The three verbs expressing the radical change are
all in the aorist tense and refer to the initiation of life as believers: the
rite of baptism (απελουσασθε) and its effects of incorporation into the holy
people of God (ηγιασθητε), and justification (εδικαιωθητε). The location of justification
in the past (as in Rom. 5:1, 9), the beginning of life as believers, does not
detract from its essential forensic reference to the last judgment. The
eschatological references to “inheriting (or “not inheriting”) the kingdom of
God” (vv. 9-10) ensure that initial justification is in view of a final verdict
that will confirm or not confirm, as the case may be, their righteous status.
In 1 Corinthians 9 Paul appeals to his own
practice as an apostle to illustrate an appropriate forgoing of his rights as
an apostle for the sake of the more effective service of the gospel (vv.
3-15). In conclusion (vv. 24-27), he likens himself to an athlete willing to submit
to rigorous training in order to win the prize. Whereas athletes struggle in
this way to win a “corruptible” prize, “we” (believers) are in a contest for
one that is “incorruptible” (αφθαρτον [v. 25]). Hence Paul’s
concern (v. 27) lest, having preached to others, he may himself be found “disqualified”
(αδοκιμος)—that is, wanting at the last judgment, and so liable to loss
of salvation. Once again, the prospect of judgment determines present life and practice.
The same thought continues as Paul turns from the illustration
to resume more directly the topic being addressed across 1 Corinthians 8-10 as
a whole: the danger of allowing one’s freedom to lead to any connection with
idolatry. The extended warning, taken from a midrash on the fate of the exodus
generation (10:1-11), presupposes that believers live continually with the
prospect of an accountability soon to come: “These things were written down to
instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come” (10:11). (Brendan Byrne, Paul
and the Economy of Salvation: Reading from the Perspective of the Last Judgment
[Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2021], 57-58)
