Paul’s Favorite Question - Part 3

Paul’s favorite question - “Do you not know?” - is found fifteen times, but in only three of his letters. Of the fifteen times it appears, he asked the Corinthians eleven of those times. Being questioned is not always a bad thing. If we are questioned about our faith, we are caused to be more thorough in our study. Being questioned can help us uncover blind spots in our own thinking, too. Those are good things! If we are holding to the truth, there should be no fear of being questioned. The truth does not fear interrogation.

Paul asked, “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world...Know ye not that we shall judge angels? (1 Cor. 6:2-3). Within the immediate context, Paul was addressing yet another problem in the church at Corinth. Christians were taking other Christians to court in front of nonbelievers (1 Cor. 6:1, 6). He shamed them for such conduct! Listen to this rebuking question: “I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? No, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren” (1 Cor. 6:5). The Corinthians should have been embarrassed over this conduct! There were really three faults - (1) they were taking each other to court, (2) they were doing so before unbelievers, and (3) there was apparently no one within the congregation spiritually mature enough to help brethren who were at odds with each other.

It is acknowledged by most people that these two verses are somewhat difficult to understand. The saints shall judge the world and angels? To what could Paul be referring? For instance, Jesus said, “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son” (Jn. 5:22). Paul wrote that judgment will take place at the throne of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10). Are these passages contradictory?

First Corinthians 6:2 - “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? Understanding the immediate, historical context it is clear that the church in Corinth should have had members who were “wise” and “able” to deal with whatever issues were coming up among the membership at large instead of going through a legal process in front of non-Christians (v. 1, 6-7). There are two reasonable, generally accepted interpretations of this phrase. First, while Christ is the Judge of all (2 Cor. 5:10), Jesus also conveyed judgmental authority in the kingdom to His apostles (Matt. 19:28). In turn, Christians should be able to discern apostolic doctrine as revealed by their teaching and writing and come to the same conclusions they did. Second, Christians should be able, “by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Heb. 5:12-14). Children of God can look around them and know that certain behaviors are sinful. In that sense, they “judge” the world. Both perspectives are certainly plausible.

First Corinthians 6:3 - ”Know ye not that we shall judge angels?” There are two groups of angels mentioned in the Bible - those who are “ministering spirits” doing God’s will (Heb. 1:14) and those who were “cast down” and are waiting for judgment (Jude 6). As mentioned above, God gave to Jesus the authority to serve as Judge (Jn. 5:22). God will judge the world by the One He has ordained and raised from the dead (Acts 17:31). There is a day of universal judgment coming. Scripture says that certain angels are “reserved unto judgment” and “reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day” (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6). There is much we do not know about angels. Anyone who pretends to have all the answers on that subject is just that - pretending! While there is a lot of mystery surrounding angels, there are some things we can know. They are not divine beings like God, but neither are they human. They shouted for joy at creation (Job 38:7), but are not ever presented in Scripture as eternal in existence. Humans are “a little lower than the angels” (Ps. 8:3-5; Heb. 2:9) and are not eternal beings as God Himself is (Ps. 90:2). Angels are not beings who are worthy of worship (Rev. 19:9-10). How then will saints judge angels? It again seems to be a plausible explanation that saints, i.e. Christians, will judge angels in the same way they will judge the world. We can look at their conduct as revealed in Scripture and come to the same conclusions that the Judge has reached. While Christians are not THE judge, they can know what THE Judge has decreed and reach the same conclusions.