Why should believers not judge anything before the time?
Believers should not judge anything before the time because final reward and just recompense are reserved until the Lord comes. Only the Lord who sent Paul can rightly judge His apostle. Throughout life, believers are still making impacts on people around them, so premature judgment cannot account for the end result.
Les explains that Paul had to defend his apostleship because some in Corinth claimed to follow Peter or Apollos and dismissed Paul as a fake or imposter. Paul writes, “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come.” No one can judge Paul except Jesus Christ, the one who sent him as the apostle of the Gentiles. The reason judgment must wait is that believers will never receive their reward until the end of time, and the lost will not receive their just recompense until the end of their time. As believers go through this life, they are making impacts on people all around them, so the full picture is not yet complete.