Acts 24:16 → Proverbs 3:4

Paul sums up his manner of life: "I strive always to maintain a clear conscience before God and man" (Acts 24:16), a formula that echoes the wisdom ideal of Proverbs 3:4 — to "find favor and high regard in the sight of God and man." Though the Hebrew Bible has no exact word for "conscience," the twin orientation toward God and neighbor is thoroughly at home in Israel's wisdom, which measures integrity by both vertical and horizontal fidelity. Paul's clear conscience is not self-righteousness but the fruit of grace, the outworking of a life reordered by the gospel toward God and others. Such integrity finds its source and pattern in Christ, who alone kept perfect faith toward God and man, and who through his blood purifies the conscience to serve the living God (Hebrews 9:14).