1 Corinthians 9:24

“Know ye not that they which run in a race, run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.”

In the application, the goal is no more identical with the prize, than in the actual case. The goal is perfect holiness; the prize is glory, the crown of holiness. Of course, in mentioning the fact that out of a number of runners only one reaches the goal first, and obtains the prize, the apostle does not mean, that of the multitude of Christians only one will be saved. What he desires to inculcate by the figure is, that to succeed in the Christian race, one must labour for his salvation with the same energy and the same resolution to reach the goal of holiness, as this one victor to reach the goal of the race. Like him, the Christian must learn to forget everything else, that he may see only the goal to be reached. They are not very many, Paul means, who, while calling themselves Christians, run after this manner! The word οὕτω, so, may be regarded as a particle of inference: “ so then run, that ye may obtain.” But it may also be made the antecedent of the conjunction ἵνα : “Run in such a way that...” There is more vivacity in this second meaning of οὕτω. This little word, rightly understood, seems intended to cheer and stimulate the runners. It is objected, that instead of the ἵνα, that, a ὥστε, so that, would have been needed. But the ἵνα brings out better the aspiration of the runner after victory.

When the apostle speaks of this one, does he allude to his own mode of acting? Possibly (1 Corinthians 9:26-27). In any case they ought to beware, those Corinthians fond of their ease and obstinately attached to their rights and liberties lest they be in the end like those slack runners who lose the prize. To win, it is not enough to run, it is needed to run well (Rückert). This idea is the transition to the following verse.