¹²For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you. ¹³For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand, and I hope you will understand until the end; ¹⁴just as you also partially did understand us, that we are your reason to be proud as you also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus.

Pride is generally listed as the first of the so-called deadly sins (the others being greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth). After all, “Pride goesbefore destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling” (Prov. 16:18). However, Paul’s proud confidence is more of a boasting. What makes pride a deadly sin is when it is directed at oneself. Paul writes elsewhere:

For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. (Rom. 12:3)

Paul is not boasting (see NIV, ESV, etc.) in himself, but actually quite the opposite! He is exalting God’s grace in his life. Rightly understood, this boasting requires a supremely humble attitude, for in this kind of boasting is the acknowledgement of one’s absolute need of grace. The more one boasts in God’s grace, the more one recognizes his need of grace! This is what Paul is getting at when he writes:

It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. (1 Tim. 1:15–16)

Paul knows more than anyone else his need of God’s grace, mercy, and patience. So he can rightly boast in God’s grace, “in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom.” And spring-boarding on this truth, he can write of their mutual pride or boasting in each other. They can be proud of Paul for what God has done through him, and Paul can be proud of them (speaking somewhat hyperbolically). The reason is that the Lord Jesus is coming again and will deliver us from all trials and tribulations, completely and absolutely. They understood this a little bit, but Paul leads them to a fuller appreciation.

Lord, I exalt in Your grace because I am in such desperate need of it.