“Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?”
Do you not know that the Lord's people will judge the world? — The foundation of Paul's rebuke rests on realized eschatology: believers already possess judicial authority in God's present arrangement. The phrase recalls Old Testament and apocalyptic traditions where the righteous sit in judgment. If believers will judge the cosmos (kosmos) in the age to come, how much more trivial matters of daily life? This demolishes the credibility of seeking external judgment.
Church Fathers on 1 Corinthians 6:2
“Dare any one of you, having a matter against his brother, (τὸν ἀδελφὸν, rec. text τὁν ἓτερον.) go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?” Here also he again makes his complaint upon acknowledged grounds; for in that other place he says, “It is actually reported that there is fornication among you.” And in this place, “Dare any one of you?” From the very first outset giving signs of his anger, and implying that the thing spoken of comes of a daring and…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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