1st Corinthians 3 - A Day of Testing

1st Corinthians 3:12-15 - ^"12If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. ¹⁴If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. ¹⁵If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames."

^"12If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³his work will be shown for what it is," - The only foundation we need to use as a base for faith is Jesus. This verse has always reminded me of the story of the three little pigs.

The first two pigs built their homes out of straw and wood (two things mentioned in the previous verse) and when the Big Bad Wolf came along and blew wind on them, their houses fell flat because the basic materials and foundations were not enough against the schemes of the wolf.

Satan is our Big Bad Wolf and our foundations of faith will not stand against him if they're made of anything other than Jesus.

"because the Day will bring it to light." - Notice the word "Day" is capitalized. That means it refers to something or someone very specific. This particular "Day" Paul refers to is the "Day of Judgment" when Jesus will return and God will judge the world. (Revelation 19-20)

"It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work." - In medieval times, a blacksmith would use fire to test the quality of the metals he worked with. A fire would usually expose any flaws a piece of metal had and would either purify that piece of metal or show that it was unusable.

God will test our foundations on the Day of Judgment.

^"14If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward." - I would like to go a little deeper and give you the King James Translation of these last two scriptures as well. ("If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward." - KJV)

If the foundation you use to build for others' faith is Jesus Christ, you have nothing to worry about. Jesus is your rock and he is the only thing that can save you and those whose faith you choose to build up.

^"15If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames." - And now, the King James Version ("If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." - KJV)

If the foundation you use to build for others' faith is not Jesus, you have bigger problems. They will not be saved, hence - "suffer loss". You will be saved because your foundation is Christ, but you will pass through some pretty harsh judgment for not using Christ as a basis for other people's faith.

The only thing that we need to base our faith and the faith of others is Jesus.