8
The Judgment of Believers’ Works (3:10–17)
According to the grace of God which was given to me,
as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building
upon it. But let each man be careful how he builds upon it. For no
man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is
Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold,
silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will
become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be
revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each
man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built upon it remains,
he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he shall
suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.
Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and
that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple
of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that
is what you are. (3:10–17)
This passage continues Paul’s discussion (1:10–3:23)
of divisions within the Corinthian church. But its more immediate
background is the Lord’s second coming. Paul shows how worldly and
fleshly behavior, and the spiritual division it causes, affects the
rewards the Lord will give when He returns. Moving ahead, he
discusses the paradox of rewards, with their sureness (since all of
us are equally undeserving) and their uniqueness (in that each of us
is rewarded individually). Paul affirms both truths, while waiting
for glory to bring final resolution to the paradox.
The Lord’s coming to reward His own was one of Paul’s
greatest motivations. In a sense, everything the apostle did was
motivated by that truth. His objective, within the supreme objective
of glorifying his God and Savior, was to prepare himself to stand
before the Lord and be able to hear Him say, “Well done, good and
faithful slave” (Matt. 25:21, 23). He wrote the Philippians, “One
thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what
lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward
call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13–14). It was not that he
wanted glory or honor for himself, or wanted to prove himself better
than other Christians, showing them up in Christian service. He
wanted the Lord’s highest reward because that would be the most
pleasing to the Lord Himself, and would most graphically demonstrate
his grateful love.
In his second letter to Corinth, Paul mentions three
specific motivations he had for doing his best for Christ. First, he
wanted to please his Lord: “We have as our ambition,” he said,
“whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him” (2 Cor. 5:9).
Second, Christ’s great love controlled everything he did (v. 14);
his whole ministry was directed by his love of God. And third, he
knew that Christ’s work was complete, that “He died for all”
(v. 15), and that therefore the ministry of the gospel would always
be effective; it could not fail. Jesus Christ had already finished
all the work that would ever have to be done for people to be saved.
Paul was not one to do things halfway. When he ran a
race or fought a fight, he did so to win—to win the imperishable
wreath of His Lord’s reward (1 Cor. 9:24–27). He was not
competing with other believers, but against his own weakness,
weariness, and sin. Though the particular words had not yet been
written, Paul always had before him the knowledge that, “Behold, I
[Jesus] am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to
every man according to what he has done” (Rev. 22:12).
In speaking about believers’ rewards, Paul was not
talking about our judging works or about God’s judging sin. Because
all believers will “stand before the judgment seat of God,” each
of us giving an “account of himself to God,” we have no right to
judge the work of other believers (Rom. 14:10–12). We do not even
know what rewards we will receive for ourselves, much less what
another will receive. Both favorable and unfavorable judging are
excluded. We do not even have the necessary insight to judge
unbelievers in the church, who are tares among the wheat (cf. Matt.
13:24–30). Obviously, we are to rebuke sin and confront the sinning
brother (Matt. 18:15–19; 1 Cor. 5:1–13), but that is because we
can see such sin. Judging motives and the worthiness of reward is for
God, who alone knows the heart.
It is as wrong to highly elevate a person as it is to
degrade him. Paul already had warned twice in this letter against
such worldly elevation of Christian leaders, including himself (1
Cor. 1:12–13; 3:4–9). We do not know enough about another’s
heart and motives and faithfulness—in fact, not enough about our
own—to know what rewards are or are not deserved. We should not “go
on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes
who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and
disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise
will come to him from God” (1 Cor. 4:5).
The subject here is not God’s judgment on sin, either.
The “judgment seat” before which all believers will one day stand
(Rom. 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10) is the Greek bēma, a tribunal. But
both of those passages make it clear that the judgment at that place
and that time will not be to dispense condemnation for sin but reward
for good works, and that it involves only believers. Christ judged
sin on the cross, and because we stand in Him we will never be
condemned for our sins; He was condemned for us (1 Cor. 15:3; Gal.
1:4; 1 Pet. 2:24; etc.). He took the penalty of all our sins
upon Himself (Col. 2:13; 1 John 2:12). God has no more charges
against those who trust in His Son, those who are His elect, and will
allow no one else to bring charges against them (Rom. 8:31–34).
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). As we will see later, “each man’s praise
will come to him from God” (1 Cor. 4:5).
In 1 Corinthians 3:10–17 Paul changes the analogy from
agriculture to architecture. He had been speaking of his own
planting, of Apollos’s watering, and of God’s giving the growth
(vv. 6–8). At the end of verse 9 he makes a transition in his
metaphors: “You are God’s field, God’s building.”
Using the figure of a building, Paul discusses five
aspects of the work of the Lord’s people on earth: the master
builder, the foundation, the materials, the test, and the workmen.
The Master Builder: Paul
According to the grace of God which was given to me,
as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building
upon it. But let each man be careful how he builds upon it.
(3:10)
Paul himself was the master builder of the
Corinthian project. Master builder is one word (architektōn)
in the Greek, and, as can be guessed, is the term from which we get
architect. But the word in Paul’s day carried the idea of
builder as well as designer. He was a combination architect and
general contractor.
As an apostle, Paul’s specialty was foundations. Over
the years since his conversion, Paul had been used by the Lord to
establish and instruct many churches across Asia Minor and in
Macedonia and Greece. But lest some think he was bragging, he began
by making it clear that his calling and his effectiveness were only
by the grace of God that was given to him. That he was
a good, wise builder was God’s doing, not his own. He had
already declared that “neither the one who plants nor the one who
waters is anything, but God who causes the growth” (3:7). The same
truth applied to those who laid foundations and those who built upon
them. A few years later he would tell the believers in Rome, “I
will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has
accomplished through me” (Rom. 15:18). His great success as an
apostolic foundation layer was due entirely to God. “By the grace
of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain;
but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of
God with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). He labored and strived by God’s
power (Col. 1:29) and claimed no cause to boast, except in His Lord
(1 Cor. 1:31). He did not choose to be a builder, much less make
himself a builder. He “was made a minister, according to the
gift of God’s grace” and considered himself to be “the very
least of all saints” (Eph. 3:7–8). He encouraged people not to
laud him (1 Cor. 9:15–16), but rather to pray for him (Eph. 6:19).
In the eighteen months he had worked among the
Corinthians (Acts 18:11) he had faithfully preached and taught the
gospel and nothing else (1 Cor. 2:2). In that he showed himself to be
a wise master builder. Wise (sophos) in this context
has to do not only with spiritual wisdom but also with practical
wisdom, with skill. Paul knew why he had been sent to Corinth. He was
sent to build the foundation of the church there, and that is what he
carefully and skillfully did. He had the right motive, the right
message, and the right power.
He also had the right approach; he was a master
strategist. Though he was primarily the apostle to the Gentiles (Acts
9:15), Paul went to the synagogue to preach first, because the gospel
is first of all for the Jews (Rom. 1:16). He also knew that the Jews
would listen to him as one of themselves, and that those who were
converted could help him reach the Gentiles. The Jews were his best
open door, as well as a passion of his heart (cf. Rom. 9:1–3;
10:1). After winning converts in the synagogue, and often being
thrown out, he would begin preaching and ministering among the
Gentiles in the community (Acts 17:1–4; 18:4–7). He carefully and
diligently planned and laid a solid foundation. The footings were
deep and would last.
The foundation is only the first part of the building
process. Paul’s task was to lay the proper foundation of the
gospel, to establish the doctrines and principles for belief and
practice revealed to him by God (1 Cor. 2:12–13). It was the task
of laying down the mysteries of the New Covenant (cf. Eph. 3:1–9).
After he left, another began building upon it. In the
case of Ephesus, that person was Timothy (1 Tim. 1:3). In the case of
Corinth, it was Apollos. Paul was not jealous of those who followed
him in ministry. He knew that, as one who laid foundations, he would
have to be followed by other builders. Most of the Corinthians, for
example, had been baptized by later pastors. Paul was glad for that,
because it gave less excuse for the Corinthians to develop earthly
loyalties to him (1:14–15).
He was quite concerned, however, that those who built
upon the foundation he had laid would work as faithfully and well as
he had worked. Let each man be careful how he builds upon it.
The Greek form of the verb builds is the present active
indicative, which stresses continual action. All believers go on
through their lives and through history building on Jesus Christ.
Each man primarily refers to evangelists,
pastors, and teachers, who have continued to build on the foundation
laid by the apostles. These are given special and the most direct
responsibility for teaching Christian doctrine. Paul later instructs
Timothy that men who build should be faithful and capable (2 Tim.
2:2).
But the context makes it clear that a broader and more
inclusive application is also in mind. The numerous references to
“each man” and “any man” (vv. 10–18) indicate that the
principle applies to every believer. All of us, by what we say and
do, to some extent teach the gospel. No Christian has the right to be
careless in representing the Lord and His Word. Every believer is to
be a careful builder. We all have the same responsibility.
The Foundation: Jesus Christ
For no man can lay a foundation other than the one
which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (3:11)
Paul was a master builder whose primary task, as an
apostle, was to lay the foundation of the Christian gospel. But he
did not design the foundation; he only laid it. The only foundation
of biblical Christianity is Jesus Christ. The foundation is
not New Testament ethics, many of which are found in other religions.
Nor is it in the history, traditions, and decisions of churches and
church leaders through the centuries. It is Jesus Christ and Him
alone. In a sense, it is all of Scripture, for all of Scripture is
both from and about Jesus Christ. The Old Testament predicted and
prepared for His incarnation. The gospels tell the history of His
earthly ministry, and Acts the history of His church in its early
years. The epistles are commentaries on His message and work, and the
book of Revelation is the final testimony of His reigning and
imminent return. What Jesus said of the Old Testament is even truer,
if this were possible, of the New: “You search the Scriptures …
and it is these that bear witness of Me” (John 5:39).
Some builders have tried to make the foundation of
Christianity to be church tradition, others the moral teachings of
the human Jesus, others ethical humanism, and still others some form
of pseudo-scientism or simply sentimental love and good works. But
the only foundation of the church and of Christian living is Jesus
Christ. Without that foundation no spiritual building will be of God
or will stand.
After the lame man had been healed at the Temple gate
and the crowds there were marveling at it, Peter gave them an
impromptu sermon. He explained in some detail how Jesus was the One
on whom the Old Testament focused and was the only One through whom
they could be saved and have eternal life. The priests and Sadducees
then had Peter and John arrested and put in jail. On the next day the
two men were brought before the high priest and a large group of
other priestly leaders and commanded to explain their preaching and
the healing. Peter continued his message of the previous day, telling
them that it was by Jesus of Nazareth, the One whom they had
crucified, that God raised the crippled man, and that this same
Jesus, the Stone whom they had rejected, was the cornerstone of God’s
kingdom (Acts 3:1–4:12). He was saying that those Jewish leaders
could not accept the gospel of the kingdom because they refused to
accept the very center, the very foundation, of the kingdom—the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Those presumed builders of Israel, of God’s chosen
people, tried to erect a religious system of tradition and works, but
they had no foundation. They built their religious house on sand
(Matt. 7:24–27). The foundation had been revealed in their
Scriptures for centuries—by Isaiah and other prophets—but they
rejected it, as Peter reminds us again (1 Pet. 2:6–8). Every human
philosophy, religious system, and code of ethics is doomed to failure
and destruction, because it has no foundation. There is only one
foundation, and, no matter how he may try, no man can lay a
foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
God’s kingdom is built on Jesus Christ, and every individual life
(“each man,” v. 10) that pleases God must be carefully built on
that foundation.
The Materials: Believers’ Works
Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold,
silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw. (3:12)
Ancient buildings were often built with precious metals
and jewels. No Christian need worry about the foundation of
his faith. That is the marble and granite of the person and work of
Christ, secure and stable and perfect. Our concern should be that,
whatever we build on this foundation, we build with the best of
materials. There is only one foundation, but there are many types of
materials for erecting the spiritual edifice. As long as believers
are alive, they are building. They are building some sort of
life, some sort of church, some sort of Christian fellowship and
service. It may be a beautiful structure or a hovel, it may be by
intention or by neglect, but it cannot help being something.
From the earliest history of the church in Acts and the
epistles, and from the accounts of the seven churches of Revelation
2–3 through today, it has been obvious that Christians and the
congregations they form are vastly different. From the beginning
there have been gold Christians and wood Christians,
silver churches and hay churches, precious stone
endeavors and those that are straw—in every degree and
combination.
The building materials mentioned in verse 12 are in two
categories, each listed in descending order of value. The first
category—gold, silver, precious stones—clearly represents
high-quality materials. The second—wood, hay, straw—just
as clearly represents inferior materials. Gold signifies the greatest
faithfulness, the most skillful and careful work done for the Lord.
Straw signifies the opposite, the least, the leftovers.
The materials do not represent wealth, talents, or
opportunity. Nor do they represent spiritual gifts, all of which are
good and are given to each believer by the Lord as He sees fit (1
Cor. 12:11). The materials represent believers’ responses to what
they have—how well they serve the Lord with what He has given them.
In other words, they represent our works. We cannot be saved by good
works or stay saved by good works. But every Christian has been
“created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10) and is to bear
“fruit in every good work” (Col. 1:10). Works are not the source
of the Christian life, but they are the marks of it.
Every Christian is a builder, and every Christian builds
with some sort of materials. God wants us to build only with the best
materials, because only the best materials are worthy of Him, are the
most effective, and will last.
It is important to note that these first three materials
are equally valuable. There is no grading, since some precious stones
(such as pearls) were, in the ancient world, considered to be more
valuable than gold, and silver could be used for things that gold
could not. Things with different functions can be equally precious
(cf. Matt. 13:23).
Only the Lord can determine which works are high quality
and which are low. It is not the believer’s role to grade
Christians and the work they do. The point Paul is making is that our
purpose should always be to serve the Lord with the best He has given
us and with full dependence on Him. He alone determines the ultimate
value of each man’s work.
If Christ Himself is the foundation of our lives, He
should also be the center of the work we build on the foundation.
That is, the work we do should be truly His work, not just external
activity or religious busy work. It is easy to become deeply involved
in all sorts of church programs and activities and projects that are
hay work. They are not bad programs or projects, but they are
trivial. The wood, hay, and straw are not apparently
sinful things, but subtilely sinful things. Each can be useful in
building something. Even hay or grass may be used to make a roof in
some cases. But when tested by fire, all three of the second group of
materials will burn up.
Paul may have had a similar thought in mind in 2 Timothy
2:20–21, where he says, “Now in a large house there are not only
gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware,
and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if a man cleanses
himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified,
useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.”
We build for the Lord, and use the various materials for
the Lord, in three basic ways: by our motives, by our conduct, and by
our service.
First, we build by our motives. Why we do a thing
is as important as what we are doing. A campaign of neighborhood
visitation done because of compulsion is wood, but visiting the same
people in love to win them to the Lord is gold. Singing a solo in
church and being concerned about how the people like our voice is
hay, but singing to glorify the Lord is silver. Giving generously out
of duty or pressure from men is straw, but giving generously with joy
to extend the gospel and to serve others in the Lord’s name is a
precious stone. Work that on the outside looks like gold to us may be
hay in God’s eyes. He knows “the motives of men’s hearts” (1
Cor. 4:5).
Second, we build by our conduct. “For we must
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be
recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done,
whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). “Bad” (phaulos) is
here best understood as “worthless.” It produces no gain. Our
conduct, therefore, can be “good” (agathos, “inherently
good in quality”), evil, or just useless—like wood, hay
and straw when tested by fire. So things we do can also be
gold or wood, silver or hay, precious stone or straw.
Third, we build by our service. The way we use
the spiritual gifts God has given us, the way we minister in His
name, is of supreme importance in our building for Him. In Christ’s
service, we must seek to be those vessels “for honor, sanctified,
useful to the Master.”
Some years ago a young man told me he was leaving a
certain ministry. The reason he gave was: “I wasn’t doing what I
do best. I was using my abilities but not my spiritual gifts.”
There was nothing wrong with the work he had been doing. In fact, for
another person it could be gold. But for him it was wood, hay, or
straw, because he was doing what others thought he should do rather
than what the Lord had particularly gifted and called him to do.
The Test: by Fire
Each man’s work will become evident; for the day
will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire
itself will test the quality of each man’s work. (3:13)
A new building is usually checked out carefully before
it is occupied or used. Cities, counties, and states have codes that
require buildings to meet certain standards. God has strict standards
for what we build for Him in and with our lives. When Christ returns,
every believer’s work will be tested as to quality. Fire is
the symbol of testing. Just as it purifies metal, so will the fire of
God’s discernment burn up the dross and leave what is pure and
valuable (cf. Job 23:10; Zech. 13:9; 1 Pet. 1:17; Rev. 3:18).
As the following verses (14–15) make clear, that will
not be a time of punishment but a time of reward. Even the one who
has built with wood, hay, or straw will not be condemned; but his
reward will correspond to the quality of his building
materials. When wood, hay, or straw come in contact with fire they
are burned up. Nothing is left but cinders. They cannot stand the
test. Gold, silver, and precious stones, however, do not burn. They
will stand the test, and they will bring great reward.
The Workmen: All Believers
If any man’s work which he has built upon it
remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up,
he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as
through fire.
Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and
that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple
of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that
is what you are. (3:14–17)
Two types of workmen correspond to the two categories of
materials: the valuable and the useless, the constructive and the
worthless. Still another type of workman does not build at all, but
destroys.
constructive workmen
Believers who have right motives, proper conduct, and
effective service build with gold, silver, and precious stones. They
do constructive work for the Lord and will receive corresponding
rewards. He shall receive a reward. That simple and hopeful
promise is the message of eternal joy and glory. Whatever our service
to God’s glory, He will reward.
When a pastor preaches sound, solid doctrine he is
building constructively. When a teacher teaches the Word consistently
and fully, he is building with good materials. When a person with the
gift of helps spends himself serving others in the Lord’s name, he
is building with materials that will endure testing and will bring
great reward. When a believer’s life is holy, submissive, and
worshipful, he is living a life built with precious materials.
The Lord’s reward for all His faithful followers are
varied and wonderful, and all of them are imperishable (1 Cor. 9:25).
The New Testament refers to them as crowns. “For those who have
true saving faith and thus are faithful to live in hope until Jesus
comes, there will be ‘the crown of righteousness’ (2 Tim.
4:7–8). Because the faithful proclaim the truth, there is
promised a ‘crown of exultation’ (1 Thess. 2:19–20).
Because of the service of the redeemed, the reward given
is ‘the unfading crown of glory’ (1 Pet. 5:4).” For all who
love the Lord there will be “the crown of life” (James 1:12).
Each of these is best understood as a Greek genitive of apposition
(i.e., the crown which is righteousness, the crown which is
exultation, the crown which is glory, and the crown which is life.
All refer to the fullness of the believer’s promised reward.
worthless workmen
Many humanly impressive and seemingly beautiful and
worthwhile works that Christians do in the Lord’s name will not
stand the test in “that day.” It “will become evident” (v.
13) that the materials used were wood, hay, and straw. The workmen
will not lose their salvation, but they will lose a portion of any
reward they might be expecting. They shall be saved, yet so as
through fire. The thought here is of a person who runs through
flames without being burned, but who has the smell of smoke on
him—barely escaping! In the day of rewards, the useless and evil
things will be burned away, but salvation will not be forfeited.
It is easy to fool ourselves into thinking that anything
we do in the Lord’s name is in His service, just as long as we are
sincere, hardworking, and well meaning. But what looks to us like
gold may turn out to be straw, because we have not judged our
materials by the standards of God’s Word—pure motives, holy
conduct, and selfless service.
We should be careful not to waste our opportunities by
building with worthless materials, for if we do we will become
worthless workmen. Paul warned the Colossians, “Let no one keep
defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the
worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen,
inflated without cause by his fleshly mind” (Col. 2:18). When we
rely on human wisdom, or even supernatural visions, rather than God’s
Word, we are carnal, following a “fleshly mind.” We can be sure
that any doctrine or principle or practice developed from such
fleshly sources will at best be worthless.
destructive workmen
The third group of workmen obviously is made up of
unbelievers, because God will never destroy those He has
redeemed and given eternal life. It is composed of evil, unsaved
people who attack God’s people and God’s work. That destructive
group can work either from within or without the church, destroying
what God has built up.
Every believer
3:5–9. Here Paul sought to temper their
overinflated view of their church heroes. The key to the success of
Apollos and Paul was the Lord who gave opportunity to each
one (v. 5). Paul used the imperfect tense in the phrase, was
causing the growth (v. 6), to emphasize God’s role in their
progress. But he also used aorist verbs (planted; watered)
to understate the significance of the human servants, a point made
explicit in v. 7. Paul and Apollos were one (v. 8), probably a
reference to sharing the same level of relative (un)importance for
the church’s development. They have a similar status, but will
receive distinct rewards (reward means “payment earned for
work one has completed”). Serving God to gain eternal rewards is a
legitimate motivation, and neither Jesus nor Paul discouraged it (Mt
5:12, 46; 6:1, 4; 1Co 9:17; Rv 22:12). Part of Paul’s and Apollos’s
similar status (v. 8a) included them being fellow workers
employed by God (not “they both work alongside God as He works”).
God is the employer, the owner of the farm and the building.
3:10–15. Those who worked on constructing God’s
building (the church; v. 9) will be held accountable for it. Paul
attributed his ministerial success to God’s grace
(“exceptional effect produced by [God’s] generosity,” roughly
synonymous with God’s power; cf. BDAG, 1080) (v. 10). A master
builder (architekton) was both a building’s designer and
construction supervisor. Paul laid the right foundation, Jesus
Christ (v. 11), but he warned the strident leaders at Corinth to
be careful about how they built on it. Gold, silver, precious
stones (v. 12) in the context of 1Co 1–4 refers to ministry
that produces harmony. Wood, hay, straw refers to practices
that lead to personal aggrandizement and widespread disunity. In the
day of the Lord following the rapture of the Church, God will
demonstrate that He is aware of those negative influences (v. 13) and
will evaluate them negatively. Fire serves as a symbol of
God’s judgment that consumes what is not acceptable to Him (cf. Zch
13:9). Those whose toil resulted in strife will be saved (v.
15), but barely (yet so as through fire describing a narrow
escape from some catastrophe). He or she will suffer loss of
rewards. The reward (v. 14) probably includes expanded
opportunities to serve Jesus with profound satisfaction in a glorious
setting (His kingdom), and hearing the commendation, “Well done,
good and faithful servant” (see the comments on Mt 25:21, 23; 1Co
4:5). Cf. the comments on Rm 14:10–12; 2Co 5:10, and James Rosscup,
Paul’s Teaching on the Christian’s Future Reward, with Special
Reference to 1 Corinthians 3:10–17 [Unpublished Ph.D.
Dissertation, University of Aberdeen, 1976], 464–465.
