⁴ My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide.

²⁰ Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.

²¹ Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence.

Paul’s Change of Plans

¹² We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have lived with a God-given holiness^[a] and sincerity in all our dealings. We have depended on God’s grace, not on our own human wisdom. That is how we have conducted ourselves before the world, and especially toward you.

⁵ So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.

23 Gazing intently at the high council,^[a] Paul began: “Brothers, I have always lived before God with a clear conscience!”

¹⁰ For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.