1 Corinthians 6:1–3
[1] Dare any of you, having a matter against his neighbor, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? [2] Don’t you know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? [3] Don’t you know that we will judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?
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The cutscene below is a humorous imagining of the disagreements happening at the church in Corinth.
Yes, this cutscene was meant to be funny, but… it is based on real disagreements. Nobody really knows what the exact dispute was that Paul was writing about, but the previous chapter (1 Corinthians 5) states that someone in the church had slept with their father’s wife. There are also hints in the letter that Paul was addressing a property dispute. Both incidents could also be part of the same dispute; the affair could have triggered a dispute over the inheritance.
Play the cutscene and help Paul’s letter reach Corinth.
Let’s put it all together.
In a previous module, we learned that God assigned angels to rule over the nations of the world (see Deuteronomy 32). In 1 Corinthians 6:1–3, we learn that Jesus’ followers play a role in bringing justice to the angels.
Paul mentioned the angels in power again in a letter to the church in Ephesus. Check out Ephesians 6:11–12 (ESV):
[11] Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. [12] For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Why It Matters
Two Christians in Corinth are suing each other, and Paul’s response is to ask whether they know that one day Jesus’ followers will judge the world… and angels! What’s surprising here is how fast he moves past it. He doesn’t argue for the claim or explain it, but instead treats it as something they already know. Then he uses it to make this point: “If that is your future, you can handle a human dispute.”
We covered the background of this surprising claim in previous modules. In Psalm 82, God stands in the divine council and judges the “gods” for ruling the nations unjustly. Daniel 10 assumes territorial “gods” (basically angels) who influence human affairs. Paul tells us that right now, there’s a power imbalance in favor of the angels. Some of those angels use their power unjustly. But one day that power imbalance will be reversed.
Hebrews works within that same idea. Humans were made lower than the angels (Psalm 8:5), but the author also tells us this is a temporary situation. The coming world will not be “subject to angels” (Hebrews 2:5).
Paul uses sarcasm in his letter to tell the church that their small disagreement is actually a training ground. How we handle a grievance with someone in our own community is not really that different from the role we’re being prepared for. Which means how we handle conflict in this life matters. Today the stakes are smaller. We’re meant to bring justice and healing to the situations we face in this world. But someday the stakes will be higher; we’re ultimately meant to share in Jesus’ rule of the entire cosmos.
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