QUESTION: Please comment on 1 Corinthians 3:12-15. a) In what way will the fire try our works? b) How can one’s work be burned and himself be saved? c) To what work is Paul referring?
ANSWER: In verse twelve, we see that a man’s work is classified in two ways: 1) gold, silver, and precious stones; 2) wood, hay, and stubble. The first, being tested by fire, is purified; the second, being tested by fire, is destroyed. Men build upon the foundation of Christ (vss.10-11) by converting people to Him (1 Peter 2:4-6). Some of these converts (the gold, silver, and precious stones) will remain faithful and stand the testing (fire) of Judgment. Some (the wood, hay, and stubble) will not. The Christian will be rewarded by knowing his work (the faithful convert) was saved. When he knows his work (the unfaithful convert) has not stood the testing (fire) of Judgment, he will suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved. The phrase, “yet so as by fire” simply conveys the idea that a man’s salvation in Judgment will not be based upon how many of his converts remain faithful, but will be determined by his own faithfulness to God. In other words, he, as well as his converts, will go through the testing (fire) of Judgment (2 Corinthians 5:10).