Am – A Time to Boast 1: 12-14

A Time to Boast
1: 12-14

A time to boast DIG: What does your conscience have to do with who you are? In what does Paul boast? What was the basis for his integrity? How does a leader who uses his authority according to worldly wisdom differ from one who does so by the grace of ADONAI?

REFLECT: What is the relationship between your integrity and your willingness to recognize or accept your role in Kingdom work? What would be a greater source of pride for you – being a person of integrity or being recognized by others for the work you do? Explain.

If we boast at all, we should boast upholding the Name and accomplishments of ADONAI.

As a result of Paul’s change of travel plans (to see link click Al – A Change of Plans), there were some in Corinth who charged him with being insincere, deceptive, exploitative, unreliable, boastful and weak. But when people have a contentious attitude, they don’t need much excuse to find fault. Therefore, Paul was forced (2:11) to defend himself against these charges throughout this letter – always, as he painfully points out, for the twin purposes of benefitting the Corinthians and upholding the name of ADONAI. Never to puff himself up.³⁶ Later in his letter, Paul responded in detail to their lies about his character (see Bi – Do Not be Unequally Yoked with Unbelievers). But in the meantime, Paul was defenseless in the face of their false accusations. He had only one court of appeal – his clear conscience before God.

The testimony of Paul’s conscience (1:12): Paul answers the baseless charges against him in the only way possible – by appealing to the testimony of his own conscience and the Corinthians’ knowledge of his conduct. Paul’s letters were like his conduct: simple, sincere, not in worldly wisdom, but by the grace of ADONAI. He had no hidden meanings or ulterior motives in his correspondence with the Corinthians. He was above board and straightforward in person; and he was the same way in his letters.³⁷

For our boast (Greek: kauchesis, meaning the reason for boasting) is this (1:12a): It is a delicate situation. How do you boast inoffensively and in accordance with the gospel? Yet boasting is not always wrong. It all depends on the basis of the boasting. Boasting is related to confidence, and confidence is good if one places it in the right things. Paul’s understanding of boasting comes from Jeremiah, “The wise man should not boast of his wisdom, the powerful should not boast of his power, the wealthy should not boast of his wealth; instead, let the boaster boast about this: that he understands and knows me – that I am ADONAI, practicing grace, justice and righteousness in the land; for in these things I take pleasure,” says ADONAI (Jer 9:23-24). If one boasts in human achievements, then it is sinful. However, if someone boasts in what YHVH has done, then it is good.³⁸ For an audience like the Corinthians, who were too easily influenced by human pride and achievement, Paul’s endurance through suffering and trial (see Aj – Our God Who Delivers Us), and God’s faithfulness, were things that he could legitimately boast about.³⁹

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that we can boast about You. You are absolutely amazing and wonderful! It is so comforting to meditate on Your character. Each of Your traits are so loving and pure. What a joy to know that when we put our lives into Your hands, asking You to guide us – You always desire what is best for us, regardless of our choices in life. You never make a mistake and You always want what is best for us.

Your deep love and tender care are such a comfort when we are attacked by others or may make bad choices for ourselves. Through it all we can lift our heart up to You. The earthly pain fades and we feel Your tender love and mercy. For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18).

God was watching and saw all the hard and unfair trials that David was going thru. God could have stepped in and rescued David and wiped out Sha’ul, but God had a purpose for the trials in David’s life – to prepare him for future leadership of the entire nation of Isra’el. Thank You that I can trust as you allow trials in my life that You will use to purify me and to glorify Your name. I love and delight in clinging to You in good and in hard times – for You are worthy of all of my love! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen.

That our conscience assures us that in our dealings with the world, and especially with you, we have conducted ourselves with sincerity and godly pureness of motive – not by worldly wisdom, but God-given grace (1:12). That was the true source of his planning and actions. Thus, Paul begins his defense with three verdicts from his conscience about his conduct.

First, he acted with sincerity (Greek: eilikrineia, meaning something held up to the light of the sun for inspection). It is a compound word of sunlight (eili) and to judge (krino). It pictures something held up to the sun for inspection. In Paul’s day, unscrupulous potters would fill the cracks in their pots with wax before selling them. But careful buyers would hold the pots up to the sun, and the light of the wax cracks would become clearly visible.

Second, with godly pureness of motive (Greek: hagiotes, meaning holiness). The writer to the Hebrews used hagiotes to describe the holiness of ADONAI (Hebrews 12:10). Paul’s pureness of motive confirmed in his own mind, contrasted sharply with the immorality and corruption of which he was wrongly accused. Paul’s sincerity and godly purity of motive should have been especially evident to the Corinthians. They had observed him firsthand during the eighteen months that he ministered in their city (Acts 18:11). The shining purity of his life was set against the dark, ugly backdrop of Corinth’s immorality. There was nothing in Paul’s life that would have confirmed any of the scandalous accusations against him.⁴⁰

Third, not with worldly wisdom, which is the opposite of true wisdom (Greek: sophia) which only comes from God (see the commentary on First Corinthians An – The Foolishness of Worldly Wisdom). Most people in the ancient world, as in ours today, regarded “wisdom” to be good no matter what form it took. Wisdom by definition was an understanding of what was true, right, or lasting and was manifest in behavior marked by common sense and good judgment. But Paul didn’t believe that Messiah simply offered a greater wisdom that could be added to the wisdom of this world. He thought the wisdom of Messiah invalidated the wisdom of this world. Messiah offered the only true wisdom, and the world offered only a false, worldly wisdom.⁴¹

Even though resumes are given in our society, many today take offense at Paul’s boasting and view his self-commendation as a sign of personal arrogance. Three factors must be kept in mind. First, Paul did not engage in boasting in order to make himself look good. He was pushed to do it by the Corinthians, who placed great importance in such things, and by the false apostles (see Af – The Problem of the False Apostles), who enjoyed flaunting their supposed apostolic authority (5:12 and 10:12). As he answered those outrageous lies, Paul’s primary concern was not to defend himself but to protect the people from the deceivers. Second, Paul’s credentials concerned his position as an apostle, not his person. It was as servants of Messiah and ministers of the gospel that he commended himself and his coworkers. And third, when Paul does boast, he doesn’t boast of his achievements and accomplishments, but in the hardships, struggles and trials of an itinerant ministry (6:4-5).⁴²

Paul’s appeal for understanding (1:13-14): In verse 12 Paul wrote a general statement about his integrity and that of his mission. Now he gets more specific with the Corinthians with a play on words. There are no hidden meanings in our letters other than what you can read (Greek: anaginoskein) and understand (epiginoskein) that is impossible to capture in English. It seems that some of the Corinthians were “reading between the lines” and reading motives into his messages, motives that were not there. Here, Paul countered, and said that his meaning, which lay on the surface, could be understood by simply reading what he said. They didn’t need to ask, “Do you really mean what you say!” He had no hidden agenda. The integrity of his letters flowed from the integrity of his life. He simply wrote in the same manner that he lived – straightforwardly. Understanding what he wrote should have been just as straightforward if the Corinthians would but give his writings a fair hearing. Thus, when Paul wrote: And my hope is that you will understand fully, he expressed a longing that the true nature of his ministry would come into full focus for the Corinthians (1:13).⁴³

Some Corinthians also presumed that Paul somehow veiled the gospel. However, it is not unclear or distorted. What makes the Good News obscure is Paul’s own suffering. Such affliction does not mesh well with a message that is supposed to be good news. Paul was unimpressive in person, which also makes his gospel unattractive to worldly people like the Corinthians. To this charge Paul responded vigorously later in his letter: Indeed, we refuse to make use of shameful underhanded methods, employing deception or distorting God’s message. On the contrary, by making very clear what the truth is, we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. So if indeed our Good News is veiled, it is veiled only to those in the process of being lost (4:2-3).⁴⁴

Paul wanted the Corinthians to gain an even-deeper understanding of God’s Word, and of himself and his motives. Then they would trust him and would not be swayed by the lies of the false apostles.⁴⁵ As you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully (Greek: telos, meaning until the end) that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Yeshua (1:14 NIV). Positive steps had been taken toward fellowship with them, yet further steps were needed for the relationship to be fully healthy. Was he filled with joy (7:7, 9, 13e,16)? Yet on a deeper level he remained troubled. While the majority had demonstrated a zeal for him by renouncing the offender (see Bl – The Effects of the Severe Letter), the false apostles and a minority remained unimpressed. This is why we seem to get mixed signals from Paul concerning his relationship with the Corinthians. Was he filled with joy, or still concerned to a certain degree? The answer is “yes” to both questions, depending on which group is under consideration at the moment. What Paul is after, therefore, is that the church would fully embrace him, his mission, and his gospel (see the commentary on Romans As – Paul’s Gospel). Their wavering between him and other voices competing for a following was distracting at best and destructive at worst.

When John Stott was rector of All Souls Church in London, Billy Graham preached a crusade in 1954 that filled Wembley Stadium night after night. Stott puzzled over why Graham was able to attract such crowds when the churches of that great city were half empty week after week. Stott reflected, “The answer I gave myself was this: I believe Billy Graham was the first transparently sincere preacher these people had ever heard.” We need preachers whose sermons are like thunder because their lives are like lightning! Certainly, Paul’s life and ministry shone with brilliant integrity, which undergirded all he did, including writing letters like Second Corinthians, and Paul wanted the Corinthians to grasp that fact. He was a man under orders and under the Truth (John 14:6).⁴⁶