The Saints Will Judge the World
Paul says: Do you wish me to bring a wise rebuke upon those who have sinned, as with a rod? Or shall I deal with you in a spirit of gentleness, as in love, and pass the matter by in silence (1 Corinthians 4:21)? But rebuke was better for them, for it would cut off at once the dreadful sin, the slackness, and the very attempt at such lawlessness. Of this the inspired Scripture also spoke concerning the people of Israel, through the voice of Joel: “A son and his father went in to the same girl, so as to profane the name of their God” (Amos 2:7).
He says that such fornication is not heard of even among the Gentiles (1 Corinthians 5:1). For he had heard somewhere, we may suppose, of Theseus, who was roused to fury against his own son, cursed him, and even killed him, after the stepmother had set him against the boy; and of certain others whom the poets in their fine verse mocked on similar charges.
“To deliver such a man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh” (1 Corinthians 5:5). By handing over the fornicator to the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved, Paul showed what is meant by “The kingdom of heaven is not in word but in power” (1 Corinthians 4:20). For this is a clear sign of the marvelous authority given to him from above. For our Lord Jesus Christ has honored the saints.
“To go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?” (1 Corinthians 6:1). He calls saints those who have been sanctified in the Spirit, and unrighteous those who have not yet believed, since they are all too ready to go after any evil whatever. For those who do not yet know him who is God by nature and in truth leave no outrage untried.
“Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?” (1 Corinthians 6:2). They will judge it, not by sitting in every case as judges on the bench, for “there is one Lawgiver and Judge” (James 4:12), but by the dignity of their life and their readiness to obey in everything. By this they all but pass sentence on the sin of the world, because the people of the world did not become their imitators. For we are all of one nature: we have all been given the earth for a mother and live in these perishable bodies. But if some of us have become lovers of God and good, what plea will be left to help, before the divine judgment seat, those who chose an inglorious and accursed life? For though they could have been honored equally with the others, they went of their own will after every kind of outrage.
“Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more the things of this life!” (1 Corinthians 6:3). We shall read the verse as a question, with a pause; this is to be read as a question, with a pause: For who would dare to say that you are unworthy of such petty courts (1 Corinthians 6:2), you who judge the world by the brightness of your life? Then he adds a reason for what he has said, and confirms the force of his argument by setting the greater case beside it. By angels here he does not mean the holy angels, but rather the apostates, who did not keep their own first rank (Jude 6). Though they were from above and not weighed down with bodies made from earth, they will be condemned by the saints in the same way as the world, through the goodness of the saints, and stand accused of every kind of shameful deed. If, then, the saints are better than angels, how could they be unworthy of the smallest courts, those that deal with worldly affairs?
“If, then, you have courts for matters of this life” (1 Corinthians 6:4). To judge the matters of this life is a very small thing, worth nothing to those in the church who are truly upright. We have been taught this, too, by the Lord. For someone came to him and said, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?” (Luke 12:13–14). It would better suit the wiser members of the church to judge spiritual things, and to test with skill the teaching about the faith. This is counted among the good gifts given from above and through the Spirit; for to some is given a word of wisdom and a word of knowledge, and to others the discerning of spirits (1 Corinthians 12:8–10).
“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 6:15). How could our bodies be members of Christ? We have him within ourselves both in a way the senses perceive…
Greek
ἐν ἀγάπῃ; Βούλεσθε, φησὶν, σοφὴν ἐπίπληξιν οἵᾳ τινὶ ῥάβδῳ ἐπαγάγω τοῖς 5 ἡμαρτηκόσιν; ἢ ἐν πνεύματι πραΰτητος καὶ ὡς ἐν ἀγάπῃ προσενεχθεὶς παραδράμω σεσιγηκώς; ἀλλ' ἦν ἄμεινον αὐτοῖς ἡ ἐπίπληξις ἅμα κόπτουσα τὸ δεινὸν καὶ τὸ ῥᾴθυμον καὶ τῆς τοιαύτης παρανομίας τὴν ἐπιχείρησιν· περὶ ἧς καὶ ἡ θεόπνευστος ἔφη γραφὴ περὶ τῶν ἐξ Ἰσραὴλ διὰ φωνῆς Ἰωήλ "Καὶ υἱὸς καὶ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ εἰσεπορεύοντο πρὸς "τὴν αὐτὴν παιδίσκην, ὅπως βεβηλώσωσι τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ "Θεοῦ αὐτῶν." ταύτην φησὶ τὴν πορνείαν οὐδὲ ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἔστιν ἀκοῦσαι· Θησέα γὰρ ἠκηκόει που κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς τεθηγμένον ἐπὶ τῷ ἰδίῳ παιδὶ, ἐπαρασάμενόν τε αὐτῷ, καὶ δὴ καὶ ἀπεκτονότα διαβεβλημένον ἐκ μητρυιᾶς· καὶ ἑτέρους τινὰς ἐπὶ τοιοῖσδε αἰτιάμασι ταῖς τῶν ποιητῶν εὐστομίαις κατεσκωμμένους. Παραδοῦναι τὸν τοιοῦτον τῷ σατανᾷ εἰς ὄλεθρον τῆς σαρκός. Ἀπέδειξε δι' ὧν τὸν πεπορνευκότα δέδωκεν εἰς ὄλεθρον τῆς σαρκὸς ἵνα τὸ πνεῦμα σωθῇ, τί ἐστιν "Οὐκ ἐν λόγῳ "ἀλλ' ἐν δυνάμει ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν·" ἐξουσίας γὰρ 262 τῆς τεθαυμασμένης καὶ δοθείσης ἄνωθεν αὐτῷ μήνυσις ἐναργής. τετίμηκε γὰρ τοὺς ἁγίους ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστός. Κρίνεσθαι ἐπὶ τῶν ἀδίκων καὶ οὐχὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἁγίων; Ἁγίους καλεῖ τοὺς ἡγιασμένους ἐν πνεύματι, ἀδίκους δὲ τοὺς οὔπω πεπιστευκότας ὡς ἑτοιμότατα λίαν πρὸς πᾶν ὁτιοῦν ἰόντας τῶν κακῶν· ἀνεπιτήδευτον γὰρ τῶν ἀτόπων οὐδὲν τοῖς οὔπω τὸν φύσει καὶ ἀληθῶς εἰδόσι Θεόν. Οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι οἱ ἅγιοι τὸν κόσμον κρινοῦσιν; Κρινοῦσι δὲ αὐτὸν οὐ πάντη τε καὶ πάντως προκαθήμενοι δικασταί· "Εἷς γὰρ ὁ νομοθέτης καὶ κριτής·" ἀλλὰ τῇ τοῦ βίου σεμνότητι καὶ τῇ πρὸς πᾶν εὐπειθείᾳ μονονουχὶ καθορίζοντες τοῦ κόσμου τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, ὅτι μὴ γεγόνασιν αὐτῶν μιμηταί. μιᾶς μὲν γὰρ φύσεως οἱ πάντες ἐσμὲν, εἰ καὶ μητέρα λαχόντες τὴν γῆν καὶ ἐν τούτοις τοῖς ἐπικήροις ὄντες σώμασιν, ἀλλ' εἰ γεγόνασίν τινες ἐξ ἡμῶν φιλόθεοί τε καὶ ἀγαθοὶ, ποῖος ἄρα λοιπὸν ἐπικουρήσει λόγος τοῖς τὴν ἀκλεᾶ καὶ ἐπάρατον ἑλομένοις ζωὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ θείου βήματος; ἐξὸν γὰρ ἐν ἴσῳ τοῖς ἄλλοις κατασεμνύνεσθαι, πρὸς πᾶν ὁτιοῦν τῶν ἐκτόπων ἐθελονταὶ κεχωρήκασιν. Οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ἀγγέλους κρινοῦμεν; μήτι γε βιωτικά; Ἀναγνωσόμεθα δὲ τὸν στίχον ὡς ἐν ἐρωτήσει καὶ ὑποστιγμῇ, ὡς κατὰ ἐρώτησιν ἀναγνωστέον τοῦτο καθ' ὑποστιγμήν Τίς γὰρ ὁ τολμῶν εἰπεῖν, ὅτι ἀνάξιοί ἐστε τῶν οὕτως εὐτελεστάτων κριτηρίων, οἱ τῇ τοῦ βίου λαμπρότητι κρίνοντες τὸν κόσμον; εἶτα καὶ λογισμὸν ἐπάγει τοῦ εἰρημένου τῇ τοῦ μείζονος παραθέσει συνιστῶν τὸ τοῦ λόγου βέβαιον. ἀγγέλους δὲ ὧδε οὐχ ἁγίους, τοὺς ἀποστάτας δὲ 263 μᾶλλον λέγει, τοὺς τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἀρχὴν οὐ τετηρηκότας, οἳ ἄνωθεν ὄντες καὶ σώμασι τοῖς ἀπὸ γῆς οὐ πεφορτισμένοι, κατακριθήσονται ὑπὸ τῶν ἁγίων κατὰ τὸν ἴσον τῷ κόσμῳ τρόπον διὰ τῆς τῶν ἁγίων ἐπιεικείας, ἐφ' ἅπασι τοῖς αἰσχίστοις κατηγορούμενοι. εἰ οὖν ἀγγελῶν ἀμείνους οἱ ἅγιοι, πῶς ἀνάξιοι κριτηρίων ἐλαχίστων εἶεν ἂν τῶν ἐπὶ πράγμασι κοσμικοῖς; Βιωτικὰ μὲν οὖν κριτήρια ἐὰν ἔχητε. Μικρὸν κομιδῆ καὶ τοῦ μηδενὸς ἄξιον τοῖς ἄγαν ἐπιεικέσιν ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ τὸ κρίνειν ἐστὶ τὰ βιωτικά· πεπαιδεύμεθα δὲ καὶ τοῦτο παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου· προσῄει μὲν γάρ τις αὐτῷ λέγων "∆ιδάσκαλε εἰπὲ τῷ ἀδελφῷ μου μερίσασθαι μετ' "ἐμοῦ τὴν κληρονομίαν· ὁ δὲ πρὸς αὐτόν Ἄνθρωπε, φησὶ, "τίς με κατέστησε κριτὴν ἢ μεριστὴν ἐφ' ὑμᾶς;" πρέποι γὰρ ἂν μᾶλλον καὶ νουνεχεστέροις ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ τὸ κρίνειν τὰ πνευματικὰ, τὸ βασανίζειν εὐτέχνως τὸν περὶ πίστεως λόγον· ἐνηρίθμηται δὲ τοῦτο τοῖς ἄνωθεν καὶ διὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἀγαθοῖς· δίδοται γάρ τισι λόγος σοφίας καὶ λόγος γνώσεως, ἑτέροις δὲ καὶ διάκρισις πνευμάτων. Οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν μέλη Χριστοῦ ἐστιν; Πῶς ἂν εἶεν μέλη Χριστοῦ τὰ ἡμῶν; ἔχομεν αὐτὸν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς αἰσθητῶς