1 Cor 3:15 & the nature of fire

[eaglesway]

 Corinthians 3:13-17King James Version (KJV)

13 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.14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?17 If any man defile(phteiro) the temple of God, him shall God destroy(phteiro); for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

IMO, 1 Cor 3:15 supports UR from the perspective that the fire purges the inferior works, which is judged by motive, and that the destruction is of the reward, not the man himself- so it goes to the nature of the fire, and being saved but as through fire.

Similarly the man who is delivered over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that his spirit might be saved "on the Day of the Lord"(1 Cor 5:5).... we see in 1 Cor 13 that the Day is the fire, His face like the sun shining in its strength, His eyes like flames of fire and I think this can be demonstrated from scripture to be the nature of the Day for everyone who ever lived...."their conscience either accusing or excusing them on the Day when God judges the secrets of mens hearts by Jesus Christ."

"I am He that trieth the reins and the hearts" Rv 2:23

The destruction in verse 17...."if any man defile the temple of God...." the continuity is with the preceeding sentences having to do with judging the quality of ones work. "Destroy" is a poor translation for this word, "phteiro", and again we see translators using "destroy" wherever it suits them, even translating differently the same word(phteiro) right next to itself.

5351 phtheírō (from phthiō, "perish, waste away") – properly, waste away, corrupt (deteriorate); (figuratively) to cause or experience moral deterioration – i.e. decomposition (break-down), due to the corrupting influence of sin.

[This root (pht-) literally means "waste away" (degenerate), "moving down from a higher level (quality, status) to a lower form.]

Since Paul is talking about quality of building and materials used in construction as to purity of motivation and purty of teaching in the things that are laid upon the foundation, he is obviously speaking of believers, but the principles of judging/discerning/exposing is the same for all because God is not a respecter of persons of a shifting shadow of variableness and Romans 2 declares this clearly. Matthew 25:41-46 is similar to 1 Cor 3:15 when they are viewed together it is no longer about eternity in hell but rather purity of works and motives being "exposed" to the "Day" which is the "fire" of correction- pyr to aionion and kolassin aionion- in His presence.

"A river of fire was flowing And coming out from before Him; Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; The court sat, And the books were opened. " Dan 7:10

"For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all." Mt 10:26

"But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light." Eph 5:13

"For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." Heb 4

"......they, too, will drink the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb." Rev 14:10

The fire is His presence, and in His presence, exposing, making manifest, purging, etc. I think it works the same for all, believer and unbeliever, to deliver the spirit into life through submission to His Lordship.

I think we hav been so trained by orthodox soteriology that we can't read the word without screening it through our previous assumptions, so we think like "who is going to hell" and "who isnt"- even as we teach that there is no eternal burning hell. There is no "hell", only Gehenna and the "lake of fire" and "aionion pyr"- which are all metaphors for various elements and expressions of the same thing, the overwhelmingly irresistable and penetrating light of His presence, His face.

"There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.

12 For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; 13 for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, 16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus." Romans 2

"And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. 6For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. "1 Cor 5

It is the light of His face, the revelation of Christ that both saves and judges, the same fire, working its glory in all in each order, in every age until God, who is a consuming fire, is all in all, everything in everyone- which is the salvation of the kingdom of God.

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

[Ross]

It is the light of His face, the revelation of Christ that both saves and judges, the same fire, working its glory in all in each order, in every age until God, who is a consuming fire, is all in all, everything in everyone- which is the salvation of the kingdom of God.

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

I.M.O Paul's blindness in the initial presence of Christ seems to back up the point you are making. The glory is so bright, brighter than the sun- fleshly vision will be inadequate to look beyond, but spiritual will be able to see; literally see Him as He truly is. So indeed, blessed are the pure in heart- to whom all things are pure [Titus 1;15]

[Dandelion]

Thank you, EW.

God's justice and mercy go hand in hand with your explanation. He still loves us, yet we all need to be transformed. We cannot remain in the world's ways, yet God will not give up on us. His light is love...the love that pursues us and the love that changes us. The love that forgives us yet is not content to leave us in the same condition as when we sinned.

D.

[marie glen]

AMEN! to all EW! But especially -

Corinthians 3:13-17King James Version (KJV)

"A river of fire was flowing And coming out from before Him; Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; The court sat, And the books were opened. " Dan 7:10

"For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all." Mt 10:26

The fire is His presence, and in His presence, exposing, making manifest, purging, etc. I think it works the same for all, believer and unbeliever, to deliver the spirit into life through submission to His Lordship.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: - I think we hav been so trained by orthodox soteriology that we can't read the word without screening it through our previous assumptions, so we think like "who is going to hell" and "who isnt"- even as we teach that there is no eternal burning hell. There is no "hell", only Gehenna and the "lake of fire" and "aionion pyr"- which are all metaphors for various elements and expressions of the same thing, the overwhelmingly irresistable and penetrating light of His presence, His face.

"There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.

"And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. 6For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. "1 Cor 5

  ....those who are still perishing..

It is the light of His face, the revelation of Christ that both saves and judges, the same fire, working its glory in all in each order, in every age until God, who is a consuming fire, is all in all, everything in everyone- which is the salvation of the kingdom of God.

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

   :thumbsup: :thumbsup: Amen!