2 Timothy 2:6

The difficulty in this verse is that the principle here laid down seems to be employed in 1 Corinthians 9:7; 1 Corinthians 9:9, as an argument from analogy in support of the liberty of Christian ministers to enjoy some temporal profit from their spiritual labours; whereas here St. Paul is urging a temper of other-worldliness. It is sufficient to say that there is no practical inconsistency between the two passages; “each man hath his own gift from God, one after this manner, and another after that”. There is a time to insist on one's liberty to “use the world,” and there is a time to warn ourselves and others that self-repression is necessary to keep ourselves from “using it to the full”. The main connexion here lies in the word κοπιῶντα, which is emphatic; while πρῶτον, which is also emphatic, expresses in the illustration from the γεωργός the idea corresponding to τῷ στρατ. ἀρέσῃ, and to στεφανοῦται in the others respectively. The labourer receives his hire, no matter how poor the crop may be: his wages are the first charge on the field. Cf. γῆ … τίκτουσα βοτάνην εὔθετον ἐκείνοις διʼ οὓς καὶ γεωργεῖται (Hebrews 6:7); his reward is sure, but then he must really labour. “The fruits” are the reward of faithful labour in the Lord's vineyard, the “well done!” heard from the Captain's lips, “the crown of glory that fadeth not away”. We must not press all the details of an allegory.