Acts 23:1
And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.
Standing before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish council, Paul declared that he had lived before God with a good and clear conscience until that day. The tribunal he calmly faced had once included him among its members. His calm, firm bearing and countenance expressed the peace of Christ and his sense of innocence.
In so speaking he was boldly and faithfully defending the truth, unashamed of the cause he defended, and opposition and persecution could not turn him from his purpose of serving Christ. His words angered his accusers because they threatened their cause. Rather than answer him with arguments, his opponents sought to silence him. His example when facing hostile opponents and authorities shows a faith strengthened through effort and purified through sacrifice, which sustained him in difficult circumstances.