Will Christians have authority over angels, and what does that mean now?
Question 08140
The New Testament contains a remarkable statement about the future relationship between believers and angels, one that sits uncomfortably with the instinctive assumption that angelic beings are permanently our superiors. Paul tells the Corinthians that the saints will judge angels, and this claim has significant implications for how Christians understand both their present identity and their future destiny.
The Key Text: 1 Corinthians 6:3
Paul’s statement is brief and almost casual, as though it were so well established that it needed no elaboration: “Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!” (1 Corinthians 6:3). The context is a rebuke. Corinthian believers were taking their disputes before secular courts, and Paul is arguing that this is absurd for people destined for a role of such extraordinary authority. If you are going to judge angels, he says, surely you can handle a property dispute among yourselves.
The word “judge” (krinō) carries the sense of ruling, governing, and rendering verdicts. It is the same basic concept found in the Old Testament judges, who exercised authority over Israel, and in Jesus’ promise that the twelve apostles would “sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28). Paul is not describing a one-off judicial event but a position of authority that believers will occupy in the age to come.
Which Angels?
Paul does not specify whether the angels to be judged are fallen angels, faithful angels, or both. Most interpreters understand the reference as fallen angels, since the language of judgement most naturally implies a verdict on wrongdoing, and since the New Testament elsewhere describes the final judgement of demonic beings (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6). The fallen angels are “kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgement of the great day” (Jude 6), and believers’ participation in that judgement is a reasonable reading of Paul’s statement.
Some scholars have suggested that the judging extends to all angelic beings, including the faithful, in the sense that believers will exercise authority over the entire created order, angels included, in the age to come. This would be consistent with the trajectory of Hebrews 2:5–8, where the writer states that God did not subject the world to come to angels but to humanity, quoting Psalm 8: “You have crowned him with glory and honour, putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Whether this extends to governing authority over faithful angels or is limited to judicial authority over the fallen, the scope is breathtaking.
The Basis of This Authority
The authority believers will exercise over angels is not earned by human merit. It is a consequence of union with Christ. Believers are co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), and Christ’s exaltation above every angelic being is a theme that runs through the New Testament. Ephesians 1:20–22 describes Christ seated “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion,” and Philippians 2:9–10 states that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, “in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” The believer’s future authority is derived from and participates in Christ’s authority. Because He reigns, and because believers are united to Him, they will share in the governance of the age to come, including authority over angelic beings.
Revelation 20:4 describes those who “came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years,” and the broader picture of the millennial kingdom includes the saints exercising delegated rule under Christ’s authority. The specifics of what governing angels looks like in practice are not detailed, but the principle is clear: the redeemed, who in this present age are “a little lower than the angels” (Psalm 8:5; Hebrews 2:7), will in the age to come be elevated above them.
What This Means for the Present
Paul’s reason for raising this future reality is entirely practical. He is not writing an eschatological treatise; he is telling the Corinthians to stop behaving in ways unworthy of their calling. If your destiny includes authority over angels, then live now in a manner consistent with that destiny. Do not squabble before unbelieving judges over petty grievances. Do not live as though this present life is the measure of who you are. The future shapes the present: knowing what you are destined for should change how you carry yourself today.
This does not, however, translate into present authority over angels. Some charismatic teaching has attempted to derive from texts like this a mandate for believers to command angels in the present age, directing them to perform tasks, sending them on spiritual assignments, or claiming their services as a right. Scripture does not support this. Hebrews 1:14 describes angels as “ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation,” but the sender is God, not the believer. Angels serve believers at God’s direction, not at human command. The authority Paul describes is future, not present, and it is exercised under Christ’s rule, not independently.
So, now what?
The promise that believers will judge angels is meant to produce not arrogance but a sober awareness of the dignity of the Christian calling. God has chosen to elevate redeemed human beings to a position above the angelic order, not because of anything intrinsic to humanity but because of His grace in Christ. For now, believers live in a world where angelic beings are more powerful, more knowledgeable, and more immediately present to the realities of heaven. But the trajectory of redemption is toward an elevation that angels themselves serve and anticipate. Living in the light of that future means taking the present seriously, conducting ourselves with the gravity and integrity that befits people whose ultimate destiny is to reign with Christ over the whole of the created order, angels included.
“Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!” 1 Corinthians 6:3
