The Blessing of a Clear Conscience

v.8-9 Paul informs the Corinthians about a hardship he endured in Asia. Asia was East of Corinth across the Aegean Sea. The area was under the rule of Rome and was quiet a large territory. Exactly what happened to Paul is not revealed. Nevertheless, it was serious.

* We were utterly burdened beyond our strength. Paul says that they were taken beyond their limits. They were at the point of losing their lives.

Paul’s life was full of such instances.

He fought with wild beasts at Ephesus (1 Cor. 15:32).

The riot at Ephesus (Acts 19:23-41).

Beatings by the Jews (11:25).

Stoning (Acts 14:19).

* Paul and his companions believed in their hearts that they were going to die.

* Paul reveals the purpose for the suffering:

- That we would not trust in ourselves but in the living God who raises the dead.

Paul gives us an important truth. The purpose of suffering may be to cause us not to rely on ourselves, but to rely on God. We must learn to see purpose in suffering. If we do not learn to see purpose in suffering, we will not benefit from it. We too often respond to suffering the wrong way:

* We respond with depression.

* We respond with anger at our enemies.

* We respond with anger toward God.

* We respond with a passive attitude.

We must respond to suffering by allowing it to push us further into the arms of God.

v.10 Paul recognizes that God delivered him from a great death in the past. He is confident that God will continue to deliver him from death. It is obvious that Paul is intent on continuing to do the things that put him in harms way. Paul’s ministry contributed to much of his peril. The fear of death would not keep Paul from his calling. His trust was in the Living God!

Obedience to Christ often takes us to places where we will likely suffer. The fear of man, failure, or the unknown should not keep us from obedience. Our fear must be replaced by faith in God. If we learn the great benefits of suffering, we will less likely be afraid to obey God’s call.

v.11 The “blessing” probably refers to the gift of deliverance from death. Here is what Paul is saying in this verse:

“As you pray for us, God is going to deliver us; His deliverance is going to result in many people praising God for what He has done in our lives.”

Paul never saw himself as a lone ranger. He knew he needed the support of God’s people. His words revealed that he desperately wanted the prayers of the Corinthians. We can learn some things about prayer from this verse.

1. You don’t have to be more spiritual than the person you are praying for.

2. Answered prayer brings God glory.

3. Prayer can move the hand of God.

4. Corporate prayer is powerful.

5. Ministries can be helped by people of prayer.

In our suffering it is appropriate to pray for deliverance. But it is also necessary to take the opportunity of our suffering seriously. We must learn what our trials are teaching us about ourselves and about our God. Two things we often learn in trials:

1. How weak we are.

2. How much God loves us.

2 Corinthians

1:12-14

v.12 Paul is about to tell us why he boasts. Paul has something to brag about. There is nothing wrong with boasting if it is done in the proper way. Our boasting is always to be in the Lord (Galatians 6:14). Simply put, Paul is thanking God because of the testimony of his conscience. Paul’s enemies continually charged and condemned him with all sorts of sins.

Paul was able to rest because his conscience was not condemning him.

That’s what Paul means by the “testimony of his conscience”. It speaks of the witness of his conscience. His conscience was not accusing him.

What is a conscience? Webster’s Dictionary defines it as “the faculty of recognizing the difference between right and wrong with regard to one’s conduct coupled with the sense that one should act accordingly.”

The conscience is an inner sense of right and wrong. It is not the voice of God and it is not the moral law of God written on our hearts.

The level of conscience we have is determined by how we react to God’s truth. As we fill ourselves with God’s truth our conscience becomes more sensitive. As we reject God’s truth our conscience weakens. It is possible to reject God’s truth so much that our conscience is no longer sensitive enough to reveal that something is immoral (1 Tim. 4:2).

The conscience is one of the things that keep a lost world from being more evil than it already is. It is also one of the things that distinguish us from the animal kingdom.

At the moment of salvation the conscience is cleansed (Hebrews 9:14). Believers must strive to keep their conscience pure (Acts 24:16). This is done by godly living and confession of sin.

We can see the characteristics of a good conscience in this verse:

*Godliness (Simplicity in ESV)- the character of God is holiness. A good conscience hates what is sinful. It is sensitive to sin. The person who has a good conscience is the one who is living a life of holiness. Paul lived this type of life.

*Sincerity- The word comes from two words in the Greek. The first, “eile” means “sunlight”. The second is “krino” which means “to judge”. In Paul’s day merchants would try and sale cracked pieces of pottery. They would fill the cracks with wax to fool the buyer. Wise customers would hold the pottery up to the sunlight. If it was cracked it would be clearly visible. The person that has a good conscience can present their motives and actions before the Lord with no worries. Sincerity means that we are being truthful with God and ourselves. Paul knew that he was sincere in his relationship with God.

* Without earthly wisdom- The natural man is full of earthly wisdom. Basically, earthly wisdom is reasoning that comes from the unredeemed heart. Man may easy rationalize sinful behavior or even excuse it as not being sin at all. Any attempt to rationalize or excuse sin is a result of earthly wisdom. Man may clear his conscience with earthly wisdom. However, it does not excuse his behavior. Paul would never seek to excuse his sin with his intelligence.

* By the grace of God- A conscience can only be pure by the grace of God. We must experience salvation before our conscience is truly clean.

* And supremely so toward you. The person with a good conscience behaves in a certain manner. Paul did not merely behave godly in church. His character in the world was the same as when he was at church. If our life in the world is not consistent with our life in the church, we do not have a good conscience. We may have a faulty conscience. Sometimes we mistake a faulty conscience for a good conscience. If our conscience is not condemning us, it does not mean that we are not sinning. If we have rejected God’s truth for too long a time, our conscience may be seared. If we can live in an ungodly way in the world while holding a clear conscience, we are in serious trouble. We should ask God to make us sensitive to sin once again.

The Corinthian church knew that Paul’s behavior was godly. It was more evident to them than it was to the world. Probably because he had spent more time with them. If we have a good conscience our behavior around God’s people should be godly. Some people are able to continue to go to church while living ungodly lives. Church attendance does not make a conscience good. Behavior does. In fact, church attendance coupled with ungodly living may do more harm than good. The notorious BTK killer was deeply involved in his church while living an extremely evil life.

v.13 The letter Paul is writing to them now is consistent with the previous letters he has written them. They had read and understood Paul’s message in the past. Paul was not trying to change who he was. They could see him for what he was by reading and understanding his words. Paul was no chameleon. He did not change from day to day.

Notice the phrase “and I hope you will fully understand”. Paul hoped that the people would grow in their understanding of his teaching. The Bible is not an easy book to understand. But if you commit yourself to learn it little by little you will grow in your understanding of it.

v.14 The Corinthians had already understood Paul in part. They had received the gospel. However, there was much more for them to learn.

Next Paul says that:

“You will boast of us”. The “us” would refer to the ministers of the gospel, especially Paul and Timothy (v.1). The Corinthians could be proud of the laborers in the Lord. There was no reason to be ashamed of them. God had brought them to Corinth with the message of the gospel (2 Tim. 1:8).

“We will boast of you” Paul and Timothy were proud of the Corinthians for what God had done in their lives. God had saved them. They were trophies of grace. Even though the Corinthian church was made up of non-Jews and some carnal believers, Paul was still rejoicing in them. We should always remember to thank God for His work in the lives of others.

A congregation should praise God for its elder’s and elders should praise God for their congregation. That should be the goal of every church.

“On the day of our Lord Jesus” This refers to when our salvation is complete. One day all believers will stand before God in their glorified bodies. Paul looked forward to that day. He would rejoice because God’s salvation would be complete in His children. Only a person with a good conscience could look forward to standing before the Lord. Paul’s conscience was clear because his hope was in the Lord.

In glory our conscience will be eternally clear. That is a wonderful reality to think about.