Paul firmly rebuked the Corinthian church for tolerating sin (2 Corinthians 7:8-10). It was hard for him to write so sternly to people he dearly loved, but they responded by admitting their sin, repenting and coming back to the Lord. The church became stronger. Yes, Paul's letter caused distress but resulted in forgiveness and restoration of fellowship with the Lord and each other. But it did more than that.

They also wanted to take whatever action was necessary to demonstrate that they were on the side of truth (1 Corinthians 5:1-5). Having been alerted to their wrong attitudes, their consciences became sensitive to sin in other areas of life too. They were eager to ensure that those who had done wrong were faced with their sin – so that they might repent; and that those who had been injured might be comforted and receive the love they needed for restoration.

Even more than that, they really did want to please the Lord by affirming their allegiance to apostolic authority. It mattered to them that they accepted and acted upon Paul's teaching, because they rightly believed that it was from God. When Titus brought that news to Paul, he and others with him were greatly encouraged. They demonstrated their faith in Jesus by obeying the practical instructions of His apostle. As Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey what I command." (John 14:15)

There is a direct relationship between faith and obedience. That is why it is important to rebuke the disobedient – so that faith may grow again and love can flow to God and other believers. Once that process of confession, forgiveness and restoration to fellowship starts – it also begins to reset the conscience (our internal guide to what is right and wrong). If we reject the Lord's commands, given through the apostles, our conscience will become seared and faith will fail until we shipwreck our lives (1 Timothy 1:18-20). Obeying false teaching sears the conscience and ruins faith (1 Timothy 4:2). But, if we have a clear conscience, we will want to obey the Lord and our faith will grow (Hebrews 13:18). Today is an opportunity to ask the Lord to help us examine our conscience (Psalm 139:23-24). Where we realise that we tolerate sin, we must repent and take appropriate action. As we do that we may well see other areas of life which are not right, because our sharpened conscience is starting to work: deal with those too and learn to rejoice again as your relationship with Jesus grows again.