every man that striveth in the games [that striveth for the
mastery]."

4. Were he who competes in a race to attempt other things or to make a
success of other matters at the same time, he would not gain much;
rather he would soon be defeated, lose the race and everything. If he
would truly strive, he must attend to no other thing. All else must be
neglected and attention centered upon the contest alone. Even then the
winner must have fortune's favor; for they who neglect all to run do
not all gain the prize.

Likewise in the Christian contest it is necessary, and in an even
higher degree, to renounce everything and to devote oneself only to
the contest. He who would in addition seek his own glory and profit,
who would find in the Word and Spirit of God occasion for his own
praise and advantage after the manner of the dissenters and
schismatics--what can such a one expect to win? He is wholly entangled
in temporal glory and gain; bound hand and foot, a complete captive.
The race he runs is the mere dream race of one lying upon his couch an
indolent captive.

"I therefore so run, as not uncertainly; so fight I, as not beating
the air."

5. Paul here points to himself as exemplar and hints at the cause of
failure, viz., lapse from love and the use of the divine word in a
wilful, ambitious and covetous spirit, whereas the faith which worketh
by love is lacking. Under such conditions, false and indolent
Christians run indeed a merry race; yet God's Word and ways in which
they are so alert and speedy are merely a show, because they make them
subserve their own interests and glory. They fail, however, to see
that they race uncertainly and beat the air. They never make a serious
attempt, nor do they ever hit the mark. While it is theirs to mortify
ambition, to restrain their self-will and to enlist in the service of
their neighbors, they do none of these things. On the contrary, they
even do many things to strengthen their ambition and self-will, and
then they swear by a thousand oaths that they are seeking not their
own honor but the honor of God, their neighbor's welfare and not their
own.

Peter says (2 Pet 1, 9-10) this class are blind and cannot see afar
and have forgotten they were purged from their old sins, because they
fail to make their calling sure by good works. Therefore, it comes
about that, as Paul says, they run uncertainly, beating the air. Their
hearts are unstable and wavering before God, and they ar