1 Corinthians 3:15Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

"It will burn" means that it will not endure the force of the fire. If someone crossed a river of fire with golden weapons, he would cross it with glory.

But if another tried to cross it with hay, he would not only fail, but also destroy himself. So it is with works.

In saying this, the Apostle does not mean the actual burning up of people. Rather, he wishes to inspire the strongest fear and to show that one who lives wickedly is in danger.

Therefore he says, "he will suffer loss." This is the first punishment. "Yet he himself will be saved, but as through fire." This is the second.

These words mean this: he himself will not perish as his works do, nor be reduced to nothing, but will remain in the fire.

The Apostle calls this salvation. Therefore he did not simply say, "he will be saved," but added, "as through fire."

So we too commonly say that things are preserved in fire when they do not burn up and do not immediately turn to ashes.

Therefore, when you hear of fire, do not think that those who are burned are reduced to nothing. Do not be surprised that the Apostle calls such torment salvation.

He often uses favorable expressions for unpleasant things, and unfavorable expressions for pleasant things. For example, the word captivity signifies something bad.

But Paul uses it in a good sense when he says, "bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor 10:5).

Likewise, speaking of something bad, he uses a favorable expression in the words, "sin reigned" (Rom 5:21). Yet the word reign sounds rather good.

So here also, when he says, "he will be saved," he expresses nothing other than the continuation of punishment. It is as if he said: he himself will be tormented without ceasing.

Rather, he will be saved, that is, preserved whole, so that he may burn in the fire.

Among us, people commonly say that wood which does not burn easily and turn to ash remains whole in the fire. Thus a considerable time is needed to burn it.

Therefore the sinner suffers loss because he labored over such works through which he perishes. He spent all his effort on what has no being and does not exist, for every evil is something without existence.

It is like someone who, at a great price, bought himself a corpse instead of a living body. Meanwhile he himself, that is, the sinner, will be saved, meaning preserved whole for eternal torments.

Beyond all doubt, he is not the man they suppose. Otherwise the sayings of two apostles would appear to contradict each other.

One would seem to say, “Even if someone has evil works, faith will save him through fire.” The other says, “If someone does not have good works, can faith save him?”

We shall determine who can be saved through fire if we first determine what it means to have Christ as the foundation. It is best now to turn to the comparison itself.

In a building nothing is laid before the foundation. Therefore Christ is the foundation only for the man who bears Him in his heart in such a way that nothing earthly and temporal stands above Christ for him, not even what is lawful.

If he places such things above Christ, then even though he seems to have faith in Christ, Christ is not his foundation.

If, while transgressing the saving commandments, he does what is unlawful, is it not still clearer that he places Christ behind, not before, himself?

Christ either commands or permits. Yet such a man shamefully prefers to follow his own desire against Christ’s commands or permissions.

Thus, if a Christian loves a harlot and, cleaving to her, becomes one body with her (1 Cor 6:16), such a man no longer has Christ as his foundation.

If a man loves his wife, and loves her according to Christ (Eph 5:25), who will doubt that Christ is his foundation?

Yet even if he loves her according to this age, carnally, in the passion of desire, as the pagans who do not know God (1 Thess 4:5), the Apostle permits even this by condescension.

Or rather, Christ Himself permits it through the Apostle. Therefore such a man too can have Christ as his foundation.

For if he places none of these attachments or desires above Christ, then although he builds with wood, hay, and straw, Christ still remains his foundation. Therefore he will be saved through fire.

Pleasures of this kind and earthly attachments, pardonable on account of the marriage bond, will be burned by the fire of affliction. Widowhood and all misfortunes that destroy them belong to this fire.

For the man who built, this building will be a loss. He will not possess what he built. The loss of what had delighted him in its use will cause him bitter suffering.

Yet through this fire he will be saved because of the foundation. For if a persecutor asked him whether he preferred to have this thing or Christ, he would choose Christ.

Behold the man who, according to the Apostle, builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, and precious stones: “The unmarried man cares for the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord” (1 Cor 7:32).

And behold another who builds with wood, hay, and straw: “But the married man cares for the things of the world, how to please his wife” (1 Cor 7:33).

“Each one’s work will become manifest; for the Day will declare it, because it is revealed by fire” (1 Cor 3:13). The Apostle calls this very affliction fire, as we read elsewhere.

“The furnace tests the potter’s vessels, and the trial of affliction tests righteous men” (Sir 27:5). “The fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.”

“If anyone’s work which he has built endures,” since what each cares for in the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord, remains, “he will receive a reward.”

That is, he will receive what he cared for. “If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss,” because he will no longer possess what he loved.

“Yet he himself will be saved,” because no affliction could move him from the foundation, “but so as through fire” (1 Cor 3:11-15).

For what he possessed with enticing love, he loses with burning grief. In my judgment, this is the meaning of that fire.

It will not condemn either of these men. It will enrich one and cause loss to the other, while it tests both.

But if in this passage we wished to understand that fire of which the Lord will say to those on the left, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire” (Mt 25:41), then another difficulty follows.

Those who built upon the foundation with wood, hay, and straw would belong to their number. Yet after a time determined according to their sins, they would be freed from that fire by virtue of the good foundation.

Then whom should we understand as those standing on the right, to whom it will be said, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom” (Mt 25:34)?

Would they not be those who built upon the foundation with gold, silver, and precious stones?

But if the fire in question is to be understood here, both groups must be sent into it. That is, both those on the right and those on the left.

For both groups must be tested in the fire of which it is said, “Each one’s work will become manifest; for the Day will declare it, because it is revealed by fire, and the fire will test each one’s work.”

If it tests both groups, then the man whose work remains, that is, what he built is not burned by fire, will receive a reward.

The man whose work burns will suffer condemnation. Therefore it is clear that this fire is not the eternal fire.

Only those on the left will be sent into the eternal fire for the last and eternal condemnation. This other fire serves as a test even for those on the right.

For some it tests in such a way that their building, found to rest upon Christ as foundation, is not burned or destroyed.

In others, what they built will burn, and therefore they will suffer loss. Yet they themselves will be saved, because by a greater love for Christ they clung immovably to Him as the foundation.

If they are saved, they will clearly stand on the right. Together with the others they will hear, “Come, you blessed of My Father,” not on the left.

On the left will stand those who will not be saved. Therefore they will hear, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire.”

For from that fire none of them will be saved. They will all go into eternal punishment (Mt 25:46), where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched (Isa 66:24).

In that fire they will be tormented day and night unto the ages of ages (Rev 20:10).

But if they say that souls of the dead endure this kind of fire in the interval after the death of this body until the day of judgment and recompense comes after the resurrection of bodies, I shall not deny it.

They may say that those do not experience it who have no habits and attachments of such a kind that their wood, hay, and straw must be burned.

They may say that those experience it who bring such buildings with them. Finally, they may say they experience it only there, or here and there, or here alone.

For there is no fire there of passing afflictions, burning all that is temporal and pardonable. I shall not deny such an opinion, because perhaps it is true.

Indeed, the very death of the body, which took its beginning from the commission of the first sin, can belong to such an affliction. Thus each man experiences what follows it according to his building.

Likewise the persecutions that crown martyrs and test some Christians examine both kinds of buildings like fire.

Some buildings they burn together with the builders themselves, if Christ is not found as their foundation.

Others they burn without the builders, if Christ is their foundation, because the builders themselves will be saved, though with loss.

Finally, there are buildings the persecutions do not touch at all, because they find them such as will remain forever.

Then, at the end of the age, in the time of the Antichrist, there will come such affliction as has never existed before.

By that time, upon the best foundation, which is Christ Jesus, many buildings will have been raised, both of gold and of hay.

The fire will test both kinds. On account of some, it will be a cause of joy. On account of others, it will be a cause of condemnation.

Yet it will not touch those themselves in whom these buildings are found, because of the immovable foundation.

But whoever, according to human custom and carnal love, prefers to Christ not merely a wife, whose bodily intercourse is used for bodily pleasure, but even other family ties, which are free from such pleasure, does not have Christ as foundation.

Therefore he will not be saved by fire, but will be condemned. For he cannot be with the Savior, who says most plainly, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

And again, “He who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Mt 10:37).

But if a man is carnally attached to such bonds without placing them above the Lord Christ, and if under trial he is more ready to lose them than Christ, he will be saved through fire.

For to the extent that grief necessarily arising from the loss of these things consumes him, love preserves him.

Indeed, whoever loves father, mother, sons, and daughters in Christ cares that they may inherit the Kingdom of Christ and be united to Him.

In other words, if he loves in them the fact that they are members of Christ, then his love cannot be subject to destruction with wood, hay, and straw.

Rather, it must be counted as a building of gold, silver, and precious stones. And how can he love more than Christ those whom he loves precisely for Christ’s sake?

Reading in this way, we shall find the meaning of these writings precisely: "If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, as through fire." That is, his work will be burned by fire.

But he himself will be saved, namely the teacher. For he is not guilty of their turning to what is worse, since he handed down the proper teaching.

If anyone wishes to understand the words "as through fire" in connection not with the work but with the teacher, let him understand it thus.

The teacher will not suffer punishment for them, but will be saved, after himself being tested by fire, to see whether his life truly conforms to his teaching.

That this is said not about dogmas but about works is shown by what is added. For the Apostle says in verse 16: "Do you not know that you are God’s temple, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"

Yet in the age to come sinful works pass into non-being, when nature, having passed through the fire of Judgment, receives back its powers in health.

Building upon the Lord, as upon a certain foundation of faith, the lofty structure of good things, let us place upon this foundation gold, silver, and precious stones.

That means pure and unmixed theology, a bright and glorious life, divine thoughts, and pearl-like contemplations.

Let us not place wood, hay, and straw (1 Cor 3:12). That means idolatry or attachment to sensory things, an irrational life, and passionate thoughts deprived, like ripe ears of grain, of wise understandings.

For Scripture delivers nothing of the kind to us. Rather, He Himself who will judge us says: “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Mt 25:46).

Again He says: “Those who have done good will come forth to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” (Jn 5:29).

Thus no intermediate place remains at all. After He divided all who are judged into two parts, He placed some at His right hand and others at His left.

He called the first sheep and the second goats. He in no way showed that there are some who must be purified by that purifying fire.

It seems that the fire of which the Apostle speaks is the fire of which the prophet David says: “Before Him is a devouring fire, and around Him a mighty tempest” (Ps 49:3).

And again: “Fire goes before Him, and burns up His enemies round about” (Ps 96:3). The prophet Daniel also speaks of this fire: “A stream of fire issued and came forth before Him” (Dan 7:10).

Since the saints bring with them no evil deed or mark of evil, this fire will show them still more radiant. They will be like gold tested in the furnace.

They will also be like the stone amiantus. It is said that when placed in fire it appears charred, but when taken from the fire it becomes still cleaner, as though washed with water.

So also were the bodies of the holy Three Children in the furnace of Babylon.

But sinners bring evil with them. Since this is fit material for the fire, the fire will seize it and immediately kindle it.

It will burn their “work,” that is, their evil disposition or activity, their energia. It will utterly destroy it and deprive them of what they brought with them, namely, their evil burden.

Yet it will “save” them. That is, it will preserve and keep them forever, so that they are not destroyed together with their evil.

The divine Father Chrysostom, whom we call the “Mouth of Paul,” as Paul is the “Mouth of Christ,” deemed it necessary to give this interpretation of the Apostle’s saying when explaining the Epistle.

Paul speaks through Chrysostom, as was shown by the vision of Proclus, his disciple and successor on his throne.

Chrysostom devoted a special treatise to this single saying, so that the Origenists would not use these apostolic words to confirm their way of thinking.

They seem to suit them more than they suit you. Nor should they harm the Church by introducing an end to the torment of Hades and a final restoration, apokatastasis, of sinners.

For the expression that the sinner is “saved as through fire” means that he will remain tormented in fire and will not be destroyed with his evil deeds and his evil disposition of soul.

Basil the Great also says this in the Moralia, interpreting the Psalm verse, “The voice of the Lord dividing the flame of fire” (Ps 28:7).

“The fire prepared for the torment of the devil and his angels is divided by the voice of the Lord, so that thereafter there are two powers in it.

One power burns, and the other illumines. The tormenting and punitive power of that fire is kept for those worthy of torment.

The illuminating and enlightening power is appointed for the radiance of those who rejoice.

Therefore there is the voice of the Lord, cutting and dividing the flame of fire, so that the dark part may be a fire of torment, while the part that does not burn remains a light of delight.”

Thus, as it appears, this cutting and division of the fire will take place when all alike pass through it.

The works that are bright and shining will appear still brighter. Those who bring them will become heirs of the light and will receive that eternal reward.

Those who bring evil and easily burned works will be punished by the loss of them. Remaining eternally in the fire, they will inherit a salvation worse than destruction.

For, properly speaking, this is what “to be saved” signifies here: that the destructive power of the fire should not utterly destroy them also.

Following these Fathers, many others of our Teachers have understood this saying in the same sense.

If someone has interpreted it otherwise, understanding “salvation” as release from punishment and “passing through fire” as purgatory, then such a man, if one may say so, has understood the saying quite wrongly.

This is not surprising, for he is a man. Many of the Teachers also appear to interpret passages of Scripture differently, and not all have attained the precise meaning in equal measure.

It is impossible for the same text, when transmitted in different understandings, to correspond equally to all of them.

We must therefore choose the most important interpretations, and those more in accord with the dogmas of the Church. The remaining interpretations must be set in a secondary place.

Therefore we shall not depart from the interpretation of the Apostle’s words given above, even if Augustine, Gregory the Dialogist, or some other of our Teachers gave such an unsuitable interpretation.

Such an interpretation helps the notion of a temporary purifying fire less than it helps Origen’s teaching.

That teaching speaks of the final restoration of souls through that fire and of release from torment. It was forbidden and anathematized by the Fifth Ecumenical Council.

It was finally rejected as a common dishonor to the Church.

By the words “the day will reveal it” is meant time. Like fire that shows which bodies burn easily and which do not, time will show each man’s works and reveal their goodness or badness.

By the words “the fire will test” is meant the shining light of the All-Holy Spirit in the Church. He was sent down in the form of fiery tongues.

With His help believers can distinguish true teaching from false teaching.

By the words “as through fire” is meant the affliction that the Church causes heretics by her rebukes. For affliction burns a man like fire, according to David’s words: “We went through fire and water” (Ps 65:12).

Finally, by the word “will be saved” one must understand: if he repents.

The same is implied in the words: “to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 5:5).

But if one agrees with the opinion of the second interpreters, then by gold, silver, and precious stones one must understand virtues performed in thought, word, and deed.

By the words “the day will reveal it” one must understand the last day of judgment, which will be revealed by fire.

“The river of fire was flowing and came forth before Him” (Dan 7:10), that is, before the Judge, says the great prophet Daniel.

By the fire that tests each one’s work, of what sort it is, one must understand the justice of God.

“For by the fire of the Lord,” says Isaiah, “the whole earth will be judged” (Is 66:16).

By the words “he will be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Cor 3:15), one must not understand: he will receive salvation, as though by fire.

Rather, one must understand that he will remain whole, according to the expression: “Be saved from this crooked generation” (Acts 2:40).

I say that it must be understood only in this sense: he will remain incorrupt, so that he may thus be burned by the fire of eternal torment.

Thus, according to the first interpreters, the Apostle Paul sets forth the following teaching here.

If any teacher, standing on this foundation of faith in Christ, teaches Orthodox or impious doctrine, let him know that each one’s teaching will be revealed as it is.

Time will reveal it. The zeal of the All-Holy Spirit and the discernment of the faithful sons of the Church will test and examine whether his teaching is right or not.

If it is found right, he will receive a reward, that is, recompense from God and praise from the Church.

But if the Church finds it heretical and unorthodox, it will “suffer loss,” that is, it will be condemned.

He himself will be saved not by fire, but as though by fire, that is, by the rebuke and prohibitions of the Church, if only he repents.

According to the second interpreters, the Apostle teaches the following.

If any of the faithful, on the foundation of faith in Christ, builds with his mind, words, and deeds, that is, performs works of virtue or sin, let him know that each one’s works will be revealed.

For the last day of judgment, which will begin with the fire of divine justice, will reveal everything.

This fire, that is, this divine justice, will test each one’s work, whether it is good or evil.

If, after that testing and the judgment of God, a man’s work remains uncondemned, he will receive a reward, that is, the heavenly kingdom.

But if his work proves worthy of fire, it will “suffer loss,” that is, it will be destroyed.

He himself will be “saved,” that is, he will remain unharmed, so that he may then be delivered to the fire of eternal torment.

Notice here that Paul first rebuked the Corinthians for their mutual disagreements, as you heard last week.

Then, as though suspecting their teachers themselves, who certainly were the cause of those disagreements, he admonished and frightened them also with these present words.

After all this, he offers another proof for condemning the Corinthians in their discord.

The builders are the pastors and teachers of the Church. Therefore the materials from which the Church is built are most naturally understood as explanations and interpretations of the faith offered to believers.

According to the observation of one interpreter, certain teachers build with gold and silver on the foundation laid by the Apostles.

These are those who teach concerning the Person and merits of Jesus Christ, justification and regeneration, and similar articles of faith, in agreement with Holy Scripture.

They also draw from this teaching consolations and useful exhortations for believers. But by hay and straw the Apostle means empty, strange, and useless teachings.

Such were, in the time of the Apostles, the traditions of the Jewish elders and human opinions (Fr. Balduini, Wittenb. Comm. in Ep. Pauli, 1655, p. 314).

Yet whatever materials the builders use, each one’s work will become manifest. For the day of the Dread Judgment will come.

Then judgment will be pronounced over each one’s works, and the worth of the teaching that was preached will be revealed.

That day will be revealed by fire. Then it will happen that the man whose work remains, which he built, will receive a reward.

But the man whose work is burned will suffer loss, ζημιωθήσεται, detrimentum patietur.

That is, a teacher may place inferior materials on a good foundation: hay and reed, empty and useless rites and speculations.

Such a teacher will receive no reward, because his labor will prove empty and insignificant.

But at the same time the Apostle adds that he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire: αυ̉τός δὲ σωθήσεται ου̉́τως δὲ ω̉ς διὰ πυρός.

Judging from the contrast between the thought of this verse and the preceding one, one would expect something else.

One would expect that the man who used bad materials would not only lose his labor in vain, but would himself be condemned.

Yet in the Apostle’s words he seems to be saved. The question arises, how should this expression be understood: αυ̉τὸς δὲ σωθήσεται?

Many Western interpreters assert that this points to the fire of purgatory. In it, they say, the souls of Christians must be purified when they have stained themselves with various vices.

Yet these Christians, according to them, preserved the faith and labored at least partly for the Church and for the salvation of the soul.

This opinion is a later invention of the Roman Church, confirmed at the Council of Florence. It does not deserve examination and refutation here.

Saint John Chrysostom understands this expression ironically. That is, not only will the builder’s work be burned, but he himself will not be saved.

If we bring this opinion of the great teacher of the Church together with the Apostle’s direct speech, it may be presented in this way.

When the time of testing comes, the whole building of the Church is, as it were, engulfed by fire.

Then the firmness of faith and the skill of virtue in each of her members are revealed.

Those who build their houses of easily ignited material lose everything in a fire. They themselves are exposed to the greatest danger of perishing.

If they are saved from death, it is with great difficulty. Often they suffer loss and injury to their members.

For example, they escape with smoldering clothing, scorched hair, or burned limbs.

So also foolish teachers of the faith spread useless and vain teachings. They corrupt gullible people with empty tales of their own inventions.

They expose themselves to the greatest danger of perishing. If they remain unrepentant, they will not be saved from the fire of eternal torment.

In conclusion, it must be added that the passage examined is one of the most difficult.

In the opinion of blessed Augustine, it belongs precisely among those passages that the Apostle Peter called hard to understand (2 Pet 3:16).

His little house will burn, but he will not burn or be annihilated. What then will happen to him? The words "but as through fire" point to a comparison.

Let us take this comparison, and we receive this meaning. He will be saved just as those are saved whom fire overtakes in a house.

There is fire all around, and one must flee through it. What happens then? One runs through almost unscorched. Others are scorched in different degrees. Another remains in the fire.

Something similar will happen to those whose little houses burn in the fire of judgment. Some will go into the fire. Others will receive different degrees of punishment. Still others will receive mercy.

For although they are all guilty of having built with unstable material, their guilt may have different degrees.

One may be guilty without personal blame. He may have labored over an unstable building, not knowing a better way to build. Or, because of circumstances, he may not have managed to undertake the better work.

Or for some other reason he may deserve excuse.