by Tom Wacaster
Most civilized countries recognize the need for lower and higher courts. Our constitution and the various laws surrounding that national legal system utilize these lower and higher courts in an attempt to provide a reasonable degree of justice for all men. Nations sometimes appeal to the international court to settle issues between one another. Following WWII, trials were held at Nuremberg, Germany to try men guilty of crimes against humanity. That court was not a national law or a state law, but a law recognized to be far superior to the laws that men might devise or establish.
When Paul penned his first epistle to the church at Corinth, he (by divine inspiration) recognized at least three courts of judgment to which all men answer (1 Cor. 4:3-5). From these three verses, we derive the following courts of judgment.
First, there is the court of personal opinion. He states in verse three, “it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you.” Paul never sought the approval of men, for if he were trying to please men, he would not have become a servant of Christ (Gal. 1:10). Paul began chapter four with a reference to what is expected of a steward (4:1-2). A faithful steward is not so much concerned with pleasing those in the house as he is pleasing the master. Warren Wiersbe put it like this:
“The responsibility of the steward is to be faithful to his master. A steward may not please the members of the household; he may not even please some of the other servants; but if he pleases his own master, he is a good steward” (582).
We must be careful lest we think that the court of public opinion is to be completely shunned. Consider just a few verses that press this point: “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time” (Col. 4:5). One of the qualifications of an elder is that he “have good testimony from them that are without” (1 Tim. 3:7). Even our Lord is said to have grown in “favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). It was this court of public opinion to which Paul appealed when he admonished the brethren, “If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men” (Rom. 12:18). It must be cautioned, however, that congeniality toward our fellowman should be courted with the strictest limits of absolute fidelity to Jesus Christ and the Inspired Word.
Second, there is the court of a man’s conscience. The apostle writes, “Yea, I judge not mine own self” (1 Cor. 4:3b). Paul is not discouraging self-examination. Indeed, he wrote in his second epistle to the Corinthians, “Try your own selves, whether ye are in the faith; prove your own selves” (2 Cor. 13:5a). Here is a higher court than that of public opinion. Paul appears to have been a man who lived his life with a clear conscience, even when he was in error (Acts 23:1). Raccoon John Smith recounts in the process of his conversion his unwavering allegiance to his conscience:
“The responsibility of the steward is to be faithful to his master. A steward may not please the members of the household; he may not even please some of the other servants; but if he pleases his own master, he is a good steward” (582).
We must be careful lest we think that the court of public opinion is to be completely shunned. Consider just a few verses that press this point: “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time” (Col. 4:5). One of the qualifications of an elder is that he “have good testimony from them that are without” (1 Tim. 3:7). Even our Lord is said to have grown in “favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). It was this court of public opinion to which Paul appealed when he admonished the brethren, “If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men” (Rom. 12:18). It must be cautioned, however, that congeniality toward our fellowman should be courted with the strictest limits of absolute fidelity to Jesus Christ and the Inspired Word.
Second, there is the court of a man’s conscience. The apostle writes, “Yea, I judge not mine own self” (1 Cor. 4:3b). Paul is not discouraging self-examination. Indeed, he wrote in his second epistle to the Corinthians, “Try your own selves, whether ye are in the faith; prove your own selves” (2 Cor. 13:5a). Here is a higher court than that of public opinion. Paul appears to have been a man who lived his life with a clear conscience, even when he was in error (Acts 23:1). Raccoon John Smith recounts in the process of his conversion his unwavering allegiance to his conscience:
Conscience is an article that I have not brought into the market. But if I should offer it for sale, Montgomery County with all its lands and houses would not be enough to buy it, much less that farm of one hundred acres (Williams, 198).
Third, there is the court of God’s judgment. This, of course, is the highest court of all. Paul wrote, “He that judgeth me is the Lord” (1 Cor. 4:4). It is the perfect judgment for the following reasons. It will be at the right time, the time of God’s choosing. It will be based on the right standard, the Word of God (John 12:48). It will search the very depths of a man’s heart (Heb. 4:12). All things will be “naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do (Heb. 4:13). None shall escape God’s judgment (2 Cor. 5:10). That judgment will be presided over by the perfect Judge, Jesus Christ the Lord (Acts 10:42, 17:31-32).
In all of these various courts of judgment, it is to be noted that no one is an island unto himself. All men must be held accountable for their actions, whether it be in this life, or on that final Day when we give an account of those things done in the body (2 Cor. 5:10).
In all of these various courts of judgment, it is to be noted that no one is an island unto himself. All men must be held accountable for their actions, whether it be in this life, or on that final Day when we give an account of those things done in the body (2 Cor. 5:10).
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