Building Well on a Firm Foundation (1 Cor. 3:10-15)

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Salvation is by free grace, a gift – Eph.2:8-9. But there is still a judgment by works – Matt.16:27. Calvin says that these verses from 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 apply to ‘ministers alone’, but there are wider principles too.

  1. We are saved if we build on Christ.
    • 3:10-11, 15; see 1 Pet.2:4-5. Those who build on the foundation of Christ are saved – 1 Cor.15:3-4.
      • Christ is made the sure foundation,
      Christ the Head, and Cornerstone.
  2. If we build well, we will receive a reward.
    • 3:10c, 12-14. Gold, silver, and precious stones will survive a fire, but wood, hay, and straw will not.
    • Matt.25:20-21. In heaven all are perfectly contented but there is not equality in glory. The same is true with judgment – Matt.11:23-24; Luke 12:47-48; Heb.10:28-29.
  3. If we build badly, we will suffer loss.
    • 3:13-15. Purgatory is supposed to be a place which a believer enters at death to purify him/her for heaven, but this refers to the Last Judgment.
      1. e.g. Lot; Samson (Heb.11:32-33), Hezekiah Isa.39).
      2. Charles Grandison Finney on perfectionism.
      3. Carl McIntire too obsessed with attacking enemies of the gospel.
      4. We can become obsessed about side-issues or we can ride hobby-horses. A lack of Scriptural balance can creep in. We can become proud or lazy or too weak, or busy in non-productive ways. ‘Saved but singed’ is not a wonderful epitaph. J. Gresham Machen had ‘Faithful unto death’ on his tombstone, which is much better.