1 Corinthians 3:12: Building with “Gold, Silver, Precious Stones” & “Wood, Hay, Stubble”?
Introduction
Have you ever wondered what was meant by the following verses concerning the building with “gold, silver, precious stones” versus “wood, hay, stubble” as it appears in the following context?…
1 Corinthians 3:9-15, “¶For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, [ye are] God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day (Judgment 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. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.“
Understanding requires a bit of study and comparison of scripture with scripture (“comparing spiritual things with spiritual” according to 1 Corinthians 2:13).
When we think of “gold“, “silver“, and “precious stones“, we think of things that are obviously more lasting in the presence of fire than “wood“, “hay” and “stubble“. God specifically makes clear the point that the believers are “precious” in His sight and protected from the fires of Hell because of Jesus’ Atoning Sacrifice; while also comparing unsaved peoples to the inflammable “wood” or “hay (dry grass)” or “stubble” which are easily burned and consumed by fire.
The Elect Are Precious (the Righteous Because Jesus is Righteous) And Belong to God and Are Those To Be Saved
Note what God says in Malachi 3:16-18, “Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard [it], and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.“
Zechariah 13:9, “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It [is] my people: and they shall say, The LORD [is] my God.” [Jeremiah 23:29, “[Is] not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer [that] breaketh the rock in pieces?“]
Flammable Wood and Stubble (the Wicked) Are To Be Condemned and Burned Up
We see examples in Zechariah 12:6, “In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, [even] in Jerusalem.”
We also we see similar references to “stubble” in:
- Isaiah 5:24, “Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.” and
- Isaiah 47:14, “Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: [there shall] not [be] a coal to warm at, [nor] fire to sit before it.” and
- Malachi 4:1, “¶ For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.“
It is also interesting to consider the spiritual implications of Job 22:23, “If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the [gold] of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver. For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.“
“We are Labourers together with God“
The believers are made co-laborers with Jesus in the building of His Church, His Bride, The New Jerusalem. For additional background, please see this study on Nehemiah Chapter 2. Nonetheless, we must never forget God’s unequivocal pronouncement in Psalm 127:1, “[[A Song of degrees for Solomon.]] Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh [but] in vain.” God is the ultimate Builder and the Chief Architect.
1 Colossians 3:9, “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, [ye are] God’s building.“
Luke 10:2, “Therefore said he (Jesus) unto them (His disciples), The harvest truly [is] great, but the labourers [are] few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.“
We build Up a Spiritual House on the Foundation of Jesus Christ, the “Chief Corner Stone, Elect, Precious“
1 Peter 2:4, “¶To whom coming, [as unto] a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, [and] precious,“
1 Peter 2:5-8, “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. ¶Unto you therefore which believe [he is] precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, [even to them] which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.“
Note to the Reader: The Apostle Paul was referring back to Psalm 118:22, “The stone [which] the builders refused is become the head [stone] of the corner.” and
Isaiah 28:16, “¶Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.“
Ephesians 2:19-22, “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God: And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone: In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”
Hebrews 9:24, “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, [which are] the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:” And in that vein, let us also recall what we find in 2 Corinthians 5:1, “¶For we know that if our earthly house of [this] tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” For a more in-depth study on the Holy Temple of God, which is not made with hands, please see this study: “The Holy Temple of God, Will it Ever Be Rebuilt?“
“Every Man’s Work Shall Be Made Manifest“
The “work” that God is referring to is only serving God by be a faithful messenger in bringing the true message of Salvation to a dead and dying world seeking to add true “living stones” in the building of the eternal Temple of God. The believer has no control over how or when a person will respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Atoning Sacrifice, because that is God’s business. The Parable of the Sower and the teaching of the Potter and the Clay make this clear.
On Judgment Day, everything will be revealed as to who is to be saved and who is not, and those to whom the Gospel was faithfully preached who are drawn by God the Father to Jesus will be saved and refined by fire because Jesus went through the fires of Hell for them, or those for whom Jesus did not Atone will be burned in the the fires of Hell. The believer who preached will suffer that loss, but that believer will not lose his or her own salvation, because Jesus endured the fires of Hell for all believers.
Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.“
Romans 7:18, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [how] to perform that which is good I find not.“
Isaiah 64:6, “But we are all as an unclean [thing], and all our righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
Ephesians 2:8-10, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.“
Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform [it] until the day of Jesus Christ:“
Philippians 2:12&13, “¶Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure.“
The Great Division
The key is that there are only two kinds of people in the world. The saved and the unsaved, the spiritual and the carnal. All who will be saved will be saved by being brought vicariously through the fires of Hell in the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no such thing as a “carnal Christian. On Judgment Day there will be the great separation between the wheat and the tares…the sheep and the goats…the saved and the unsaved. Please see: The Great Division and The Threshing Floor of God,
Conclusion
The only truly “good work” is God’s Work, and God Works through the life of believers, through His Holy Spirit, to preach Jesus’ Gospel of Salvation to a dead and dying world as the means to harvest souls for God’s Heavenly Harvest House. The “work” is the saving of sinners the proclamation of that Gospel, and “the works” are those who have professed belief and become a part of the corporate church. Note the consistency with what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:1, “¶Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?”
The Holy Heavenly Temple of God is being constructed with living souls, as “lively stones“, from all mankind drawn to Jesus throughout temporal history. Those saved souls (the true believers) are represented by the “gold, silver, and precious stones” that do not burn and are only refined by fire. Sadly, there will be others, represented by the “wood, hay, stubble“, who, after having heard the Gospel, will come into, and associate themselves with, the external body, the corporate Christian church (vice the Eternal Church of Jesus Christ), but who are in reality are not part of God’s Elect. Those persons will be burned and lost forever. Those who faithfully preached the true Gospel to those making up this latter group will not be held accountable by God for that failure.
This reality, which might be hard for some to accept, is nonetheless clearly taught by Jesus in His Parable of the Ten Virgins.
Please also note the parallels with these verses: 2 Timothy 2:15-21, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane [and] vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. ¶But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.” And remember the vessels of honor versus dishonor as are mentioned in Romans 9:21, “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” Please see also this post: “The Potter and the Clay“
It is therefore all the more poignant that we look back now at the four preceding verses of those covered in this post: 1 Corinthians 3:5, “¶Who then is Paul, and who [is] Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.”
2 Timothy 1:8-11, “¶Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called [us] with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.“
Therefore God is entirely Sovereign, and God gets the ALL of the credit for the salvation of souls, while the “reward” that is given to the believer who has been given the role in the labor of planting and watering will be the same “reward” that will be given to each and every believer as Jesus said in Matthew 25:23, “His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” And remember also what we read in Isaiah 58:8, “Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.” [Note the phrase “shall be thy rereward” is from the single original Hebrew word, אָסַף (‘āsap̄) H622, so the last part of the verse could also be interpreted as effectively saying “gathered up to the glory of the LORD is the believer’s reward”]. Similarly, we also read in Gen 15:1“After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I [am] thy shield, [and] thy exceeding great reward.“
At this point, this teacher highly recommends that the reader please also see these studies on “The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard“, “The Parable of the Sower“, and “The Doctrine of Election“.
Discover more from Bereansearching Bible Studies
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Leave a Reply