There are some verses in the Bible that we can read dozens of times without really stopping to think about what they mean. Then, suddenly, one phrase catches our attention and refuses to let us move on.
For me, one of those phrases came up recently in a sermon I was listening to and it is found in 1 Corinthians 6 “Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world?” (1 Corinthians 6:2)
It is a remarkable statement, Christians will judge the world.
But almost immediately, questions begin to pile up. Aren’t Christians themselves going to be judged? Doesn’t Paul elsewhere say that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:10)? If God alone is the Judge, what exactly are believers doing judging the world? And perhaps most puzzling of all – how could ordinary Christians possibly possess the wisdom necessary for such a task?
The more we think about Paul’s words, the stranger they can initially seem.
Yet this little phrase opens up something glorious about the Christian’s future, and something deeply challenging about the Christian’s life now.
The Surprising Context
Perhaps the first surprising thing about 1 Corinthians 6:2 is the situation in which Paul says it.
He is not giving the Corinthians a lecture about the end times. He is dealing with Christians who are taking one another to court.
There were disputes within the church, and rather than resolving them among themselves, believers were bringing their grievances before unbelieving judges.
Paul is astonished. “Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbour, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints?” (1 Corinthians 6:1).
Then comes his argument “Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?” (v.2)
Paul’s reasoning is essentially this: If God intends Christians to participate in the judgment of the world in the age to come, surely Christians ought to possess enough spiritual wisdom to resolve ordinary disputes among themselves now.
The future should shape the present. Our destiny ought to affect our discipleship.
That is one of Paul’s great concerns throughout 1 Corinthians. The Corinthians have forgotten who they are and where history is going. Paul repeatedly lifts their eyes beyond the immediate situation and reminds them of the coming kingdom of Christ.
You are going to inherit the kingdom. You are going to be raised. You belong to Christ. And, astonishingly, you will even participate in his judgment of the world. So why are you living as though none of that is true?
But Aren’t Christians Going to Be Judged Too?
This is where the question becomes particularly interesting. Scripture clearly teaches that Christians will stand before Christ.
Romans 14:10 says “For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.” And 2 Corinthians 5:10 tells us “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” So how can those who are themselves judged also participate in judgment? The answer begins by recognising that Scripture speaks about judgment in different senses.
For those who are in Christ, the final judgment is not a trial to determine whether Christ has paid enough for our sins, the gospel has already answered that question. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
Jesus does not save us provisionally, waiting until judgment day to discover whether the cross was sufficient. The believer is justified by faith. Christ has borne our condemnation. Our sins have been dealt with fully and finally at the cross.
And yet Christians will still appear before Christ. Our lives will be brought into the light. Our works will be assessed. Our faithfulness will be revealed. Scripture speaks of reward and loss in connection with this evaluation (1 Corinthians 3:12–15).
We will therefore be judged by Christ without being condemned by Christ. That distinction matters. The Christian does not approach the judgment seat hoping desperately that his good deeds will outweigh his sins. He approaches clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
The Judge is also his Saviour. And remarkably, those who have been redeemed by Christ will then share in Christ’s reign.
What Does It Mean That Christians Will “Judge the World”?
Paul does not give us a detailed description of what this judgment will look like. That should make us cautious. The Bible sometimes tells us clearly that something will happen without telling us precisely how it will happen.
We should resist the temptation to fill in the gaps with speculation. But Scripture gives us enough to see the broad picture. Daniel saw a vision in which “the saints of the Most High” receive the kingdom and participate in judgment (Daniel 7:22, 27).
Jesus told his apostles “In the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Matthew 19:28)
In Revelation, God’s people reign with Christ (Revelation 20:4). Paul himself later writes “If we endure, we will also reign with him.” (2 Timothy 2:12)
Taken together, these passages point towards something extraordinary: believers will participate in the reign and righteous judgment of Jesus Christ.
We will not become independent judges competing with God. We will not develop our own standards of justice. We will not somehow replace Christ as Judge.
But, we will share in the judgment of Christ because we belong to Christ. The authority remains his. The verdict remains his. The righteousness remains his. But his redeemed people will participate in his reign.
In some way that Scripture does not fully explain, the saints will stand with Christ as he publicly demonstrates the righteousness of his judgment over the world.
Perhaps Our Judgment Will Also Be a Witness
There may also be another dimension to Paul’s words. The transformed lives of believers will themselves testify to the justice of God.
Think about what happens when someone hears the gospel, refuses Christ, and claims that obedience to God was unreasonable or impossible.
Standing in the kingdom will be millions of ordinary Christians who lived in the same broken world, experienced the same temptations, carried the same weaknesses, and yet by grace trusted Christ.
Not perfectly or sinlessly but truly. Their salvation will demonstrate both the mercy and righteousness of God. The very existence of the redeemed church may therefore form part of the public vindication of God’s judgment.
Jesus said something similar when he spoke about the people of Nineveh rising at the judgment and condemning those who rejected him (Matthew 12:41). Their response to lesser revelation exposed the unbelief of those who received greater revelation. In that sense, lives can judge. Faithfulness can testify. Grace can expose rebellion.
But Where Will We Get the Wisdom?
This may be the most intriguing part of the question. If Christians will participate in judging the world, how could we possibly be qualified?
Look at the church today and the question becomes even more pressing. Christians misunderstand one another. We make foolish decisions. We disagree about relatively simple matters. We sometimes struggle to resolve disagreements about rotas, budgets, ministries and meeting times. And yet Paul says we will judge the world.
How?
The answer is not that Christians possess extraordinary wisdom in ourselves. The answer is that we will be perfected in Christ. At present, our knowledge is partial. Paul says later in the same letter “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)
Our judgment is currently clouded by sin, ignorance, pride, fear, selfishness and limited knowledge. But those things will not follow us into glory. When Christ returns, his people will be glorified. Sin will be gone. Our minds will no longer be corrupted by selfish desires. Our hearts will no longer be distorted by pride. Our understanding will no longer be clouded by ignorance in the way it is now. We will never become omniscient. Only God knows everything. But we will be perfectly righteous creatures.
We will love what Christ loves. We will hate what Christ hates. We will see justice without the distorting influence of sin. In other words, the wisdom necessary to participate in Christ’s judgment will be wisdom given to us by Christ himself. We will judge rightly because we will finally see rightly.
Our Future Should Change How We Live Now
This brings us back to Paul’s original point. He is not primarily trying to satisfy our curiosity about the mechanics of the final judgment. He is confronting Christians with the inconsistency of their present behaviour. “If the world is judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?” (1 Corinthians 6:2).
Paul wants the Corinthians to live now in light of who they will become then. And that challenge still lands heavily on the church. If we are destined to reign with Christ, should we not learn wisdom now? If we will participate in righteous judgment then, should we not practise righteous judgment now? If we will live forever in a kingdom characterised by holiness, justice, truth and love, should those things not increasingly characterise our churches today?
There is something tragically ironic about Christians who are destined to judge the world but cannot resolve a minor disagreement without resentment, gossip or hostility. Paul wants maturity. He expects Christians to grow in discernment. Not worldly cleverness. Not political sophistication. Not the ability to win arguments. Biblical wisdom. The kind of wisdom formed by Scripture, shaped by Christ and empowered by the Spirit.
Christians Must Learn to Judge Without Becoming Judgmental
This raises an important distinction. Our culture often treats all judgment as inherently wrong. “Who are you to judge?” has become almost a secular commandment. Sometimes Christians respond by becoming embarrassed about making moral judgments at all. But Scripture does not teach us to abandon judgment. It teaches us to judge rightly.
Jesus says “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” (John 7:24). Paul expects the Corinthians to exercise discernment. Earlier he had rebuked them for failing to judge serious sin within the church (1 Corinthians 5:12). The Christian life therefore requires moral discernment. We must distinguish truth from error. Wisdom from foolishness. Holiness from sin. Faithfulness from compromise.
But there is an enormous difference between judging rightly and being judgmental. Judgmentalism delights in finding faults. Biblical discernment grieves over sin. Judgmentalism compares others unfavourably with ourselves. Biblical discernment compares everything with the Word of God. Judgmentalism is often quick, proud and self-assured. Biblical discernment is humble, patient and conscious of our own weakness.
The people who will one day participate in Christ’s perfect judgment should increasingly reflect the character of Christ in the way we exercise discernment now.
We Need the Word More Than Ever
There is also a challenge here for how Christians develop wisdom. Where will believers learn to judge rightly? Primarily through Scripture. Paul’s criticism of the Corinthians assumes that Christians ought to develop spiritual maturity. Wisdom does not appear automatically simply because someone has been a Christian for twenty years. Time alone does not create discernment. God’s Word does.
The Christian who constantly absorbs the assumptions of the surrounding culture but rarely reads Scripture should not be surprised when his moral instincts increasingly resemble the culture. We are being discipled constantly. But the question is – by whom?
News feeds disciple us. Entertainment disciples us. Social media disciples us. Political tribes disciple us. Friends disciple us. Our own desires disciple us. And against that constant stream of formation stands the Word of God.
If Christians are going to develop the wisdom necessary to navigate complicated questions now, we need minds increasingly shaped by Scripture. Not merely Bible verses stored somewhere in our memory. We need biblical categories. Biblical instincts. Biblical priorities. Biblical wisdom.
We should want to know God’s Word so thoroughly that when difficult situations arise, Scripture has already trained our consciences to recognise what is good.
The Judge Who Was Judged for Us
Yet perhaps the most astonishing part of all this is not that Christians will judge the world. It is why they will be there at all. We are not naturally qualified to stand alongside Christ. We are not naturally righteous. We are not naturally wise. We are sinners who deserve judgment. And yet the Judge entered his own courtroom. The one who will judge the living and the dead came into the world and stood condemned in the place of sinners.
At the cross, Christ bore the judgment his people deserved. That is the only reason any Christian will stand with confidence on the last day. We will not stand there boasting about our wisdom. We will stand there amazed by grace. The saints who judge the world are themselves people who deserved to be judged and condemned, but whose condemnation was carried by Christ.
That truth should destroy arrogance. If thinking about Christians judging the world makes us feel superior to unbelievers, we have completely misunderstood the gospel. We are saved judges only because the Judge became our substitute.
Prepare Now for the Kingdom Then
One day Jesus Christ will return. Every injustice will be addressed. Every hidden thing will be exposed. Every lie will collapse. Every wrong will be righted. Christ will judge with flawless righteousness. And remarkably, his redeemed people will share in his reign. We do not yet know exactly what that participation will involve.
But Scripture tells us enough to make us wonder, and enough to make us examine ourselves. The question is not merely ‘How will Christians judge the world then?’ Perhaps Paul wants us to ask something closer to this ‘If that is who we are going to be then, what kind of people should we be becoming now?’
If that is who we are going to be then, what kind of people should we be becoming now?
People of wisdom, discernment, who know Scripture, who pursue holiness, who resolve disagreements graciously, who refuse petty quarrels, who judge carefully rather than arrogantly, and people whose lives increasingly reflect the righteous King with whom they will one day reign.
The future dignity God has promised his people should produce present humility and maturity. One day the saints will judge the world. Today, therefore, we should be learning to think like citizens of the kingdom that is coming.
Chalmers' Blog 