75 Bible Questions – 65 Aren’t Christians Supposed to Execute Judgment?

1 Corinthians 6:2-3 “Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?  Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!”

What could Paul have meant when he said that “the world is to be judged by you” and “Do you not know that we are to judge angels?” when it is widely preached that we are not to judge others as Matthew 7:1 says “Judge not, that you be not judged,” but could it be that the next verse, that is sometimes left out, which says “For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you” means when we judge, we must judge how we want to be judged in return?

Paul instructed us not to enter into the worldly courts with our disputes lest we be judged by a secular court, rather, there should be a court in the church that can settle such matters that need judging, otherwise we should settle our affairs before we are dragged before a court [Matthew 5:25 & Luke 12:57-59].

So if the church is to pronounce judgments based on the Bible, as the church grows larger and begins to fill the earth, which could be the judgment of the world Paul spoke about in 1 Corinthians 6:2-3, won’t Christians need to be knowledgeable concerning the law and judgment as it seems Paul is urging them to be?

Matthew 7:1-2 “Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.”

John 7:24  “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

John 8:16  “Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.”

Matthew 5:25  “Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.”

Luke 12:57-59 “And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?  As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison.  I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”

Verses For Thought:

John 12:47 "If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world."

James 4:12 "There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?"