WOOD OR GOLD

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 believer¹

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], 464–465.²

1 MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1984). 1 Corinthians (pp. 77–86). Chicago: Moody Press.

2 Vanlaningham, M. G. (2014). 1 Corinthians. In The moody bible commentary (p. 1780). Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers.