1 Corinthians 3:15

If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Shall be burned. He who does not build wisely by following closely the instruction of the Master Builder will see his work destroyed (see Matt. 7:26, 27). He may repent of his poor workmanship and be accepted by God, but the results of his faulty work will not be changed. They will remain, an eternal loss to the unfaithful builder. By his words and deeds a man may misrepresent the teachings of Jesus and thereby sow seeds of doubt, evil surmising, and love of the world. By his influence he may cause many souls to turn away from the pure gospel and accept error. He may later recognize the wrong he has done and repent sincerely. God will forgive him and save him. But because of his faulty building, souls will be outside the kingdom. Thus even though he is saved, others will be eternally lost (see Gal. 6:7; 5T 429).

Himself shall be saved. A superficial reading of vs. 12-15 has led some to the erroneous conclusion that Paul here teaches the individual predestination, irrespective of personal choice. That such is not the case becomes evident upon a careful reading of the context (vs. 3-15). The apostle here discusses his labors as an apostle and those of other “ministers” (v. 5) who had served the church at Corinth. The “reward” here spoken of (v. 8) is a reward for service rendered in the gospel ministry, not for one’s personal life as a Christian. For comment on Bible predestination see on John 3:17-20; Rom. 8:29; Eph. 1:4-6.

By fire. Literally, “through fire,” here apparently a figure representing a narrow escape. The man who builds on the foundation of wood, hay, stubble, may at the last moment of probation repent and be saved, but how tragic his wasted life The eleventh-hour repentance of the lifelong blunderer may be accepted but what a poor, maimed offering he has to present (see 3T 165).