“Do You Not Know That We Will Judge Angels?” What Paul Assumes about a Common Eschatology
(A Divine Council Perspective on 1 Corinthians 6:3)
In 1 Corinthians 6:3, Paul asks, “Do you not know that we will judge angels?” When read from the Divine Council worldview (DCW) perspective, the question tugs at several biblical-theological threads that influence the view of Christ’s people in the eschaton and their participation in divine governance. As Paul’s rhetorical question indicates, followers of Christ will, in some way, participate in the final judgment of angels, understood under the DCW as fallen spiritual beings (the consummation of the Psalm 82 judgment as revisited in Revelation 20:11-15). Scripture presents the saints as co-rulers with Christ, as seen in Revelation 2:26-27, where Jesus declares, “The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations.” Likewise, Revelation 5:10 affirms that those belonging to Christ will be made “a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” Paul assumes a seemingly general knowledge of the day, that “believers, having been exalted with Christ who rules over all powers, will play a role in the final judgment of those powers” (Reid, “Angels, Archangels,” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, 22).
The judgment of angels (angels, in its general New Testament usage, not the specific office) draws on Jewish eschatological traditions, particularly Daniel 7:22, which states that “judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.” As is often the case, New Testament revelation relies heavily on, if not recapitulates, Second Temple expectations developed from the Old Testament texts. These extrabiblical texts, such as 1 Enoch, reinforce the expectation of divine beings being held accountable for their sins. Most notably, the Watchers (sons of God in Genesis 6:1-4) are bound “till the day of their judgment and the consummation, till the judgment that is forever and ever comes to pass. In those days, they shall be led off to the abyss of fiery torment” (1 Enoch 16:1, quoted from Delgado, The Watchers and the Holy Ones, 37). This context provides a necessary precursor to the saints’ position in the role of cosmic justice (Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible, 1 Cor 6:2–3). Paul relies upon the future responsibility of the Saints as a foundation for his argument against believers appealing to secular courts for interpersonal matters, asserting that if they will one day judge supernatural beings, they should be competent to resolve disputes among themselves. This eschatological authority is linked to believers’ identity as children of God, as Romans 8:17 states, “and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.” The ultimate glorification of the saints is further emphasized in Philippians 3:21, where Christ “will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body.” Certainly, Paul understood the difficulty of his challenge to unglorified people to live and think as glorified saints. However, he appeals to the perfected state of the resurrected saints to point them toward Christ’s righteousness in their present state.
Paul’s rebuke in 1 Corinthians 6:1-3 demonstrates the incongruity of the disciples’ appealing to secular courts when their future role in divine judgment is assured. He argues that a future position as those who “will judge the world” (v. 2) should be preceded by the capability to handle comparably insignificant earthly disputes. He escalates this reasoning by asserting that they will also “judge angels” (v. 3), suggesting the divine status they will inherit “in the administration of the kingdom of God, as members of his family” (Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible, 1 Cor 6:2–3). Again, Second Temple Jewish eschatology expects the Old Testament theme of humanity’s exaltation to play out in the final judgment. Psalm 8:5-6, for example, describes humanity as being made “a little lower than the heavenly beings” yet “crowned…with glory and honor,” while Daniel 7:18 affirms that “the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever.” The destiny of God’s saints includes ruling (alongside Christ, as will be seen), though “The fact that Paul expects the church to operate judicially like the Israel of old suggests that he views the Corinthian community as the beginning of the true Israel.” (Ciampa and Rosner, “1 Corinthians,” in Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, 711). ‘True Israel,’ in this context, points to the teleological end of God’s people, glorified and in receipt of the promised eternal inheritance. It should also be noted here that Paul’s argument also reflects the litigious nature of Roman society, where most legal disputes involved financial or property matters, prompting him to warn against exposing internal church conflicts (which should be undergirded by generosity and mercy) to secular authorities who would rather rule on the grounds of rationally conceived impartiality (Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, 470).
The DCW, as articulated by scholars like Michael Heiser, suggests that divine beings were assigned governance over the nations. Deuteronomy 32:8-9 explains, “When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. But the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.” This passage with Psalm 82 demonstrates God’s judicial and/or ruling delegation to lesser, created divine beings called sons of God (also, sons of the Most High). The sons of God became corrupt, leading to judgment. Psalm 82:6-7 declares, “I said, ‘You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince’” (Heiser, The Unseen Realm, 113). The rebellion of the divine council shapes reality in similar ways to the fallen sons of God in Genesis 6:1-4, whose actions resulted in human corruption and divine wrath, though it is a separate rebellion Paul refers to. (NOTE: The result of the Genesis 6 rebellion is that “the wickedness of man was great in the earth,” v. 6:6; cf. Psalm 82:2-4 where the sons of God rule ‘unjustly’ with ‘partiality to the wicked.’) There are similarities and crossovers in the ultimate judgment of these two groups of beings; however, they are not identical. Paul is referring to the latter rebellion in 1 Corinthians 6:3.
Paul’s rhetorical question in 1 Corinthians 6:3 suggests that believers will participate in the judgment of these fallen spiritual beings, signifying the reversal of their corrupt rule. He assumes that deified and glorified saints take the place of the sons of God in the divine judicial role. That is, “the fallen spiritual beings who presently rule the nations will be replaced by believers” (Heiser, Angels, 131). Notice the Old Testament consistently prohibits the worship of these lesser deities. Deuteronomy 4:19-20 warns, “Beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them.” Heiser notes that, “humanity’s direct relationship to the creator God morphed into the worship of other gods” (Demons, 150). It was never right for the Pagan nations to worship their divine judges. Neither Israelites nor Gentiles were to worship these divine beings in the original order. This is consistent with Paul’s concern for the “worship of angels” in Colossians 2:18 and the author of Hebrews’ exposition of various Hebrew scriptures in the light of Christ’s otherness and superiority to angels (chs. 1-2). The biblical narrative consistently calls for God’s reclamation of the nations, a theme that culminates in Christ’s rule and the extension of that rule to the glorified saints.
Various terms are used to describe the human’s ‘eschatological elevation,’ the changes that occur in the return of Christ, including glorification, deification, and theosis. What is unmistakable in the biblical text is that the regenerate follower of Jesus will be “like him” (1 John 3:2)–likely denoting a physical change–and “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4)–denoting a spiritual change. Glorification, the perfection of the flesh through physical regeneration, often emphasized in Evangelical theology, must be a prerequisite for deification or theosis in order for the resurrection of the saints to extend to participation in divine governance, sharing in Christ’s rule, and inheriting the authority once held by rebellious divine beings. The Apostle Paul emphasizes this reality when he writes, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God…and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:14-23). Christians frequently speak of the Spirit’s leading in terms of temporal guidance. Yet, Paul sees the status of sons of God as extending from the Spirit’s leading and culminating in a new status as heirs with Christ of God’s Kingdom–a new divine council with Christ on the throne.
The judgment of angels (1 Corinthians 6:3), therefore, reverses the divine rebellions, where the fallen sons of God corrupted humankind. Revelation 2:26-27 affirms Christ’s promise to His followers, “To the one who conquers… I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron.” Likewise, Revelation 3:21 states, “The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne.” That is, redeemed humanity assumes governance roles once held by rebellious divine beings in the new creation. Not everyone is comfortable with the idea of ruling with Christ. If the angels couldn’t handle the pressure, then what makes humans think they can? The term angel, though technically meaning ‘messenger,’ denotes a mediatorial role; “heavenly beings were presumed to function as mediators between the leadership of the divine council and mortal humans, in effect functioning as witnesses for humans to plead their case in the context of unjust suffering” (Heiser, Reversing Hermon, 49). The common term for messenger (angel) can, therefore, be used for divine judges since they mediate God’s rule to humankind. The sons of God were not gods like Yahweh, the Creator, is God, but lesser deities who were to mediate God’s righteousness to the people as ‘under rulers’ or appointed judges. Likewise, humans will ‘sit with Christ on his throne,’ not as rulers in their own right, but under Christ's supreme authority to mediate Christ's dominion to the world (not unlike the mandate given to Adam in Eden).
The broader apocalyptic vision of the Second Temple period depicts the Son of Man (cf. Daniel 7) and His followers as exercising dominion over the nations and replacing the corrupt spiritual rulers who currently wield influence over the world. For example, in 1 Enoch, the Son of Man is portrayed as a pre-existent heavenly figure, revealed to the elect ‘at the appointed time,’ demonstrating authority over the nations as ‘the light to the Gentiles’ (1 Enoch 48:2-6). 1 Enoch 90 contains a parable of sorts, where the Father is depicted as a Shepherd-ruler, ‘the Lord of sheep’ who sits on a throne. After the destruction of the wicked in ‘the fiery abyss,’ the remaining sheep are changed to be white bulls, denoting authority. ‘The first[born] among them’ was a lamb who ‘became a great animal’ with ‘large horns,’ an obvious allusion to the Son of Man in both Enoch and the biblical exilic texts. Similarly, Fourth Ezra (ex. 13:37-38, “...my son shall rebuke the nations…he shall stand upon the top of mount Sion.”) and 2 Baruch (ex. 72:2-4, “...when He has brought low everything that is in the world, and has sat down in peace for the age on the throne of His kingdom…”) describe the Messiah assembling the nations, judging oppressors, and establishing an eternal kingdom. The expectation that God’s Son and His chosen ones would replace corrupt rulers and exercise dominion over the world is further reflected in Revelation 11:15, which proclaims, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” (author emphasis).
Returning to the judgment of angels in 1 Corinthians 6:3, the DCW interpretation suggests two main possibilities: 1) fallen angels, as associated with Satan’s rebellion in Genesis 3 and the Watchers rebellion of Genesis 6, will be judged by glorified saints under Christ’s authority, meaning that, in some way all Christians will participate in the eschatological judgment of the rebellious spirits; or 2) all angels, including faithful ones, are judged by humans in the eschaton, in the sense that the human saints will oversee the divine administration in the New Creation. Given the context of Paul’s argument, the expectations of the Second Temple literature, and the broader eschatological framework of judgment in the Scriptures, the first option seems more likely. The first view aligns well with Jude 6, “the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.” Jude implies that a specific group of angels is awaiting divine judgment, not referring to a general administration of the saints over angels.
Further support for the former interpretation comes from 2 Peter 2:4, which states, “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment...” These angels are not explicitly identified as demons or directly tied to Satan’s rebellion, contrary to some traditional interpretations. Instead, they are described as beings who abandoned their proper dwelling, which correlates with the sons of God in Genesis 6, who left their cosmic domain for earth and corrupted humankind. Again, a specific set of angels is in view rather than a general administration of saints over angels. In the judicial role, followers of Christ are granted participation in God’s ultimate reckoning of the fallen sons of God, ultimately emphasizing Christ’s victory over sin, death, and cosmic powers and resulting in the restoration of creation and the establishment of divine order through a redeemed, glorified, and divinized human race.
Notice also that this judicial authority is not merely for the time of judgment but for the restored and eternal creation. Paul’s question in 1 Corinthians 6:3, that believers will “judge angels,” presumes humans are not merely ‘saved souls’ but co-rulers with Christ in a restored Edenic setting, this newfound authority reflecting the dominion given to Adam in the Garden. Again, Daniel 7:27 declares, “The kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High.” The ‘greatness of the kingdoms’ is given to the saints, demonstrating a filled earth (cf. Genesis 1:28, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth”) under the dominion of the saints (cf. Genesis 1:28, “and have dominion”). Psalm 8:5-6 similarly states, “...You have given him [man] dominion over the works of your hands,” a theme culminating in Revelation 22:5, where the redeemed “will reign forever and ever.”
No one pictures Adam and Eve as bored or inactive in the Garden. Likewise, the fact that the saints will judge angels teaches something essential about the eternal state of humankind. The vice-regency that humans have with Christ in the Eternal Kingdom is not a passive heavenly existence but an active participation in the dominion (governing, care of), a renewed creation, patterned in Scripture as a restored Eden. The eternal rule of humans should not be confused with any ruling administration we are familiar with in the present age, in a fallen world. It is, rather, an active administration of a new, global Eden, fulfilling God’s original purpose (Heiser, Angels, xviii). The “thousand-year” reign in Revelation 20:4-6 is often understood figuratively in Jewish and early Christian writings, symbolizing a prolonged period of divine rule rather than a literal millennium. “...the primary point of the millennium is to demonstrate the victory of God’s people, who throughout the church age will suffer Satan’s attacks but who will also, in return for their faithfulness, receive an eternal crown of glory” (Beale and Campbell, Revelation, 433). In this view, the millennium represents Christ’s eternal reign with the faithful’s vice-regency. It is the culmination of divine intent, restoring the authority originally granted to humankind in the Garden.
Where it is not Paul’s point to teach eschatology in 1 Corinthians 6:3, Paul assumes an eschatological consensus as being common enough to illustrate his exhortation regarding disputes between brothers in Christ. His assumption, therefore, carries much weight, arguably more than any direct statements regarding eschatology, as the assumption smuggles in centuries of reflection on the Prophets as they were developed through the Second Temple period to inform Paul’s readers in the first century of the Church. Paul appeals to their common assumptions, “Do you not know that we are to judge angels?” and from this, it is understood, in context, that those faithful to Christ will participate in the dominion of Adam over the creation but under the direct authority of Christ. The statement may not provide a clear vision of what the Eternal Kingdom of God will be like, but it helps to draw attention away from dematerialized images of eternity to understand in part what God’s design for a physio-spiritual existence might be like.
In my book, The Gospel is Bigger than You Think, I wrote:
I often speak of this life as temporary. This life is not the real life. The real life is the life to come. When Jesus returns and calls down the eternal city of God with the new heaven and earth (Revelation 21:1–2) and the glorified people of God inhabit the perfect creation for all eternity, that is the real life. That’s when you want to learn to play the saxophone, not in heaven.A problem emerges when Christians don’t understand their eternal prize. I suspect that Christians who cannot perceive the depth of their conformity to Christ’s image (theosis, participation in Christ’s divine nature) and their citizenship in the eternal Kingdom of God will seek rewards through other means. Perhaps they will be attracted to promises of worldly prosperity. Or maybe they will seek emotional fulfillment in place of spiritual conformity. Or worse, they may abandon their faith to find satisfaction or belonging outside Christ’s church.” (Delgado, 197)
Perhaps you think a detailed article on Paul’s view of judging angels is a bit esoteric or impractical. But, I think our reflection on eternal things builds perseverance for this life as we behold and wonder about eternal things. So, I pray that you are blessed as you ponder these things and that your wonder increases so that your faith will be strengthened and your ministry will bear fruit. 