📖WEB · 1 Corinthians 3:13
What does 1 Corinthians 3:13 mean?
"each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is."
— 1 Corinthians 3:13 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But let each man be careful how he builds on it.
For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ.
But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or stubble;
each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is.
If any man’s work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward.
If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire.
Don’t you know that you are a temple of God, and that God’s Spirit lives in you?
Explanation
Paul is telling the Corinthian believers that a day is coming when the quality of each person's work will be exposed for what it truly is. He pictures this in terms of fire: just as fire tests metal or burns away straw, revealing what is solid and valuable versus what is flimsy and worthless, so "the Day" — meaning the day of judgment when Christ returns — will expose the true nature and value of what each believer has built with their life and ministry. Nothing will be hidden or ambiguous;
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