Did Paul take money or material support for his ministry?
Paul refused to take material reward or financial advantage from his apostolic ministry, saying he would not do so. Though he had profited more than his equals during his earlier Judaism as a Pharisee, he chose to serve all men as a bond slave so he might gain the more.
Les explains that Paul had to constantly overcome opposition to his apostleship, and one of his favorite arguments was that the Corinthians themselves were proof of his apostleship, having been saved out of abject paganism through his preaching. Paul then shows he would not take advantage of that tremendous responsibility by taking a lot of material reward; he said, "I just won't do that." He had profited more than his equals in Judaism as a Pharisee of the Pharisee, but now he made himself a servant or bond slave of all that he might gain the more, driven by one desire: to see lost people saved.