A Conscious Testimony

J.J. Stark

January 2016

Week 3

IGNITE Class 10

Inductive Bible Study (IBS)

A Conscious Testimony

“For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly conduct, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you.” – 2 Corinthians 1:12 (NKJV)

It’s funny how much my conscience talks to me.  It seems like with every little thing I do, that small voice is always there, and not only is it usually talking to me, but I, with my pride, am also usually questioning or arguing with it – the “should I say something, should I help that person, am I doing this right?” etc.  Because of my pride, I usually wind up boasting about it too, which gets me into a lot of trouble and/or more than I thought I could handle.  Reading the Apostle Paul’s statement in the first part of 2 Corinthians 1:12, “For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience…” made me stop and examine my conscience in the past.  As I thought about the word ‘testimony,’ I realized that many times, yes, it’s mainly used in reference to how a person came to Christ, but it is also used in a legal court (i.e., a crime witness’s testimony).  The thought struck me that if (theoretically) I were to be in God’s court standing trial for all the actions I’ve done on earth in my Christian walk, and my conscience was a witness, would my conscience be able to testify that my actions were that of “simplicity and godly conduct”??  Sadly, I know for a fact that this is not the case.  Praise the Lord for His wonderful love, and that He was compassionate enough to come down and bestow unfathomable grace upon me through His blood.  This very good reminder that there is nothing about my own “fleshly wisdom” that I can boast about.  Paul goes on to say in 2 Corinthians 1:12 is that our boast of the simple and godly conduct is only “…by the grace of God…”  He sums it up very well in Galatians 6:14, “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

Application:  Today I will write down three things from Scripture that are “simple and godly conduct,” and then operate by those throughout the day.