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Ambassador Baptist Church
1926 Babcock Blvd
Pittsburgh, PA 15209
(412)477-3210
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   You Are Here: Bridge / Galley / Pastor's Pen / Pathways Through Paul
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Pathways Through Paul Daily Devotional
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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional

October 10
Click on verses for Full Scripture
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Today's Pathway:


 II Corinthians 1:12-18
  1. For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.
  2. For we write none other things unto you, than what ye read or acknowledge; and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end;
  3. As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.
  4. And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before, that ye might have a second benefit;
  5. And to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way toward Judaea.
  6. When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay?
  7. But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay.

His Majesty's Service

 We kow that part of the motivation for Paul's second letter to the Corinthians was to defend himself against the false accusations of those who rejected his teachings. In verse 12 he states that he rejoices in the fact that he has a clean conscience so far as his lifestyle is concerned. His testimony is that he has not lived according to the dictates of the flesh, but that by the grace of God he has behaved with "simplicity and godly sincerity". "Simplicity" carries the idea of "singleness of purpose", and "sincerity" speaks of being pure. The Greek word translated "sincerity" literally means to be "tested by sunlight", and was used in the inspection of pottery. Pottery in those days was very thin, and thus very fragile. Sometimes when a piece would crack, the potter, rather than discarding it, would patch it and glaze it in such a way that the crack was no longer visible. However, a discerning customer would hold the piece up towards the sun, and the light would reveal any cracks. So when Paul says that he was "sincere": he is saying that you could hold his life up to the close observation and you would not find any "cracks" in it. He endeavored to do what was right whether he was surrounded by the world or whether he was with the believers in Corinth. He made a similar statement to the church at Thessalonica in I Thessalonians 2:10:

"Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe."
Regardless of what his critics said, Paul knew that the testimony of his lifestyle was what it should be.

 In verse 13 Paul makes it clear that the things that he is writing to them are the same things that he teaches in other churches. Paul wrote in I Corinthians 7:17,

"And so ordain I in all churches."
He has been consistent in his teaching, and he has been consistent in his lifestyle wherever he has gone. If they will be honest, the church will acknowledge that fact, and he hopes that they will continue to recognize it in the future. According to verse 14 at least some of the Corinthians believers had acknowledged this in the past (I Corinthians 1:12), and these saints were rejoicing about Paul's ministry among them even as he would be rejoicing over them when Christ returns. Charles Hodge commented,
"Paul believed that in the day of the Lord Jesus the Corinthians would rejoice over him as he would rejoice over them. In that day they would appreciate the blessedness of having had him for their teacher, as he would rejoice in having had them for his converts."

 In verses 15-17 Paul defends himself over not coming to visit their church in the time frame that he had told them that he would. In I Corinthians 16:5-8 Paul told them that he was planning to visit with them. He had intended to see them on his way to Macedonia and then stop again on his return before going on to Jerusalem to take the offering to the struggling believers there (I Corinthians 16:3). However, for some reason he did not stop there on his way to Macedonia. Because of this, there were some in the church who used Paul's "change of plans" as an opportunity to accuse him of being insincere and unreliable. In verse 17 Paul asks if they think he was being frivolous or fickle ("lightness"), or if they thought that he had only been concerned about his own fleshly convenience when he had said he was coming. Apparently they also were accusing him of not being consistent when he spoke, and that he was a man who said "yes" when he meant "no", and vice versa. Thus, his enemies discounted everything else that he had said. Paul's response in verse 18 is that this is not the case, and, just as they knew that God was true and faithful, so they should know that Paul was not frivolous, fleshly, or untrustworthy in his living or his teaching.

 Some people will always be looking for ways to criticize the Christian and reject Bible teaching. Let's be sure that the consistency of both our living and our teaching proves that their objections are untrue.

Pastor Mark J Montgomery

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His Majesty's Service
Home of Ambassador Baptist Church
1926 Babcock Blvd
Pittsburgh, PA 15209
(412)477-3210
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