1 Corinthians 3:15 and Purgatory

1 Corinthians 3:15 and Purgatory

St. Paul provides us a powerful glimpse into the doctrine of Purgatory in his first letter to the church at Corinth. When taken in context, and especially once one looks at the Greek terms being utilized, there really is no escape around the clear teaching of Sacred Scripture. This passage clearly teaches the doctrine of Purgatory.

Some might object and say that the term "Purgatory" is not mentioned in the Bible, but then again, neither are the words "Trinity" or "Hypostatic Union" or "Incarnation" mentioned, and yet anyone who professes to follow Our Lord will admit they believe these doctrines. The reality is, we do not need the word to be found in Sacred Scripture. Rather, we need the teaching to be found there. And it is most certainly to be found there, right in 1 Corinthians chapter 3.

The passage we will analyze is 1 Corinthians 3:11-17. First, let us note the wider context of what St. Paul is addressing. In chapters 1-3, he is speaking about sins occurring in the Corinthian church.

1 Corinthians 1:10-11 "Let there be no divisions among you... It has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers."

1 Corinthians 2:14 "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."

1 Corinthians 3:1-3 "I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?"

Notice how St. Paul is admonishing them for quarrels, divisions, and jealousy, yet he still calls them "infants in Christ." They are committing sins, however they are on the level of venial sins, because they are still "in Christ." They are just behaving like infants rather than mature adults. He says they are behaving like "natural" people who do not accept "the things of the Spirit of God." They are "still of the flesh."

The source of the division has to do with the Corinthians devolving into contentious factions, where some groups are claiming to follow Paul, others Apollo, others Cephas (St. Peter), and others say Christ. St. Paul shuts this down really quick.

1 Corinthians 3:8-10 "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. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it."

Now, notice how St. Paul begins to use the analogy of building in his reproof to the Corinthians. He says he laid a foundation, and another worker built upon it. He then says that everyone ought to exercise great care in how they build upon the foundation that was laid by Our Lord and the Apostles.

Now let us analyze the key portion which teaches us about the doctrine of Purgatory.

1 Corinthians 3:12-13 "Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one's work 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."

He mentions different types of building materials, continuing with his analogy of building upon a foundation. Gold, silver, and precious stones insinuates a strong and unshakeable edifice. Wood, hay, and stay signifies very weak material which easily crumbles. Either a worker will build with strong material, or with very weak material.

Given the context thus far, and St. Paul's admonitions to the Corinthians for being "in Christ" and yet "still of the flesh" due to their divisions, jealousies, and quarrels (which are sins), we know that the strong building material represents virtuous good works performed under the eyes of God's grace, whereas the weak material represents venial sins and attachments to vices which prevent the worker (the Christian) from growing into the Saint that God calls them to be.

St. Paul says that the Day will make manifest which type of material was used by the worker. The Day here is speaking of judgment day, and specifically, the personal judgment that each of us will go through when we die. We know this is not the General Judgment at the end of time (which Jesus teaches in Matthew 25:31-46), because the context is about each worker having to make a personal accounting for how they built upon the foundation. Thus, this is the Particular Judgment. When each of us dies, we immediately go to meet Our Lord to account for what we have done with the talents He has given us, as Our Lord taught in Matthew 25:14-30.

On this day of judgment, the building material used by the worker will be made manifest. So now, in context, St. Paul is speaking about each of us being judged when we die. As Hebrews 9:27 teaches, "It is appointed for each man to die and then face the judgment."

Fire will be used to test the building materials each as used, or as St. Paul says, to "test what sort of work each one has done." Were they good works done under God's grace? Or were they bad works, in other words, sin?

In Romans 2:5-10, St. Paul gives a similar dichotomy when he writes, "Because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil... but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good."

In Romans 2:8, where he writes, "to those who are self-seeking," the Greek term is eritheias, which carries the connotation of selfish ambition, factious, and contentious. In other words, one who loves to stir up strife and discord because of selfishness. This is exactly the type of thing happening among the Corinthians, as we saw. However, again, a notable distinction made by St. Paul to the Corinthians is he notes that they are behaving like "infants in Christ," meaning they are in grace and yet giving in to vice.

Apocalypse 21:27 teaches that "nothing unclean will ever enter [Heaven]." Thus, we need to be in a state of grace (free of mortal sin) and also purified of any venial sins and remote attachments to vices. Hebrews 12:14 backs this up by teaching, "Strive… for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord." These passages do not teach an imputed righteousness as the Protestants assert.

If one dies in a state of unrepentant mortal sin, that person will be judged and go to Hell. However, what happens to the one who dies "in Christ" and yet has committed venial sin? This is what St. Paul is about to teach us in 1 Corinthians 3.

However, first, a quick side note regarding mortal sin and venial sin. Mortal sin means a sin which leads to eternal death (Hell). Venial sin is still wrongdoing (sin) but not deadly (does not lead to Hell). 1 John 5:16-17 teaches this truth: "If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death."

Returning back to 1 Corinthians 3, St. Paul says that "fire" will be used on the Day to test the quality of each man's work and building materials. In the Old Testament, Isaiah the prophet feared seeing God because of his sinfulness, so God purged him in order for Isaiah to see him. “Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it. “See,” he said, “now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged” (Isaiah 5:6-7).

In 1 Peter 4:12-13, our first Pope even compares the discipline of the Lord to a fiery trial. “Dearly beloved, think not strange the burning heat which is to try you, as if some new thing happened to you; But if you partake of the sufferings of Christ, rejoice that when his glory shall be revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.” Earlier in the same letter, St. Peter compares the testing of our faith to gold being tested by fire. “The genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7).

So in 1 Corinthians 3:13, we see that our works (whether good works, or bad works which are sins) will be tested by fire. In verse 14 he speaks about those whose works pass through the fire because they used precious jewels to build upon the foundation of Christ, and that person goes to Heaven.

1 Corinthians 3:14 "If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward." We saw from Romans 2 that the reward here is eternal life, meaning Heaven.

Skipping forward quickly to 1 Corinthians 3:17, we read, "If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple." This is a reference to Hell, because here, St. Paul uses the same metaphor of building on a foundation by referencing the "temple" which is us since the Holy Spirit dwells within us (1 Corinthians 3:16). If we destroy this temple (through mortal deadly sin, as we saw in 1 John 5) then God will "destroy" that person. The Greek word for "destroy" is phtheirei, which means to corrupt or decompose due to moral deterioration, the corrupting influence of sin. It also carries the definition of deteriorating and wasting away. This punishment is resigned for those who go to Hell through willfully unrepentant mortal sin.

So now let us recap. In verse 13, our works are tested by fire. In verse 14, if we utilized virtuous good works done under grace (gold, silver, precious stones) then they pass through the fire and the worker receives the reward of eternal life in Heaven. In verse 17, if we destroyed the foundation through unrepentant mortal sin, then the worker will deteriorate and waste away in Hell.

But what about the worker, the "infant in Christ," who is still in Christ (under grace, not having committed unrepentant deadly sin) but who nevertheless built with weak materials due to venial sins and attachments to vices? Here is the key pertinent passage, right in between the other two. It comes in 1 Corinthians 3:15.

1 Corinthians 3:15 "If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire."

If the building material is weak (wood, hay, or straw), then that means these works are sins, albeit not deadly sins which warrant eternal punishment. They are burned up (literally, purged) through the cleansing fire, and so the worker suffers loss. The Greek for "suffer loss" is zēmiōthēsetai, which has the understanding of one suffering loss due to a fine or a punishment being incurred which carries a penalty with it. We recall Our Lord's words from Matthew 5:25-26, "The judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny."

So the worker of verse 15 suffers a penalty due to his weak materials (venial sins) not passing through the purging fire. The fire consumes these weak materials (purges them from us). The penalty is being thrown into "prison," where the worker will not get out until he has "paid the last penny."

This type of penalty is difficult and painful, but it is for our good and produces holiness out of us so we can be prepared for the wedding banquet of Heaven. God seeks to discipline us in this life to help us prepare for Heaven, where nothing unclean can enter as we saw earlier. But for those who resist it in this life, while still remaining under grace, He mercifully disciplines us in the next life so we can be fully ready for eternal glory.

Hebrews 12:4-11 teaches, "In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, 'My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.' Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

In Philippians 3:8, St. Paul even uses the root word zemioo ("to experience loss") in a way which displays it as gaining something beneficial from it. "What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ." So we see that this "loss" of 1 Corinthians 3:15 is purging, and truly a penalty, yet it is also very healing, and forms us into the Saints which God desired us to be from the beginning.

Our Lord even indicates the concept of certain sins (mortal sins) not being forgiven in the next life, which implies there are some sins (venial sins) which indeed can be forgiven and purged. Matthew 12:32 says, "Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." This implies forgiveness as a possibility in "the age to come" for those who do not speak against the Holy Spirit. We saw in 1 Corinthians 3:16 that we are temples of the Holy Spirit, and that if we destroy this temple through unrepentant mortal sin, then we will go to Hell. There will be no forgiveness in the age to come, as Our Lord said. However, if we do not destroy the temple but still wrestle with venial sin (as St. John said earlier in 1 John 5:17 that not all sin is deadly) then there is forgiveness still to be obtained in the age to come.

The worker in 1 Corinthians 3:15 "will be saved, but only as through fire." The Greek word for "saved" is sōthēsetai, the same word Our Lord uses in Matthew 10:22 and 24:13 when He teaches, "He who endures to the end shall be saved."

So this worker is truly saved (destined ultimately for Heaven), but he must likewise go through the same fire which purged his venial sins. The Greek here is houtōs, which means "likewise" or "in the same way." In other words, as the works went through the fire, "likewise" and "in the same way," the worker goes through the fire, too.

So 1 Corinthians 3:15 can literally be rendered as such: If anyone's work is burned up through the fire (on the day of judgment), he will be disciplined with a penalty, though he himself will be saved, likewise and in the same way, through fire."

This, right here, is the doctrine of Purgatory. If one dies in a state of grace, having made the necessary penance and reparation for repented sins in this life, that person goes to Heaven. If one dies in a state of willfull unrepentant mortal sin, that person goes to Hell. And if one dies in a state of grace, having not made the necessary penance and reparation and still clinging to venial sins, that person goes through the purging fires of Purgatory, which are intended to discipline the person and help them grow in holiness so they can be fully prepared to enjoy Heaven.