the grace of Christ had taught him that these things were a small price to pay for all that he had freely received. They did not begin to pay the Lord back for all the grace that had been given to Paul. How could he forget what he had been: a persecutor of the church of Christ, a blasphemer of the name of Christ. He did not seek his own profit. This is a word similar to the one he used earlier when he said, ‘All things are lawful, but all things are not expedient’ – expedient, profitable. It was expedient for him to put the profit of others before his own profit. How could that be? Because, according to the principle of the kingdom of heaven, ‘He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal’ (John 12:25).