Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t you know that we will judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?
- BSB Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!
- NKJV Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?
- NASB Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life?
- NLT Don’t you realize that we will judge angels? So you should surely be able to resolve ordinary disputes in this life.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Believers will even judge angels, so everyday matters are well within their competence. It matters because our exalted future in Christ equips us to handle ordinary disputes wisely.
Overview
Paul presses the argument further: if the saints will judge angels, how much more are they fit to decide 'things that pertain to this life.' This astonishing future authority, granted through union with the reigning Christ, exposes the absurdity of seeking pagan arbitration. Christians should value the wisdom and dignity God has given His redeemed people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Jude 1:6And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
- Matt 25:41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
- 1 Cor 6:4If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.
- Luke 8:14And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
- 2 Tim 2:4No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
- Luke 21:34And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
- 2 Pet 2:4For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
- 2 Tim 4:10For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.
- Ps 17:14From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.
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Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 6:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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