1 Corinthians 6:1-8 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?… The apostle seems to refer to something in Christian doctrine well known then, but very obscure now. He asks with a tone of surprise, "Do not ye know?" We always look forward to being judged, not to judging others, and if the words stood alone, indeed, we might think that they only spoke of "judging" in the sense of "condemning" by contrast or example, as the men of Nineveh the generation in Which Christ lived. But this reference to future judgment does not stand alone (see Daniel 7:22; Matthew 19:28; Revelation 20:4; Revelation 2:26). Looking to all that is said about the judgment to come, I suppose that Christians will first be judged according to the new nature of which they have been made partakers, and the new light which has been accorded to them; that afterwards the heathen "world," according to other standards and other necessities; and that in this judgment the saints will bear a part. Now, if it be so, does it not anticipate a frequent difficulty, the eternal fate of the heathen? Know this, thou shalt be consulted concerning these very heathen, if only thou be found worthy as a Christian. Only live as it becometh saints, and no sentence shall be passed without thy consent, or contrary to thy sense of justice, for the saints shall judge the world. The saints are also to judge angels, bad angels; for it does not appear how the others would be liable to any judgment at all. If it be asked why this should be so, it may be replied that their probation and fate has ever been mixed up with our own. In the days of our Lord they found a solace and a certain fierce joy in possessing themselves of the bodies of men, and only abandoned them at His almighty word. And these are now finally cast down to Tartarus and reserved under chains of darkness for the judgment of the last day. Contemplating their long connection in guilt and degradation with us children of men, shall we wonder if their final sentence also shall not be passed without us? (R. Winterbotham, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? |
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