2 Corinthians 1:12-14

There is something here about:

  1. Conscience (12): Thank God for conscience. It is important that you should never violate it. It is possible to sear your conscience by repeatedly stifling it, so that it is no longer soft and sensitive. Conscience is like an internal moral compass. But it is not an infallible guide. It is not always right. It has to be correctly educated. As someone said, it has to be set to the ‘magnetic north’ of Scripture. Anyway, as far as Paul was concerned, he and his colleagues had a clear conscience about how they had behaved generally, and particularly in their dealings with the church in Corinth. Reading between the lines in this letter, Paul was being heavily (and unfairly) criticised. But, he says, we can face the world – and even more importantly, face you with our heads held high. The Message. (However, see 1 Cor.4:4, 5 for a qualifier.)
  2. Conduct (12): Paul was quite sure before God that he and his associates had behaved with holiness, sincerity and wisdom, whatever anyone else might allege. But this wasn’t a boast in a proud, egotistical sense. Paul wasn’t, as it were, putting in his thumb, pulling out a plumb and saying, ‘What a good boy am I!’ Oh no. His boast was in the Lord (1 Cor.1:29, 31). He was writing here about qualities that are from God. His life was according to God’s grace. The Christian life is not difficult; it is impossible! No-one can live it out of their own resources. Thankfully we don’t have to. We have the Holy Spirit within us, and he makes holiness possible.
  3. Clarity (13, 14): One of the charges levelled against Paul is implicit here. It comes out clearly in The Message: Don’t try to read between the lines or look for hidden meanings in this letter. We’re writing plain, unembellished truth, hoping that you’ll now see the whole picture as well as you’ve seen some of the details. Paul was a plain, straightforward man, and he said what he meant and meant what he said. Even though there are some difficult things in Paul’s writings that some may twist, Paul wanted to be understood; desired to be clear. He wasn’t ‘back tracking’. He did not send ‘secret messages’ or write in code. Christian leaders should prize the ideal of clarity and be as plain as they can be in their oral and written communication. When I was a young boy, perhaps in my early teens, I went to a Sunday night after church meeting in a home in Culcheth, Greater Manchester. We sat in a fairly large room and listened to a tape of a preacher who had spoken at the Filey Convention. Some people  there  that evening had brought the tape back from this well-known Christian event. Even though I was little more than a child at the time, I drank in every word. I knew I was listening to someone whose clarity and simplicity touched me and reached my heart. I have listened to this preacher through the years and have always felt that his transparency of speech is something to at least try to emulate. As he was to say himself, he believed in serving meat, but he also liked to pour on lots of ‘gravy’.

Prayer: Lord God, cause my conscience to be continually trained through feeding on your Word, and help me to never violate my conscience.