2. 2 Corinthians ch. 1 cont.--Conscience

We're thankful for the 6 people who attended the Small Group Bible Study on 2 Corinthians last night. It's always a blessing to get into the scriptures together because God meets with us in His Word. Last week we studied 1:1-11 and we saw "the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles." He comforts us because He is the God of mercy and comfort and compassion and then He wants us to help others with their burdens: "so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." 1:3-4
God has many purposes in allowing suffering in our lives, especially to make us more like Christ and to help us realize our complete dependence on Him. "But this happened [so] that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead." 1:9
And verse 11 tells us that God responds to our prayers and when He does, we should all be thankful to Him--and tell Him so.
Historical setting: The Corinthian church was established by Paul in Acts 18 which begins, "After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. . . ." Read the chapter and you will see that he stayed there 18 months and then went on to Ephesus.
Let's look at a couple of verses from last night's study: "Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God's grace." 2 Cor. 1:12 NIV Can we say the same thing?! What a wonderful possession is a clear conscience! "And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day." Acts 23:1 We should all be able to say the same thing. That is not saying we are without sin, but that we sought consistently to live a godly life with sincerity, honesty, and truth. Conscience is a gift from God: "For when Gentiles, who do not have the [moral] law [of the Old Testament], by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. [15] They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them." Romans 2:14-15 ESV Conscience is a gift from God, but it is not infallible because it is culturally conditioned by what we learn and experience and by our own decisions. Because we can rationalize our behavior and refuse to admit when we are doing wrong. On what do you base your conscience? That is a key question. That's why Martin Luther in a dramatic moment in the 16th century Reformation said before the assembled officials of the Holy Roman Empire, "My conscience is captive to the Word of God." And that's exactly what scripture calls for in 2 Cor. 10:5 "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."
And how can we have a clear conscience? By depending on God and obeying what He has revealed in His Word as our pattern of life. "And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." 1:21-22 ESV You've tried to be obedient to the Holy Scriptures, following its ethical principles, seeking to be "holy as God is holy." Holiness and "godly sincerity" 1:12 are important to you. Our holiness comes from God; our sanctification comes through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, depending solely on Him and we can rejoice when we see God producing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. We didn't do it; He did it!
If you know yourself, you know that it is God's grace that is forming you into the image of Christ. "Not in fleshly wisdom, but in the grace of God." 1:12 We don't live by the standards of this world. We don't care about their external pomp or show and self-congratulations in the "mutual admiration society" of the world. We care not to say, "How great we are!" but "How great Thou art, O Lord!" Those who love the "glory of men" wish to appear in a certain way before them, but for us, "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." 2 Cor. 10:17 "For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?" 1 Cor. 4:7 ESV
Be realistic by being humble. "God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble."
What God has begun, He will complete; He will not abandon. He has begun a good work in each of us who know Him as Savior and He has left us a deposit to attest to that fact. "He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." 1:21-22 NIV "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have of God, and you are not your own? For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Cor. 6:19-20 The anointing speaks of the joy and the love which He has poured into our hearts. This is one of the ways we know that we know Christ: we have the witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts: "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." Romans 8:16 He is our "foretaste of glory divine" as we have fellowship with "the Comforter," the One called alongside to help and to strengthen us.