We need to take seriously the fact that the Pauline positions on judgment cannot be correctly understood if the context of each position is ignored. Having set out the methodological framework, the contribution analyses a first type of judgment – the judgment of condemnation which has in 1 Thessalonians the principal function of reaffirming and stabilizing the new religious identity of the community which Paul is addressing. The author then shows the different persuasive functions of a second type of judgment – the judgment of evaluation which Paul uses in several passages in 1 Corinthians to reduce existing tensions within the community and to clarify the level of authority of one or another charismatic figure. Finally, Romans 2 – the invocation of divine judgment as rewarding and punishing everyone according to their acts – has the effect of leveling the ethnic-religious differences between Jews and non-Jews.