I believe that 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 is one of the most missunderstood passages in the Bible. It states:
"every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."
Of course there is already is a famous one from the Roman Catholic Church, they claim it was a reference to their teaching of Purgatory.
But that is not the one I am talking about. There is another one spreading like wildfire, already been endorsed by many evangelicals such as Charles Stanley, Chuck Missler, Dave Hunt, Norman Geisler, Matt Slick etc. All those believe(d) in unconditional eternal security, which I used to believe too until last October or November. Many of those believe that if you are saved you won't fall back into sin, but not all of them. Some also believe (like I do) that there IS a possibility that true saints can return to living a life of sin, but unlike me they believe those people will still go to heaven, which contradicts with Ephesians 5:5 (and MANY other Verses).
"For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."
Of course we could argue that inheritance does not per se have to do with salvation. Here is what Charles Stanley wrote in his book "Eternal Security: Can You Be Sure?" from 1990:
"One of the messages in this series has to do with those sins we commit as believers. What is God going to do? What are we going to lose in the Judgment, and there is gonna be loss in the Judgment, let there be no question about that. You can't sin and live like the devil down here and get by with it, even as a believer. The Bible says you will lose your reward, but you'll be saved so as by fire. You won't lose your salvation, but there is a whole lot to lose, brother, by sinful living."
Of course, if we simply read Verses 13, 14 and 15 from 1 Cor. 3 WITHOUT the context, then this interpretation would make sense. Yet, we are not told to cherry pick.
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" 2 Timothy 3:16
Let us look at the whole context of that chapter (1 Cor. 3), shall we? Going back to Verse 12:
"For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."
Many may suggest that the group in Verse 15 did not build on Christ's foundation and therefore did lose their rewards. First off, YES, the groups in Verse 14 and 15 were BOTH saved. But that does not mean one abided in Christ and the other one didn't. John 15:1-6 talks about this:
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."
We see that the ones who did not abide in Christ were cast into the fire. Many suggest that this fire was the same one as in 1 Corinthians 3:15, THAT Verse however says "yet SO AS by fire", figuratively speaking. John 15:6 however DOES speak of real fire. Neither does it make sense to teach those were false converts, because it says there were IN Christ.
So the Bible is clear that we have to build on Christ as our foundation, see also in Matthew 7:24-27.
"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it."
Plus in Matthew 25 we have three parables speaking of judgement, and all of those speak of saved and unsaved, not of saved with rewards and saved without rewards. Yes, there is such thing, but it has nothing to do with sin. We can be sure that sin affects salvation, not (merely) rewards.
Let us go back to 1 Corinthians 3 and to Verse 12:
"Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble"
Now hold on for a minute. Do you believe that "wood, hay, stubble" (or "wood, hay and straw" in many more modern translations) refers to sin? That our sin would be burned up? David J. Stewart from jesus-is-savior.com stated:
"Romans 12:19 and 1st Thessalonians 4:6 CLEARLY warn us that God will AVENGE anyone who has been defrauded or hurt in any way. Remember, the soul of a saved person is forever secure and nothing can jeopardize that; however, our rewards and happiness in Heaven will directly depend upon the life we live here on earth."
This sadly is only half of the truth. Houston, we have a problem. If wood hay and stubble are sins that are not repented of, then do gold, silver and precious stones represent? Less bad sins? Also, what are we building? What we can be build ON has already be revealed, but what can we build with it? Verses 7-10 give us the answer:
"So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon."
So here we read of planting, watering and labouring. Obviously Paul taught about how to build a church, not that a Christian that lives like the devil would be saved. I don't think that we can build a church with sin. We can only suggest that gold, silver and precious stones refer to good works and wood, hay and stubble to less good works. Not all of us build the same way, which is made clear in Romans 14:6.
"He that regardeth the day, regardeth itunto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks."
However, we also read that we cannot live for ourselves. So we may not all build the same way, but Christ must be the foundation and in the day of judgement it will be revealed if we build with gold, silver and precious stones or with wood, hay and straw. The way we build indeed does not affect our salvation AS LONG AS we build on Christ.
But what about those who rather continue in sin?
Were they ever saved in the first place?
1 Timothy 4:1 says yes.
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils"
It wouldn't make sense if anybody who departs from the faith had never been in the faith in the first place. That is like saying if you crash your car then you never had a car in the first place. Therefore, the Calvinist/OSAS interpreation doesn't make sense at all.
Now let us skip to Verses 16 and 17.
"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."
Many think this speaks of our body, but I rather think it speaks of our church building, since Paul wrote "which temple ye (plural) are". Believers are THE church. Those who teach sound doctrine will be rewarded, those who teach less sound doctrines will forfeit their rewards, those however who destroy the church with doctrines of devils will be destroyed. Therefore Charles Stanley and many others will have to answer God. A life of sin leads to eternal condemnation and, if already saved, a loss of salvation, not a loss of rewards.
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