God’s Word for You
1 Corinthians 3:14-15 as if he has gone through fire
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Wednesday, November 30, 2022
14 If the work that someone built remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If someone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss although he himself will be saved, but as if he has gone through fire.
The reward of verse 14 is not something that we should rub our hands over or lick our chops at, with greed or the thought of some unexpected material gain in heaven. It’s an encouragement, the kind of thing a coach shouts to his players during the game, especially if it is a race being run: “Keep it up! You’re doing well!”
Yesterday we heard Paul warn that those things that are useless teachings and doctrines will be burned away like wood, hay or straw. The things that are in line with God’s Word will remain. Here we see a Greek construction known as the “future most vivid” condition, where both the beginning and ending of the saying are in the future tense: “If it remains… he will receive,” and again, “If it is burned… he will suffer loss.” The outcome is so certain that we could even translate or explain it by saying “since” rather than “if.” But the Greek phrases are also packed with emotion and urgency: “He will suffer loss!” This is not to say that the minister who did shoddy work and used false doctrine to teach his people will be punished for it—the doctrine of the forgiveness of sins teaches us that sins are forgiven without any exceptions (John 1:29). But all of the time and effort that the minister spent on useless things or wrong teaching will be lost and forgotten for all eternity. It will not be rewarded by Christ. He will not be rewarded like a minister of the gospel, but like an ordinary Christian (assuming he truly has faith). That is not a bad reward by any means, but while other pastors will be rewarded in special ways, he will not.
Purgatory
Roman Catholic books sometimes look to verse 15 as a support for the doctrine of purgatory. This was especially true in the past. Some, like the New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967) say that “St. Paul’s parable in 1 Corinthians 3:15 on various Christian preachers working to spread the kingdom of God among men is not concerned about purgatory, except perhaps in an accommodated sense. In the final analysis, the Catholic doctrine of purgatory is based on tradition, not Sacred Scripture” (Vol. 11, p. 1034b). Yet the more recent Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994,1997) seems to bring this verse back into its claim: “The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence (1439) and Trent (1547,1563). The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture (1 Corinthians 3:15; 1 Peter 1:7) speaks of a cleansing fire.” (p. 268-269, par. 1031).
In neither place (here or 1 Peter 1:7) is the refining fire of purgatory in the Catholic sense meant by the inspired writers. There is no reference to a place anything like purgatory in the Bible, and the invention of the doctrine is, although more than 500 years old, still new to the church. It is a doctrine which will be burned like the straw that with some irony it claims will burn something else entirely.
Consider the following points:
1, This verse (verse 15) tests and exposes the shoddy work of a believing preacher, his preaching, teaching, and doctrine.
2, The fire of purgatory is thought to punish any sinful man in order to purify him.
3, Paul’s fire in verse 15 burns once, on Judgment Day
4, The fire of purgatory is imagined to burn already and until Judgment Day and even beyond, until the last sinner is finally released.
Paul’s words in verse 15, “he himself will be saved, but as if he has gone through fire,” show a man who escapes a fire, such as a burning building or a forest fire, smelling of smoke and singed. He is alive but barely so. This does not bode well for his followers, but the thing that is burned is his doctrine. The people he taught with his flammable and useless doctrines and teachings might be rescued if they listened to the Scriptures rather than his drivel, but his “art” will bring him no glory in eternity.
Whether you are a pastor, a teacher, a friend, a parent, or anyone sharing Jesus, build on the foundation of Christ crucified for our sins. “By wisdom a house is built” (Proverbs 24:3), so let your building be helpful for the people you speak to. Let it be “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is excellent or praiseworthy” (Philippians 4:8). Consider those things in the light of Christ crucified and risen from the dead, and let what you say build up the faith of the people you love.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.