The Invisible Umpire

"Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace." 2 Corinthians 1:12
  
The apostle Paul writes with great confidence that his conduct in the world and towards his fellow believers is right before God. The questions that his boast raises are the following: 

How can Paul be so sure that he is right and who or what determines what is right and wrong?

Although Paul did not depend on his conscience to determine whether he was right before God, he regarded his conscience as the umpire of his life.

"I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me." 1 Corinthians 4:3,4

The One who determines what is right or wrong is God Himself. We cannot depend on human wisdom or the world's wisdom or even on our own wisdom to determine what is right and what is wrong. However, we can choose who or what will govern our conscience.

The conscience is the invisible umpire who judges according to one's own standard, the world's standard or God's standard.

 
For example, if I choose my feelings and desires to govern my conscience, I will live according to what I desire and will be ok with that. Or, if I choose to let what is socially acceptable or that which the media communicates is acceptable to govern my conscience I will live according to the world's standard and be ok with that. Likewise I can choose to let my conscience be governed by what I, myself consider to be right and live according to my wisdom and be ok with that.

The problem, however, is that what is ok for me may not be ok for you. In that case, who is to say what is right and what is wrong?

A quick test will help you think about this question of what determines what is right or wrong:

• Is same sex marriage ok? Why or why not?
• Is murder ok? Why or why not?
• Is incest ok? Why or why not?
• Is adultery ok? Why or why not?
• Is fornication ok? Why or why not?
• Is stealing ok? Why or why not?

Perhaps your general answer would be something along the lines of: as long as I don't harm another person, I can do what I like and that's ok.

The problem, once again is, who determines what is harmful to another person?

As a believer in God as the Judge of all, I choose to align my conscience to the righteousness (that which is ok before God) that is at work in my life by the influence of the Holy Spirit and revealed by His Word. Every believer has received the gift of righteousness that is at work in his or her life (see Romans 5-7). Together with God's revealed will (the Bible), the Holy Spirit makes God's heart and willl known to the believer's conscience so that s/he can have the confidence that s/he is living according to God's standard with integrity and godly sincerity. God's gift of His presence and the revelation of His will is the grace by which the believer is called to live his or her life.

Can we say with Paul, "Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace."?

Be strengthened by grace!

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand." Rom. 5:1,2

Stand in grace

God has made provision for man to stand in His undeserved favour! By depending on Christ's righteousness, the believer is made right with God and is able to enter into God's gift of love. Having removed the barrier of hostility, Jesus invites the believer to participate in God and to be a partaker of His divine nature. Once the believer enters God's favour by faith, he can stand in God's grace, enjoying the pleasure of God and the Father's delight in His child. 

 Grace reigns

 Once the believer learns to dwell in God's grace, the Lord's grace can reign in the believer. Paul writes that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace reigns through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 5:21). The believer therefore reigns in life as he remains in grace and God's grace reigns in his life! 

Strengthened by grace

God wants us to understand what He has freely given us in Christ! As the believer receives revelation of this wonderful truth by the Spirit of God (see 1 Cor. 2:12), he can stand in grace, allow grace to reign and be strengthened by God's favour! 

"You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." 2 Tim. 2:1

Grace for holiness

 

When the believer stands in grace and grace is reigning in his life, he can find grace to be strengthened in life and overcome all the obstacles of the enemy. It is this grace that "teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and wordly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright lives in this present age." (Titus 2:11,12)

The throne of grace

The believer is encouraged to approach the throne of grace with confidence, to receive mercy and find grace in his time of need (Heb.4:16). It is therefore the knowledge and experience of God's unconditional love and favour that strengthens us and encourages us to persevere in holiness and righteousness. It is God's kindness to us that leads us to repentance (Rom. 2:4) and places the desire in our hearts to live to please God - not to earn favour but because we have been lavished with His love and receive His favour despite our short-comings! 

The greater the revelation of God's grace and love, 

the more we are filled with Him and desire to live for Him  

(see Eph. 3:17-19)

Child of God, approach the throne of grace with confidence. Enter the grace of God and let His grace reign in your life through Christ's righteousness. Be strengthened and encouraged by God's grace so that you can overcome temptation and live a holy life that is pleasing to God.

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift to us!

Are you playing God?

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1

Christ came to set us free but what exactly is the believer liberated from?

Freedom from guilt.

Jesus says in John 12:47 that He came into the world not to judge it but to save it. The apostle Paul writes,

"Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit." Romans 8.1-4

Taking God's place!

Sadly many believers don't realise this truth and instead of walking in God's mercy and grace, they live a life of self-condemnation and self-righteousness! This comes about when believers usurp God's judgement seat and condemn themselves and others when they do not measure up to their own standard of perfection or righteousness. In their minds they still think that they have to attain perfection to be acceptable to God and so they try their best to live a righteous life. When they sin they condemn themselves until they have confessed their sin to be able to consider themselves to be righteous once again.

Who is on the Judgement Seat?

The problem with this mind-set is that the believer determines when he is righteous and when he is not. With the same usurped authority to condemn himself, the believer then considers himself righteous once he has confessed his sin or is living a righteous life according to his own standard. Those who have taken a seat on God's judgement seat try to live up to their own standard of perfection and expect others to do the same. They are burdened by a yoke of slavery to their own legal system - the very thing Jesus came to set us free from!

God's mercy

A woman was caught in adultery and was brought before Jesus by her accusers. Jesus' response was to say to the accusers (those who had placed themselves on God's judgement seat),

"If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." John 8:7

"At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' 'No one, sir,' she said. 'Then neither do I condemn you,' Jesus declared. 'Go now and leave your life of sin.'"

The One who was without sin had every right to judge the woman and condemn her but he did not (see John 8:7)! Jesus set her free by extending mercy and grace to her.

The pride of self-righteousness

The believer who condemns himself and others will also exalt himself in his pride. Many believers think that self-condemnation is humility but fail to realise that it is our pride that usurps God's right to condemn when we condemn ourselves and consequently exalt ourselves!

Paul writes, "My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God." 1 Cor. 4:4,5

Depending on Christ

In other words, the believer cannot declare himself innocent just because he is not conscious of sin. Our righteousness is dependent on Christ's righteousness since it is in Him that the righteous requirements of the law are fulfilled in us!

What are some of the indicators that the believer is walking in slavery?

• Sin-consciousness rather than grace-consciousness (Heb. 10:1-10; Gal. 5:4)

• Feelings of guilt rather than blamelessness (Col. 1:22)

• Experiencing condemnation rather than freedom (Rom. 8)

• Pride (depending on self) rather than humility (depending on Christ's righteousness)

• Judgemental toward self and others rather than loving, accepting and forgiving of oneself and others (Rom. 2:1-4)

• Legalistic toward self and others rather than gracious toward self and others

• Slave to self-created standards rather than living in the freedom of sonship

• Tendency to feel the need to confess sin before feeling able to "enter into God's presence" (however, see Heb. 4:16; 10:19-22)

The purpose of judgement in this life is to keep us on the right track but not to condemn us. 1 Cor. 11:32

Christ is our Righteousness

It is our dependence on the grace we receive in Christ that sets us free from guilt and condemnation.

"It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus who has become for us wisdom from God - that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: 'Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.'" 1 Cor, 2:30,31

Let's not play God and usurp His judgement seat! In humility receive and depend on the grace of God that has been revealed in Christ. Walk in the freedom of the sons of God! Don't allow the devil to accuse you and tempt you to condemn yourself when God has declared you blameless in Christ! It is for freedom that Christ has set you free!

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