If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Parallel translations
- WEB If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire.
- BSB If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames.
- NKJV If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
- NASB If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet only so as through fire.
- NLT But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
If one's work is burned up, the builder suffers loss yet is still saved, though only as one escaping through flames. Believers may lose reward for poor work but not their salvation.
Overview
Paul clarifies that a builder whose work fails the test loses the reward, suffering real loss, yet 'he himself will be saved.' This shows that salvation rests on the foundation, Christ, not on the quality of one's works. Many faithful Christians read this as distinguishing the security of salvation from the assessment of service; some apply it more broadly, but Paul's clear point is that the saved person escapes 'as through fire.'
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- 2 Jn 1:8Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
- 1 Cor 3:12–13Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
- Jude 1:23And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
- Rev 3:18I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
- 1 Pet 4:18And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
- Zech 3:2And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
- Ps 66:12Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.
- Amos 4:11I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
- Acts 27:21But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.
- Acts 27:44And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.
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Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 3:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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