Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 3:14
If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
If any mans work abide … – If it shall appear that he hast taught the true doctrines of Christianity, and inculcated right practices and views of piety, and himself cherished right feelings: if the trial of the great Day, when the real qualities of all objects shall be known, shall show this.
He shall receive a reward – According to the nature of his work. See the note on 1Co 3:8. This refers, I suppose, to the proper rewards on the Day of Judgment, and not to the honors and the recompense which he may receive in this world. If all that he has taught and done shall be proved to have been genuine and pure, then his reward shall be in proportion.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 14. If any man’s work abide] Perhaps there is here an allusion to the purifying of different sorts of vessels under the law. All that could stand the fire were to be purified by the fire; and those which could not resist the action of the fire were to be purified by water, Nu 31:23. The gold, silver, and precious stones, could stand the fire; but the wood, hay, and stubble, must be necessarily consumed. So, in that great and terrible day of the Lord, all false doctrine, as well as the system that was to pass away, should be made sufficiently manifest; and God would then show that the Gospel, and that alone, was that system of doctrine which he should bless and protect, and none other.
He shall receive a reward.] He has not only preached the truth, but he has laboured in the word and doctrine. And the reward is to be according to the labour. See note on 1Co 3:8.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
If any preacher keeps the foundation, and the doctrine which he hath built upon the true foundation prove consonant to the will of Christ, God will reward him for his labour: he shall hear the voice saying: Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. abideabide the testingfire (Mat 3:11; Mat 3:12).
which he hath builtthereuponwhich he built on the foundation.
rewardwages, asa builder, that is, teacher. His converts built on Christ thefoundation, through his faithful teaching, shall be his “crownof rejoicing” (2Co 1:14;Phi 2:16; 1Th 2:19).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
If any man’s work abide,…. That is, if any minister’s doctrine will bear the test of daylight, to be looked into, and abide the fire of the word; as gold, silver, and precious stones will, or such doctrines as are comparable to them, which will shine the brighter for being tried by this fire:
which he hath built thereupon; upon the foundation Christ, in entire consistence with, and proportion to it, and highly becoming it:
he shall receive a reward; either from the churches of Christ here, who shall honour and respect him for his faithful labours in the ministry; or from Christ hereafter, who will say, well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
If any man’s work shall abide ( ). Condition of the first class with future indicative, determined as fulfilled, assumed as true. When the fire has done its work, what is left? That is the fiery test that the work of each of us must meet. Suitable reward (Mt 20:8) will come for the work that stands this test (gold, silver, precious stones)
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “If any man’s work abide” (ei tinos to ergon menei) “if of anyone the work remains” (after the testing by the fire-standard of God’s Word).
2) “Which he hath built thereupon.” (ho epoikodomesen) “which he built on” – (during his life). The type of building refers to building up a life of spiritual virtues on Christ Jesus, the true foundation. The spiritual works are referred to as gold, silver, and precious stone material, expressed Gal 5:22-25. Life worthwhile, built to honor God, must embrace these nine Divine attributes.
3) “He shall receive a reward.” (misthon lempsetai)
a reward he shall receive.” Rev 22:12. Salvation is offered to unsaved people who will believe and rewards are offered to the saved for faithful service rendered according to His Word.
EXAMPLES OF REWARDS:
1) Salvation is referred to as a gift from God. Joh 4:10; Rom 6:23; Eph 2:8-10.
2) Rewards refer to earnings for work done Mat 10:42; Luk 19:17; 1Co 9:24-25; 2Ti 4:7-8; Rev 2:10.
3) Salvation is a present life experience Luk 7:50; Joh 3:36; Joh 5:24; Joh 6:47; Joh 10:27-29.
4) Rewards are future, to be attained at or in the coming of Christ. Mat 16:27; 2Ti 4:8; Rev 22:12.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
14. If any man’s work remains, he will receive a reward. His meaning is, that those are fools who depend on man’s estimation, so as to reckon it enough to be approved by men, for then only will the work have praise and recompense — when it has stood the test of the day of the Lord Hence he exhorts His true ministers to have an eye to that day. For by the word remains, he intimates that doctrines fly about as it were in an unsettled state, nay more, like empty bubbles, they glitter for the moment, until they have come to be thoroughly tested. Hence it follows, that we must reckon as nothing all the applauses of the world, the emptiness of which will in a very little be exposed by heaven’s judgment.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(14) This is the general application to Christian teachers of what has gone before. Those who have built well shall have their reward in their work having survived the trial of the fire; those who have built otherwise shall lose everythingtheir work, which should have remained as their reward, will perish in the fireand they themselves will be as men who only make good their escape by rushing through a conflagration, leaving all that was theirs to be destroyed. (See Mar. 9:49.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. Abide Unconsumed.
Built thereupon Upon Christ, the true foundation; for those who build not on Christ but reject him, will not only suffer loss but be lost.
A reward For him whom Christ is the foundation, good works are an investment with God. See note on Rom 3:27.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘If any man’s work shall remain which he has built on it, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned he shall suffer loss. But he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.’
The fire tests the work, it does not destroy the men (that is referred to later as a possibility for some – 1Co 3:17). Yet as the works stand firm and are purified, or as they are burned up, the men too experience the refining work of God. They are ‘saved as through fire’. (Note that it is ‘as through fire’, an illustration, not ‘through fire’ as a physical fact).
‘As through fire.’ The picture may be of God’s judgment in the terms regularly depicted in the Old Testament of a great city being burned as a judgment from God, with all that it has stood for being burned up, and the inhabitants escaping through the flames for their lives, ‘brands plucked from the burning’ (Zec 3:2; Amo 4:11).
‘On it.’ That is, on the foundation laid, which is Jesus Christ Himself and the basic teaching concerning Him as the crucified One, the word of the cross (1Co 3:10-11; 1Co 1:18; 1Co 2:2).
‘If any man’s work shall remain.’ This has in mind the building work that has stood the test of fire, the gold and silver and costly stones. For such work the teacher will ‘receive a reward’. It is not a deserved reward. Go is in debt to no man. It is the reward of grace (see Rom 4:4-5). While strictly applying to the work of teaching true doctrine and wisdom the principle can be applied more widely to all means of testimony including the shining light of a godly life (Mat 5:16). Compare for these ideas 1Co 4:5; 2Co 5:10; Rom 14:10-12; 1Pe 4:5.
It should be noted that there is nothing in the illustration suggesting that any will be lost. All thought of here will be saved. It is not salvation that they are earning. That is the gracious gift of God. It is the reward that is also the great gift of a gracious God given in recognition of their faithfulness (1Co 4:5; Rom 4:4-5).
‘If any man’s work shall be burned he shall suffer loss.’ This refers to the building work built with the wrong materials, which has not benefited the church of Christ. The teacher suffers loss because he has achieved nothing (the case is exaggerated for effect). But his salvation is not in doubt.
‘He will suffer loss.’ The verb can mean ‘will be punished’. But it the New Testament it almost always refers to the suffering of loss, the destruction of what is theirs.
‘He himself shall be saved.’ This is not referring to false teachers who ‘even deny the Master Who bought them’ (1Co 3:17; 2Pe 2:1), but to those who, while to some extent true to the central faith, have not taught wisely or in a spiritual way (1Co 2:13). They have allowed themselves to be esteemed more than they should be, and built up theories for man’s admiration. They have turned eyes on themselves and their ideas rather than on the crucified Messiah.
‘Yet so as through fire.’ The fire has removed the work that counted against them so that they can now come before the Judge without stain having come through the fire, although also sadly without reward, for they do so as those escaping from the flames but leaving all their life’s work behind. They have had their reward on earth.
One purpose of the whole passage is to bring out that true servants of God can in fact be at fault in the content and method of their teaching and in the way they seek to build up the church of Christ so that, even though they hold the central truths, their labours are of little value. It is partly to make such men consider their ways, and to make the church more discerning in the teaching it accepts, that Paul speaks like this. It is to stress the need to centralise on the preaching of the cross and of Christ the Crucified One, and to recognise that it should be central in all ministry. For the lack of this latter was the besetting sin of the Corinthians.
Of course neither of the two extremes strictly apply. No man’s teaching, apart from Christ’s, is perfect, ever being only gold, silver and costly stones, and no man’s teaching is totally useless, to be all burned up in the fire. Indeed each man shall have his praise from God (1Co 4:5). But the main lessons are brought out by vivid contrast. Each man’s work will be thoroughly tested, and where necessary it will be purged, bringing reward or loss.
The thought is partially parallel with the teaching of Jesus in John 15. There the disciples are the branches which should bear fruit, and there will be varying levels of fruit. But there the branches that do not bear fruit are thrown in the fire to be burned because they are useless. They have produced nothing at all, not even spiritual life.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Co 3:14-15 . Manner and result of this .
] will remain unharmed ; not ( Text. recept .) for , in 1Co 3:15 , corresponds to it.
.] namely, for his work at the building (without figure: teacher’s recompense ), from God, at whose he has laboured. Rckert holds that Paul steps decidedly out of his figure here; for the builder is not paid only after his work has stood the test of fire uninjured. But the building is still being worked at until the Parousia, so that before that event no recompense can be given. The fire of the Parousia seizes upon the building still in process of being completed, and now he alone receives recompense whose work, which has been carried on hitherto, shows itself proof against the fire.
As regards the form , shall be burned down (comp 2Pe 3:10 ), instead of the Attic , see Thom. M. p. 511.
] sc [534] , i.e. frustrabitur praemio . Comp on , to suffer loss of anything, Mat 16:26 ; Luk 9:25 ; Phi 3:8 . See also Valckenaer, a [536] Herod. vii. 39. The thought is: He will, as a punishment, not receive the recompense which he would otherwise have received as a teacher. We are not to think of deposition from office (Grotius), seeing that it is the time of the Parousia that is spoken of. To take the ., with the Vulgate, et al [537] : without object, so that the sense would be: “ he shall have loss from it ” (Hofmann), gives too indefinite a conception, and one which would require first of all to have its meaning defined more precisely from the antithesis of . .
, ] In order not to be misunderstood, as if by his he were denying to such teachers share in the future Messianic salvation at all, whereas he is only refusing to assign to them the higher rank of blessedness, blessedness as teachers, Paul adds: Yet he himself shall be saved, but so as through fire . refers to the , which is to be supplied as the object of .: although he will lose his recompense , yet he himself , etc. Rckert is wrong in thinking that the builder is now regarded as the inhabitant of the house. Paul does not handle his figure in this confused way, but has before his mind the builder as still busied in the house with the work which he has been carrying on: all at once the fire seizes the house; he flees and yet finds safety, but not otherwise than as a man is saved through and from the midst of fire. Such an escape is wont to be coupled with fear and painful injury ; hence the idea of this figurative representation is: He himself, however, shall obtain the Messianic , [538] yet still only in such a way that the catastrophe of the Parousia will be fraught with the highest anxiety for him, and will not elapse without sensibly impairing his inheritance of blessing . He shall obtain the , but only a lower grade of it, so that he will belong to those whom Jesus calls “ the last ” (Mat 20:16 ; Mar 10:31 ). The main point in this interpretation, namely, that . refers to the Messianic , is accepted by most expositors; but several, such as Rosenmller and Flatt, take the future as indicating the possibility (a view which the very fact of the two preceding futures should have sufficed to preclude), and Grotius [539] has foisted in a problematical sense into the word (equally against the definitely assertive sense of those futures): “In summo erit salutis suae periculo. Etsi eam adipiscetur (quod boni ominis causa sperare mavult apostolus) non fiet id sine gravi moestitia ac dolore.” It is a common mistake to understand in the sense of a proverb ( by a hair’s-breadth , see Grotius and Wetstein in loc [540] ; Valckenaer, p. 157; and comp Amo 4:11 ; Zec 3:2 ; Jud 1:23 ), because the passage, looking back to 1Co 3:13 , really sets before us a conflagration ( , as in Joh 1:14 ). It may be added that there is no ground for bringing into the conception the fire of the wrath of God (Hofmann), since, according to the text, it is the selfsame fire which seizes upon the work of the one and of the other , in the one case, however, proving it to be abiding, and in the other consuming it. Bengel illustrates the matter well by the instance of a shipwrecked man: “ut mercator naufragus amissa merce et lucro servatur per undas .” Other commentators, again (Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact), understand it to mean: He shall be preserved, but so only as one is preserved through the fire of hell , that is to say, eternally tormented therein. So too of late, in substance, Maier. But the interpretation is decidedly erroneous; first, because, according to 1Co 3:13 , cannot be allowed to have any reference to the fire of hell; secondly, because , which is the standing expression for being saved with the salvation of the Messiah, can least of all be used to denote anything else in a picture representing the decision of the Parousia. [542] This last consideration tells also against Schott’s explanation ( l.c [543] p. 17): “ He himself shall indeed not be utterly destroyed on that account; he remains, but it is as one who has passed through flaming fire ( seriously injured ),” by which is denoted the divine award of punishment which awaits such a teacher at the day of judgment. It may also be urged against the view in question, that the sentence of punishment, since it dooms to the fire , cannot be depicted in the figure as a having passed through the fire.
[534] c. scilicet .
[536] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.
[537] t al. and others; and other passages; and other editions.
[538] For he has after all held to the foundation. The Messianic salvation is the gift of grace to those who believe in Christ as such; while the teacher’s blessedness, as (which the general in and by itself is not ), must be some specially high grade of blessing in the Messiah’s kingdom. Comp. Dan 12:3 ; Mat 19:28 .
[539] So before him Theodore of Mopsuestia: .
[540] n loc. refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.
[542] Hence, also, it will not do to refer , with Otto, Pastoralbr . p. 144 f., to the , which will remain safe , but covered over with refuse, ashes, and the like, which he holds to be indicated by .
[543] .c. loco citato or laudato .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
Ver. 14. If any man’s work abide ] Error as glass is bright, but brittle, and cannot endure the hammer or fire, as gold can, which, though rubbed or melted, remains firm and orient.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
14. ] If any man’s work shall remain (i.e. stand the fire, being of inconsumable materials. fut. (so latt syrr coptt), is better than the pres. of rec., as answering to below), which he built on the foundation, he shall receive wages (as a builder; i.e. ‘shall be rewarded for his faithful and effectual work as a teacher’):
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Co 3:14-15 . The opp [570] issues of the fiery assay are stated under parl [571] hypotheses: , “If any one’s work shall abide shall be burned up”. The double ind [572] with balances the contrasted suppositions, without signifying likelihood either way: for the opposed vbs., cf. 1Co 13:8 ; 1Co 13:13 ; recalls of Mal 3:2 . (wanting augment: usage varies in this vb [573] ; Wr [574] , p. 83) reminds us that the work examined was built on the one foundation (1Co 3:10 ff.). and are the corresponding apodoses, being carried over to the second of the parl [575] clauses (Mr [576] , Gd [577] , Lt [578] , Ed [579] ): “He will get a reward will be mulcted (of it)”. retains in pass [580] its acc [581] of thing , as a vb [582] taking double acc [583] ; derived from (opp [584] of : cf. Phi 3:7 ), it signifies to fine, inflict forfeit (in pass [585] , suffer forfeit ) of what one possessed, or might have possessed. “ opposed to : his reward shall be lost, but his person saved” (Lt [586] ); is nearly syn [587] with the of Mat 16:25 f., etc. The man built on the foundation, though his work proves culpably defective: promises him the of Christ’s heavenly kingdom (see 1Co 1:18 , and other parls.). Such a minister saves himself, but not his hearers: the opp [588] result to that of 1Co 9:27 , etc. , ( correcting , as in 1Co 2:6 ) “yet so (saved) as through fire,” like Lot fleeing from Sodom; his salvation is reduced to a minimum: “He rushes out through the flame, leaving behind the ruin of his work for which, proved to be worthless, he receives no pay” (Bt [589] ), getting through “scorched and with the marks of the flame” upon him (Lt [590] ); “s’il est sauv, ce ne peut tre qu’en chappant travers les flammes, et grce la solidit du fondement” (Gd [591] ); to change the figure, “ut naufragus mercator, amissa merce et lucro, servatus per undas” (Bg [592] ). For the prp [593] , in local sense, see Gm [594] , and Wr [595] , p. 473; , proverbial for a hairbreadth escape (see Lt [596] ad loc [597] ; Eurip., Andr. , 487; Elec. , 1182, and LXX parls.). The has been read instrumentally , “by means of fire,” sc. the fire of purgatory (see Lt [598] ); an idea foreign to this scene. Cm [599] , by a dreadful inversion of the meaning, reads the as “will be preserved in fire! ” ( nowhere has this sense of ): , . For other interpretations, see Mr [600]
[570] opposite, opposition.
[571] parallel.
[572] indicative mood.
[573] verb
[574] Winer-Moulton’s Grammar of N.T. Greek (8th ed., 1877).
[575] parallel.
[576] Meyer’s Critical and Exegetical Commentary (Eng. Trans.).
[577] F. Godet’s Commentaire sur la prem. p. aux Corinthiens (Eng. Trans.).
[578] J. B. Lightfoot’s (posthumous) Notes on Epp. of St. Paul (1895).
[579] T. C. Edwards’ Commentary on the First Ep. to the Corinthians . 2
[580] passive voice.
[581] accusative case.
[582] verb
[583] accusative case.
[584] opposite, opposition.
[585] passive voice.
[586] J. B. Lightfoot’s (posthumous) Notes on Epp. of St. Paul (1895).
[587] synonym, synonymous.
[588] opposite, opposition.
[589] J. A. Beet’s St. Paul’s Epp. to the Corinthians (1882).
[590] J. B. Lightfoot’s (posthumous) Notes on Epp. of St. Paul (1895).
[591] F. Godet’s Commentaire sur la prem. p. aux Corinthiens (Eng. Trans.).
[592] Bengel’s Gnomon Novi Testamenti.
[593]
[594] Grimm-Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the N.T.
[595]
[596] J. B. Lightfoot’s (posthumous) Notes on Epp. of St. Paul (1895).
[597] ad locum , on this passage.
[598] J. B. Lightfoot’s (posthumous) Notes on Epp. of St. Paul (1895).
[599] John Chrysostom’s Homili ( 407).
[600] Meyer’s Critical and Exegetical Commentary (Eng. Trans.).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
abide. Greek. meno. See p. 1511.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
14.] If any mans work shall remain (i.e. stand the fire,-being of inconsumable materials. fut. (so latt syrr coptt), is better than the pres. of rec., as answering to below), which he built on the foundation,-he shall receive wages (as a builder;-i.e. shall be rewarded for his faithful and effectual work as a teacher):
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Co 3:14. , if any mans) Hence Paul is accustomed to promise glory to himself from the constancy of his brethren [hence also to derive exhortations], 2Co 1:14; Php 2:16; 1Th 2:19.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Co 3:14
1Co 3:14
If any mans work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward.-If the work done in building up the church of Christ abides, he who does it will receive a reward. [Paul is here speaking of the material built into the church upon the one foundation, which may be good or bad. When a laborer builds wood, hay, and stubble upon the foundation, all such will turn back to the world, yield to its temptations, and thus be overcome by fiery trials; and in such cases the laborer loses his reward. On the other hand, those of his converts who prove themselves to be as gold, silver, and costly stones in the service of God will be admitted into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2Pe 1:11), and this will be a reward to him.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
reward
God, in the N.T. Scriptures, offers to the lost, salvation, and, for the faithful service of the saved, rewards. The passages are easily distinguished by remembering that salvation is invariably spoken of as a free gift (e.g.) Joh 4:10; Rom 6:23; Eph 2:8; Eph 2:9 while rewards are earned by works; Mat 10:42; Luk 19:17; 1Co 9:24; 1Co 9:25; 2Ti 4:7; 2Ti 4:8; Rev 2:10; Rev 22:12.
A further distinction is that salvation is a present possession Luk 7:50; Joh 3:36; Joh 5:24; Joh 6:47, while rewards are a future attainment, to be given at the coming of the Lord; Mat 16:27; 2Ti 4:8; Rev 22:12.
reward 1Co 9:17; Dan 12:3; 1Co 3:14
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
1Co 3:8, 1Co 4:5, Dan 12:3, Mat 24:45-47, Mat 25:21-23, 1Th 2:19, 2Ti 4:7, 1Pe 5:1, 1Pe 5:4, Rev 2:8-11
Reciprocal: 2Ch 15:7 – your work 1Co 3:13 – man’s 1Co 9:17 – have 1Co 13:13 – abideth 2Jo 1:8 – that we receive Rev 22:12 – and my
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Co 3:14. If any mans work shall abide which he built thereuponas being built of the incombustible materials and on the true foundation, and hence able to abide the fiery trial.
he shall receive a rewardwith the welcome word of the Master Himself, Well done, good and faithful servant.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
1Co 3:14-15. If any maws work abide which he hath built, &c. If the superstructure which any minister of Christ raises on the true foundation, if the doctrines which he preaches can bear the test by which they shall be tried at that day, as being true, important, and adapted to the state of his hearers; and the converts which he makes by preaching these doctrines, be of the right kind, truly regenerated and holy persons, he shall receive a reward In proportion to his labours. If any mans work shall be burned If the doctrines which any minister preaches cannot bear the test of the great day, as being false or trivial, or not calculated to convert and edify his hearers; or if the converts which he makes by preaching such doctrines be only converts to some particular opinion, or mode of worship, or form of church government, or to a certain sect or party, and not converts to Christ and true Christianity, to the power as well as the form of godliness, to the experience and practice, as well as to the theory of true religion, and therefore cannot stand in that awful judgment, he shall suffer loss Shall lose his labour and expectation, and the future reward he might have received, if he had built with proper materials; as a man suffers loss who bestows his time and labour on the erection of a fabric of wood, hay, and stubble, which is afterward consumed. But he himself That preacher himself; shall be saved Supposing he himself be a true disciple of Christ, built up in faith and holiness on the true foundation; yet so as by fire As narrowly as a man escapes through the fire, when his house is all in flames about him: or rather, if so be that his own religion, his personal faith and holiness, can bear both the fiery trial which he may be called to pass through on earth, whether of reproach and persecution, or of pain and affliction, or any other trouble, and also the decisive trial of the last day. Let it not be supposed by any that the apostle is here putting a case that never occurs, or can occur: such cases, there is reason to believe, have often occurred, and still do and will occur; in which ministers, who are themselves real partakers of the grace of Christ, and truly pious, yet, through error of judgment, attachment to certain opinions, or a particular party, or under the influence of peculiar prejudices, waste their time, and that of their hearers, in building wood, hay, and stubble, when they should be labouring to raise an edifice of gold, silver, and precious stones; employ themselves in inculcating unessential or unimportant, if not even false doctrines, when they ought to be testifying with sincerity, zeal, and diligence, the genuine gospel of the grace of God. Dr. Macknight, who considers the apostle as speaking in these verses, not of the foundation and superstructure of a system of doctrines, but of the building or temple of God, consisting of all who profess to believe the gospel, gives us the following commentary on the passage: Other foundation of Gods temple, no teacher, if he teaches faithfully, can lay, except what is laid by me, which is Jesus, the Christ, promised in the Scriptures. Now if any teacher build on the foundation, Christ, sincere disciples, represented in this similitude by gold, silver, valuable stones; or if he buildeth hypocrites, represented by wood, hay, stubble, every teachers disciples shall be made manifest in their true characters; for the day of persecution, which is coming on them, will make every ones character plain, because it is of such a nature as to be revealed by the fire of persecution: and so that fire, falling on the temple of God, will try every teachers disciples, of what sort they are. If the disciples, which any teacher has introduced into the church, endure persecution for the gospel without apostatizing, such a teacher shall receive the reward promised to them who turn others to righteousness, Dan 12:3. If the disciples of any teacher shall, in time of persecution, fall away, through the want of proper instruction, he will lose his reward; he himself, however, having in general acted sincerely, shall be saved; yet, with such difficulty, as one is saved who runs through a fire. But, as by the foundation, which he says he had laid, the apostle undoubtedly meant the doctrine concerning Christ, and salvation through him, it seems more consistent with his design to interpret what refers to the superstructure attempted to be raised by different builders, of doctrines also, and not of persons introduced by them into the Christian Church: and to understand him as cautioning the Corinthians against disfiguring and destroying the beautiful edifice, by inculcating tenets which were heretical, and pernicious to the souls of men, and would not stand the test of the approaching fiery trial. Thus what follows.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Vv. 14, 15. If any man’s work shall abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive the reward; 15. if any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss [of reward]; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.
is generally taken as a future (, shall abide), because of the future which follows , shall be burned. But there is no force in this reason; the act of burning is instantaneous; hence the future, which refers to a definite time, while that which abides, abides always: the thought expressed by the present . The , shall receive the reward, might be rendered in this everyday form: When it shall have been recognised that the work was of good quality, his cheque will be paid to him. This reward cannot be salvation; for the faithful workman was already in possession of this supreme blessing when he was labouring. We have to think then of more particular privileges, such as the joy of being the object of the Master’s satisfaction: Good and faithful servant! then the happiness of seeing invested with glory the souls whom a faithful ministry has contributed to sanctify; finally, the possession of a glorious position in the new state of things established by the Lord at His Parousia: Thou hast gained ten pounds; receive power over ten cities (Luk 19:17).
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
If any man’s work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward.
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
14. If the work of any one which he has built upon it abides, he shall receive a reward. You see here that regeneration is the foundation; neither of these representative characters becomes an apostate, because in that case the foundation would be destroyed, which is not true in the transaction here described. On the contrary, the foundation of each one abides, the difference being in the superstructure built on it. The one builds a superstructure consisting of gold, silver and precious stones, which are fire-proof and competent to endure all the seventies of Gods castigatory and scrutinizing judgments, not only in this life, but at the last day. While the other having the same foundation and hence just as good substratum on which to build as his neighbor, instead of using fire-proof materials, builds a house consisting of wood, hay and stubble, all of which are not only very evanescent, but exceedingly combustible. Therefore, in times of fiery trial, he finds his superstructure utterly incompetent to resist the flames. Hence it must go down in ashes, utterly incompetent to endure the seventies of the Divine judgments.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
1Co 3:14-15. Result of the testing.
Built-up; keeps before us the foundation, 1Co 3:11. Burnt-up: if the great day put an end to the results attained in this life. Suffer loss: viz. of the reward he would have had if his work had survived the test.
Will be saved: for Paul speaks of believers building on the one foundation. Even the babes in Christ (1Co 3:1) have spiritual life and are members of the family of God.
In this way: with his work destroyed.
As through fire: explains in this way. The picture may be thus conceived. Two workmen are building on one foundation, one with imperishable, the other with perishable, materials. The building is wrapped in flames. One man’s work survives the fire: and he receives pay for it. The other’s work is burnt up: and he rushes out through the flame, leaving behind the ruins of his own work. And for his work, which the fire proved to be worthless, he receives no pay.
What are the materials and who are the builders in this picture? Since it was by preaching and teaching that Paul laid the foundation of the church of Corinth, the builders must be different kinds of teachers. Since the matter taught is the material the teacher uses, this must be the gold, silver, wood, straw, etc. The results produced by the teacher in the hearts and lives of his hearers are the building he erects. He may produce good results which will last for ever and be to him an eternal joy and glory. Since these results are altogether the work of God, and are revealed in their real grandeur only in the great day, they are a reward given by God in that day for work done on earth. But a teacher may also produce results which now appear great and substantial, but which will then be found utterly worthless. He may gather around him a large number of hearers, may interest them, and teach them much that is elegant and for this life useful; and yet fail to produce in or through them results which will abide for ever. If so, the great day will destroy his work and thus proclaim its worthlessness. But he may be said to build upon the one foundation, Jesus Christ. For he is a professed Christian teacher: and people go to hear him as such. He may be a sincere, though mistaken, Christian believer; and therefore be himself saved. But his work, as a teacher, is a failure. Now the permanence of a teacher’s work depends upon the matter taught. The soul-saving truths of the Gospel enter into men’s hearts and lives, and produce abiding results. We understand, therefore, by the wood and straw whatever teaching does not impart or nourish spiritual life. The three terms suggest the various kinds of such teaching. It may be clever or foolish, new or old, true or false; but not subversive of the foundation, or it would come under the severer censure of 1Co 3:16 f. The frequency of such teaching is proved by 1Ti 1:4; 1Ti 4:7; 1Ti 6:4; 2Ti 2:14; 2Ti 2:23; 2Ti 4:4; Tit 1:14; Tit 3:9. We have perhaps a Jewish example of it in very much that was written by Paul’s earlier contemporary Philo: and we have Christian examples in many of the speculative and trifling discussions which have been frequent in all ages. We also learn that even of the teaching which produces abiding results there are different degrees of worth; in proportion, no doubt, to the fullness and purity with which the teaching of Christ is reproduced. In both cases, the buildings erected are the results, lasting or transitory, produced in the hearers’ hearts by the use of these materials; results which are in some sense a standing embodiment of the teaching.
Under 1Co 4:21 we shall see that in this solemn warning Paul strikes at the root of the church-parties at Corinth. Cp. 2Ti 2:23.
1Co 3:8; 1Co 3:14 reveal different degrees of future blessedness. Conversely, Rom 2:5. For we have here a man who will be saved, but will not obtain the reward which others will have and which he might have had.
The excellent Roman Catholic commentator, Estius, says properly that reward implies merit, i.e. appropriateness for reward, in the action rewarded. But he has not observed that the reward here said to be given for work done on earth is not eternal life, (cp. Rom 6:23,) but a higher degree of blessedness. Notice carefully that, since our good works are wrought in us by God, both the actions rewarded (as Estius admits} and the reward are altogether gifts of the undeserved favor and mercy of God.
At the council of Florence, A.D. 1439, the Latin fathers appealed to 1Co 3:15 in proof of the doctrine of purgatory. But the fire here mentioned belongs, not to the interval between death and judgment, but to the judgment day. Estius, whose exposition in the main I agree with, raises a difficulty about the bodies of the saved, which must be incapable of pain, passing through fire; and supposes that the teachers referred to passed through the fire in the moment before their resurrection, and were thus cleansed from sins till then unforgiven. But Paul does not say that the fire inflicts pain or cleanses from sin, but only that it destroys the teachers’ work and reward. How the consciousness of past failure and unfaithfulness will be reconciled with the unalloyed joy of heaven, is a mystery we cannot solve. But it is not lessened by the suggestion of Estius. For this consciousness of failure will certainly continue after the resurrection. It will perhaps be neutralized by joy that so unworthy a worker is permitted to enter the Master’s presence.
The metaphor of the building, found also in Mat 7:24 ff; Mat 16:18; Eph 2:21; 1Pe 2:5, and in the word edification, may be profitably compared with that of the field or garden in 1Co 3:6-9. The latter comparison teaches that the growth of a church is a development of life, such as only God can give; and shows how subordinate is the position of a Christian teacher. It therefore reveals the folly of making Paul and Apollos heads of parties. The other metaphor presents the human side of Christian work; and teaches that its permanence depends upon the materials used, materials brought together from various places according to the builder’s judgment and resources. It was therefore a suitable warning, to those who were continuing Paul’s work at Corinth, to put into the minds of their hearers such teaching as would produce enduring results. And it was the more appropriate because, as 1Co 3:18-20 suggest, a love for mere human wisdom was a chief source of the evils which Paul now attempts to remove.
Fuente: Beet’s Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament
If the servant of the Lord has made a lasting contribution to the building of the church by emphasizing some aspect of the gospel, he or she will receive a reward. If someone has not because he or she has pursued human "wisdom," that person will not, though he or she will retain his or her salvation. Paul likened the unfaithful servant to a man pulled to safety through the flames of his burning house (cf. Mat 25:14-30; Luk 19:11-27). The context identifies those who suffer loss as being Christians who seek to build the church with materials that fail to withstand God’s assessment. They do not refer to all carnal Christians (1Co 3:1-4), though carnal Christians may fail to make lasting contributions to the church. [Note: Cf. Carson, pp. 79-80.] Mal 3:2-3 may have been in Paul’s mind when he wrote 1Co 3:15. [Note: John Proctor, "Fire in God’s House: Influence of Malachi 3 in the NT," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 36:1 (March 1993):9-14.] However, Malachi predicted a future cleansing of Israel whereas Paul spoke of a future testing of Christians.
The rewards in view seem to be opportunities to glorify God by serving Him (cf. Mat 25:14-30; Luk 19:11-27). The Christian will have greater or lesser opportunities to do so during the Millennium and forever after in proportion to his or her faithfulness on earth now. [Note: See Wall, pp. 112-21, for an explanation of the negative judgment at the bema.]
The New Testament writers spoke of these rewards symbolically as crowns elsewhere (cf. 1Co 9:25; Php 4:1; 1Th 2:19; 2Ti 4:8; Jas 1:12; 1Pe 5:4; Rev 2:10; Rev 3:11). It is perfectly proper to serve Christ to gain a crown that we may one day lay at the feet of our Savior (cf. Mat 6:20). The crown is a symbol of a life of faithful service that we performed out of gratitude for His grace to us (cf. Rev 4:4; Rev 4:10). If the idea of serving God for a reward makes you uncomfortable, may I suggest that you read again the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)? There Jesus repeatedly appealed to His hearers to follow His teaching with the prospect of receiving an eternal reward for doing so. Scripture appeals to us on many levels to serve the Lord. Certainly love for Him should be our primary motivation. However the biblical writers also urged believers to serve the Lord out of love for other people, the fear of the Lord, the prospect of having to give an account of our lives to Him at the judgment seat, and for other reasons. [Note: For a helpful introduction to the study of the Christian’s rewards, see Wall, or Zane C. Hodges, Grace in Eclipse.]
The testing in view here provides no support for the unbiblical doctrine of purgatory. It is the believer’s works that God subjects to the fires of testing, not the believer personally. God applies the fire to determine the quality of the works, not to purify the believer.
"[The] whole subject of rewards for the believer is one, I am afraid, rarely thought of by the ordinary Christian, or even the average student of the Scriptures. But it is both a joyous and solemn theme and should serve as a potent incentive for holiness of life." [Note: Wilbur Smith, "Inheritance and Reward in Heaven," Eternity, March 1977, p. 79.]
"The Bible describes the judgment seat of Christ for one main purpose: to affect the way we think and live-to motivate us to anticipate with joy His return and to live our lives to please Him, not worrying about the way others treat us or what they may think about us. . . .
"Though not the only motivating factor, I am convinced that the doctrine of the judgment seat (bema) is meant to be one of the major scriptural motivations for godly living." [Note: Wall, pp. 19, 21.]
"It is unfortunately possible for people to attempt to build the church out of every imaginable human system predicated on merely worldly wisdom, be it philosophy, ’pop’ psychology, managerial techniques, relational ’good feelings,’ or what have you. But at the final judgment, all such building (and perhaps countless other forms, where systems have become more important than the gospel itself) will be shown for what it is: something merely human, with no character of Christ or his gospel in it." [Note: Fee, The First . . ., p. 145.]