Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law (9:19-21)
In the previous section (9:1-19) Paul has moved into a proof for his teaching in chapter 8 that Christians need to be willing to sacrifice certain things that they may be entitled to as a matter of “right” for the sake of other believers and for the gospel. In 9:1-19 he shamed the Corinthians a bit, reminding them of all of the “rights” he had sacrificed for their benefit. Here, he moves on to sum up this argument. He does so by once again using his own approach as an example to them.
In verses 19-21 we see a discussion of Paul’s behavior and “law”. He behaves as a Jew when he is dealing with Jews, as a follower of the law, when dealing with followers of the law. He behaves as a non-law follower when dealing with people who aren’t under the law. Yet in all things he is under the “law of Christ”, which is an interesting statement which involves a great deal of scholarly theorizing today. While Paul doesn’t really define this expression, he is demonstrating it in his teaching; that we should be willing to make sacrifices for the sake of others and for the gospel of Christ.
He continues:
To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. (9:22-23)
He moves from law as a model to weak and strong, or we might say, immature and mature. However he might describe the situation, the outcome is the same: We make personal sacrifices for the sake of others in the cause of Christ, for this is the way of love.
Life Project Blog 
The law of Christ is LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE. Did I mention love by any chance.
I think you mentioned that one 🙂
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
Paul seems to have a few of these “laws” that are fun to speculate about. The Law of the Spirit of Life in Romans 8:1 for instance. I suspect he’s pointing out that we, as disciples, are still under obligations, as Jews believe themselves to be to the law. Points of view emphasizing grace would do well to seek Paul’s balance between grace and obligation. We have both.
Yes we do. I like to think of it as grace, and our response to grace; either way, we have something to do. I hope all is well out there in the Old Country Matt!