Keeping a Clear Conscience
Our modern culture is enamored by the concept of sincerity. People have an insatiable desire to know the underlying motivations and interests of others. When bad, immoral things occur in our society, our culture evaluates the sincerity of various people to determine whether their response is legitimate or not.
Consider the most recent news headlines. It seems a day does not go by without some horrific act, or even supposed horrific acts, filling the news cycle. The people opposed to these acts want to know what side you are on. They do not give you time to consider the facts of each situation or wait for more evidence, and they certainly do not want you to know their agenda. They demand a fully sincere response from you immediately, and even that might not be deemed sufficient loyalty to their cause.
While our culture may be disingenuous in its fascination with sincerity, we serve a God who is very concerned with the condition of our hearts. More than outward acts of submission and obedience, our God desires genuine heart change in the lives of his people. Our motivations and interests matter to him, so we must carefully evaluate them in light of Scripture. The world may demand sincerity to satisfy the egos of influential people in times of crisis, but our Lord demands sincerity all the time because it is right and biblical.
Sometimes, it is difficult to tell whether our motives are genuine or not. We like to think that the ministries we serve in, the offerings we give, the sacrifices we make, and the contributions we provide are all sincere. But sometimes we are struck by our own consciences because we know that we have ulterior motives. We know that the different ways we serve do not always come from a right heart.
How do we overcome this challenge, especially one that stems from our own deceitful hearts? The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 1 provides a helpful perspective from his own experience in church ministry. He faced the challenge of maintaining right motives in church ministry, yet in his letters, he always maintained the integrity of his conscience. His words in this chapter provide an important insight as we consider our own contributions to the church family: if you want to maintain a clear conscience, then maintain pure motives.
As influential as Paul was in his day, he had his detractors, even within the church. Many people saw the influence that he had, and they sought to minimize that for their own purposes. Paul was aware of this, of course, so he faced these detractors and their accusations head-on by asserting the sincerity of his motives. He made clear to the ministries he communicated with that his labors among them were not in vain. He tried to instill in them a confidence that no matter what the nay-sayers claimed, he truly loved them and wanted the best for them.
This is true of our text, especially in 2 Corinthians 1:12. You might read this verse and think that Paul is being boastful. But it is not boastful to affirm the sincerity of your motives and actions. I like how one commentator puts it: “There are occasions when Christians, confronted by groundless accusations of impropriety of conduct, are justified in appealing to their motives for acting in a particular way.”[1] Paul certainly had “groundless accusations” thrown his way, but he was not about to let his accusers rob him of opportunities to serve hungry, growing Christians.
The question remains, “What is Paul boasting about?” We will discover the cause of his boasting, but we will also discover the reason behind his boasting lay in his desire to maintain pure motives in his ministry. If we seek to be more effective servants for Christ in our church, then we will heed Paul’s words and example in our passage today.
Paul comes right out of the gate and tells us the cause of his boasting: “the testimony of our conscience.” Paul worked hard to maintain a pure conscience in his life. When he was tried before the Roman governor Felix, he said that he strived “to have a conscience without offense toward God and man” (Acts 24:16). In all his dealings with God and other people, he wanted no obligations or red marks on his ledger. His conscience would not let him keep a running list of prior obligations; all debts had to be settled. Since God demanded a pure and holy life from Paul as a minister of the gospel, he did his best to maintain a blameless testimony.
We see this exemplified in his ministry with the Corinthian church. He states in verse 12, “we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity.” To keep a clear conscience, Paul checked his motives, and his pure motives produced a godly lifestyle. The Greek word translated here as “simplicity” refers to single-mindedness. Rather than be duplicitous and deceitful in his conduct, Paul kept his focus and purpose singular. He also demonstrated sincerity (that is, purity or transparency) in his actions. The adjective “godly” covers both his sincerity and his single-minded purpose. They had a distinct, God-like quality to them. So, how do we know that Paul maintained pure motives? His actions show this to us.
Furthermore, Paul did not rely on “fleshly wisdom” in his ministry, but on “the grace of God.” The contrast here is worth noting. “Fleshly wisdom” refers to a shrewdness or cunning that so often characterizes the way that worldly people operate. This does not consider the Bible or the benefit of believers. Instead, we depend on the grace of God because it is his supernatural enabling that makes genuine ministry possible. Paul emphasizes that God’s grace was put on display for the Corinthians in a special way because they saw his ministry first-hand. His pastoral care and attention to this church demanded lengthy periods of time, and that meant they had a heightened experience of his focused, sincere ministry of grace.
For Paul, his actions spoke louder than his words. This is no less true for us. Our actions often put our motives on display for the world to see. People can tell if we are being genuine by how we behave. This is especially true in how we treat others. Paul recognized this, so he made sure that his pure motives translated to living for the benefit of others. In this case, he was seeking the benefit of the Corinthian believers. He had already written to them once, what we know as 1 Corinthians, a letter marked by strong rebukes and corrections to wrong behavior and false doctrine. Though this letter was harsh in tone, in no way did Paul hide his true intentions of trying to be a good spiritual father to this church. In fact, he looked forward to the day when they would understand fully just how proud they can be of him, and how proud he will be of them at Christ’s return (2 Cor 1:14).
Believers will not be effective at serving people if we do not seek their benefit first. If we are doing ministry for our own selfish purposes, we will be sorely disappointed. Not only will ministry be unfulfilling, but it will ultimately be fruitless. On the other hand, if our focus is the people we are serving, then our motives are indeed in the right place. The service we produce will glorify God and bring lasting satisfaction, both to us and the people we serve. Your conscience can rest easy at night when you place others’ interests before your own.
This was Paul’s testimony as a servant of the gospel, a clear conscience built on pure motives. This kind of attitude was also exhibited through him in his reliability as a pastor. He makes this point by describing in verses 15-22 a complicated misunderstanding regarding his ministry travel plans. In this passage, he lays out for the Corinthians his anticipated travel plans to come see them with multiple visits. When these plans were canceled for various reasons, the people in the church who already distrusted Paul had even more ammunition against him. To lay these charges to rest, Paul defended himself by assuring the believers that he made his plans with full intention of following through.
In verse 15, Paul begins, “And in this confidence.” He is referring to the confidence he had that the feelings of trust and pride between him and the Corinthian church were mutual. This conviction gave him the grounds to plan another trip to see them. His first ministry trip to Corinth came in the middle of his second missionary journey, around the mid-50s AD. This first trip lasted for 18 months, enough time to see many Corinthians come to Christ and grow in their new faith (Acts 18:1-17). You may be familiar with the many problems this church faced, both in the immoral behavior of its members and their readiness to accept all kinds of wrong doctrine. He hoped to come see them again, especially in light of these problems, so he could give them a “second benefit” (2 Cor 1:15). The word “benefit” here is the same Greek word used for “grace.” Paul’s hope in coming again was purely for their benefit, not his own.
In verse 16, Paul lays out his anticipated travel itinerary for us. It is helpful to understand some of the geography as we look at this passage. Best we can tell, Paul wrote 1 Corinthians during his third missionary journey while in Ephesus, which is in modern-day Turkey. His plan, as described in 2 Corinthians 1 (v. 16), was to squeeze in a couple of visits to Corinth by coming through the city in route to other locations. Corinth would be his “connecting flight” from Ephesus to Macedonia. He wanted to visit once during his travels to Macedonia, then he would return to Corinth on his way back to Judea.
Again, these were Paul’s anticipated travel plans. Apparently, he was able to come through on his first visit, but this visit turned out to be uncomfortable for the Corinthians (2 Cor 1:23; 2:1). He had harsh words for them in response to the immoral behaviors and wrong teachings they permitted in the church. For this reason, he refrained from returning to them as he had initially planned (2 Cor 1:23). Instead, it seems he returned to Ephesus and stayed there for a time (Acts 19:21-22) until he was able to make it to Corinth by way of Macedonia (Acts 20:1-3).
You do not have to follow all the specifics of this itinerary to tell that Paul had a change of plans. Of course, in the first century, he had no way of communicating quickly with the Corinthians about this change; he could not call, text, or email. The Lord changed his ministry plans, but to Paul’s detractors in the Corinthian church, it almost looked like abandonment. At the very least, it looked like he was making plans on a whim without consideration for them.
Paul addresses this in verse 17. He asks them, “When I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or the things I plan, do I plan according to the flesh?” His questions force them to think about what they are accusing him of. Do they really believe that his plans were made impulsively, with fickleness, with ambiguity, or without definite purpose? Do they think that the ambiguity of his plans resulted in his firm “yes” becoming a “no”?
Have you ever done this? Have you ever made plans with someone, knowing that there was a good possibility you could not come through? This happens to us often, and if we are honest, we are not as transparent with people as we should be. The disgruntled church members in Corinth accused Paul of making plans like this, but he firmly denied it. His plans were not impulsive, fickle, or ambiguous. He had every intention of seeing them as he planned, but he had to change course when the Lord directed him elsewhere.
It is difficult when the Lord’s will comes into conflict with man-made plans. This is not to say our plans are wrong or we should avoid them. It is a simple acknowledgment that we do not always know the best path forward, but God does. For Paul, God’s change of plans meant he was put in a bad spot with this church that already had some trust issues with him. Rather than complain, Paul defended himself appropriately.
His defense was based on his reliability as a minister of Christ. In verse 18, he states that his plans were not made with a shifting “yes” or “no” answer. He was not vacillating in his words to them. The Corinthians should have known this because Paul preached a reliable message about a reliable Savior. In other words, he staked his integrity as a traveling preacher on the integrity of his message. He preached the gospel of Christ, a message that does not change on a whim. Instead, the gospel is a message with a firm and resounding “yes.” In verse 20, Paul portrays Christ as the fulfillment of God’s promises from the OT regarding the salvation that would come through his Messiah. Christ is the embodiment of God’s answer to his own promises; he is the “yes” and “Amen” to these promises, and that should cause us to glorify God.
When believers say “Amen” at the end of a prayer or during a message, we should acknowledge all that this word means. You may be aware that “Amen” means “let it be.” When we say it, let’s remember that Christ has fulfilled all of God’s salvation promises to his people. As verse 22 says, God has established us in Christ, anointed us to serve him, and given us his Holy Spirit as a seal and a down payment for the future when we will be with him forever. God is reliable to make these promises and keep them through Christ. In the same way, Paul wanted to assure the Corinthian church that his word to them regarding his travel plans was just as reliable.
Paul maintained his pure motives by conducting his life in a godly way, seeking the benefit of others, and defending his reliability as a minister of Christ. Finally, he did this by seeking to bring other believers to joyful maturity. Notice in verse 23, Paul says he refrained from coming to them a second time because he wanted to “spare” them. He did not want his arrival to be seen as another chiding session. He already had harsh words for them before, and he did not want to come on that premise again.
In verse 24, Paul removes any misunderstanding that he thought of himself as a spiritual tyrant over the Corinthians. He did not want the church to see him as someone who had “dominion” over their faith, who could “lord over” their spiritual life. Rather, he wanted them to view him as a “fellow worker” for their joy. He paints the picture of the Christian life quite nicely here. He recognizes Christ as the Lord of every believer. Our spiritual mentors, such as parents or pastors, are laborers who work alongside us to produce joyful living in Christ. That is what Paul was to the Corinthians. That is why he could end this chapter in the assurance that these believers would stand firm in their faith. Their spiritual growth was not the result of his tyrannical demands. Rather, it was the result of his pastoral care and their faith-filled walk.
Paul was able to serve this church with a clear conscience, and that clear conscience was rooted in his pure motives. It is difficult to evaluate our own motives without bias. We assume our motives are clean as the driven snow, but does our life give evidence to this? Are we living with a sincere, single-minded focus on glorifying God and serving the people in our sphere of influence? Do we conduct ourselves in a trustworthy manner with other people, or do we live by the convenience of our changing whims? Do we put others before ourselves, and seek to bring them into Christian maturity?
This was the example of the Apostle Paul as he traveled in gospel ministry. He had a clear conscience because he lived with pure motives. By God’s grace, we can live by this same example. Let’s be a church that works for the spiritual well-being of one another. Let’s be a church that models godly living. Let’s be a church that is reliable in our dealings with each other. If we live this way, we can have greater certainty about the good motives of our brothers and sisters in Christ. The world may judge others for having insincere motives, but let it not be so in the church. May our consciences be marked by a firm conviction in the purity of our motives.
[1] Harris, M. J. The Second Epistle to the Corinthians: a Commentary on the Greek Text (Grand Rapids, MI; Eerdmans, 2005), 186.
