Should We Fear The Judgment Seat (1 Cor 3)? | Theocast

So, yeah, I hope that's helpful to the listener. So John, 1 Corinthians 3, let's look at it, man.

Right.

Division in the Church at Corinth

So a famous letter, right? Paul is dealing with a number of issues. The church is all, it's all kind of divided all over the place and promoting all kinds of promiscuity and issues within the church and in this particular section, the beginning of the letter in chapter three, you are dealing with the issue of the church becoming divided, where they...

Division in the church is the issue.

It is the issue. So Paul is not trying to whip them in the shape as far as it comes to morality. The major concern, and Paul does this almost in every single one of his letters. You see it plainly in Ephesians chapter four.

You see it in Colossians chapter two, where he's trying to create unity within the body, where the focus is on... I mean, he says in Colossians chapter two, that there are people who have come into the church and they're taking your focus off of the head, which is Christ.

Well, he's using the same kind of language here. I mean, we know the famous accusation. So he begins by saying to them, I wish I could give you and call you spiritual people, but you are so far of the flesh.

And then he gets explained. He goes, listen, your foundation, the way in which you are building your spiritual life is on men. You are dividing yourself. Some of you are saying I'm a Paulist, I'm a Paul, and he gets really irritated with them and says, what are you doing?

So even if you begin in verse seven, it says, so neither he who plants or he who waters is anything but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.

For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. So he's beginning saying, basically the labors you're doing right now, you're creating legitimacy based upon who has trained you, who has grown you.

Yeah, there's jealousy among you, he says. There's strife among you. You're wigging out over what tribe you're a part of, in one sense. Like, are you with Apollos? Are you with Paul? Are you with Cephas?

Peter, he mentions later, and he's saying none of those things are of any value. There's one thing that's of value, and that's where he's going. In verse 11, there's one foundation, and the one foundation of the church is Jesus Christ, and then he's going to talk about doing good works upon that foundation, beginning in verse 12.

Right, which I think if you miss verse 11, then you miss the whole illustration of what he's saying. So, all of these people, the Corinthian church is divided. They are building their reputation, their foundation, upon the reputation of another man and his righteousness or his spiritual or his level of

For his teaching, his giftedness, whatever.

And Paul comes in and he says, for no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if anyone builds on a foundation with gold, silver, precious stone, wood, hay, straw, so again, famous section, right?

We're talking about that which is going to be burned. Each one's works will become manifest. For the day will disclose it because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.

If the work that anyone has built Let's go ahead.

No, go ahead, brother.

Finish reading.

If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive reward. If anyone's works is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

Works Tested by Fire, Not Salvation Lost

Well, I mean, a couple of observations for me. I mean, the first is, this is just a broad observation of Corinthians in general. I mean, Paul rebukes the Corinthian Christians for a lot of things in the whole letter, but he is not calling into question their salvation.

I mean, he even makes that clear here. It's not that you will not be saved, but he is pointing out that some people are going to do works by faith in Christ, built upon the foundation of Christ, not motivated by following particular men or tribalism or anything like that.

Then there are going to be other kinds of works that are done out of these kind of selfish and vain, silly motivations, where it's like, well, okay, I'm out of strife and jealousy and all these things.

I'm doing this stuff. So I think that's the distinction that he's drawing, is that there are going to be some works done by faith in Jesus, built upon the foundation of Christ, not motivated by this silliness.

Then there are going to be other things done in a different vein. And some of those works are going to stand and some of them will not, but it's not a fearful thing in terms of like, well, the works that you have done that aren't going to stand are going to damn you.

It's not that, but he is saying that they are not of the value that works done by faith in Christ for the sake, we would understand it, for the unity of the church and the good of your brothers and sisters, those works will stand in a way that these other silly things will not.

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Yeah.

I mean, how many times does Paul have to say we walk by faith, not by sight? The Christian life, what we do, Hebrews 11, 6, without faith, it's impossible to please God.

That's right.

Right.

So here is an issue of they are putting their faith in their alignment other than Christ. And it's causing all kinds of

They're looking to something other than Jesus.

Yeah.

Right.

And because of it, they're causing division to where they're, if everyone is building their foundation on Christ, it will unify us, and we will realize that there is no reason to boast, none whatsoever, because our foundation is Jesus Christ, not anyone else.

This is one, so he goes, he continues on. Go ahead.

In other words, I mean, one way I might sum this up is anything that you're doing that's causing unnecessary division in the church is going to be burned up. Anything that you're doing in Christ Jesus by faith that is producing unity, but in particular, unity around Christ, will stand.

That's right.

Right.

So