Paul’s Change of Plans

Commentary

In this text it appears that there were those who were attributing hidden motives to Paul. His answer is that his whole conduct is dominated, not by shrewdness, but by the grace of God (v. 12). There were no hidden motives in Paul’s life. If we are honest, we will have to admit that we seldom do anything with unmixed motives. Even when we do something good, there may be entangled with it motives of wanting recognition, of prestige, of something in return. Men may never see these motives, but, as Thomas Aquinas said, “Man regards the deed, but God sees the intention.” Purity of action may be difficult, but purity of motive is still more difficult.
The people of Paul’s day must have been saying that there was more in Paul’s conduct than met the eye. His answer is that he has lived with the holiness and the purity of God. There were no hidden actions in his life. We might well add a new beatitude to the list, “Blessed is the man who has nothing to hide. The word purity, that Paul uses, is most interesting (v. 12). It may describe something which can bear the test of being held up to the light of the sun and looked at with the sun shining through it. Happy is the man whose every action will bear the light of day and who, like Paul, can claim that there are no hidden motives in his life. Paul says I am not writing anything you cannot read and understand (vv. 13-14). When our Lord Jesus returns, you can be as proud of us as we are of you. While it is true that a crisis helps to make a person, it is also true that a crisis helps to reveal what a person is made of. It is not love for the lost nor love for the world which distinguishes the believer but love for one another (John 13:35). These believers were Paul’s spiritual children. Many of them knew him in a very personal way.

Application

In Paul’s life there were no hidden actions, no hidden motives and no hidden meanings which means he was not boasting, as some said. That is a quality of life that I should be striving for.