Robert N. Wilkin
Executive Director
Grace Evangelical Society
I. INTRODUCTION
There are nine uses of the Greek verb sōzein, to save, in 1 Corinthians (1 Cor 1:18, 21; 3:15; 5:5; 7:16, twice; 9:22; 10:33; 15:2). There are no uses of the related noun sōtēria, salvation.
There are five uses of the Greek noun sōtēria in 2 Corinthians (2 Cor 1:6, twice; 6:2, twice; 7:10), but only one use of the verb sōzein (2 Cor 2:15).
My studies in three pivotal verses of 1 Corinthians (3:15; 5:5; 15:2) have convinced me that at least in those places, the salvation in view is not salvation from eternal condemnation. Instead, it is something else entirely, which we will discuss in this article.
My conclusions on those three verses have led me to wonder whether the other occurrences of sōzein and sōtēria in 1–2 Corinthians refer to the same type of salvation. Space, however, does not allow a consideration of the other references to salvation in the two Corinthian letters.
Let’s begin at the verse that started me on this journey, 1 Cor 5:5.
II. THAT HIS SPIRIT MIGHT BE HEALTHY AT THE BEMA (1 CORINTHIANS 5:5)
Around twenty years ago at the Pre-Trib Study Group annual conference, I heard Dr. Dick Mayhew talk about the Day of the Lord. As an aside, he mentioned that the expressions “the Day of Christ,” “the Day of the Lord Jesus,” and “the Day of Jesus Christ” never refer to the coming Tribulation, but instead always refer to the Judgment Seat (Greek, Bēma) of Christ (hereafter, Bema). He moved on with his presentation. My mind kept on working.
I wondered if he could be right. If so, what did that say about 1 Cor 5:5? I resolved to ask a friend of mine, Zane Hodges, that Sunday at church.
I told Zane what Dick Mayhew had said, and the conversation continued in this way:
BW: So is he right? Are the Day of Christ and its related expressions always a reference to the Bema?
ZH: Of course. That is a longstanding position in dispensationalism.
BW: If so, then what on earth does 1 Cor 5:5 mean where Paul says he delivered the sinning brother over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh that his spirit might be saved in the Day of the Lord Jesus?
ZH: Well, you know, Bob, that the Greek verb sōzein is flexible in meaning. One of its major NT meanings is to be made healthy. Remember, “your faith has made you well.” As you know, the words “made you well” translate sōzein (“to save”). So in 1 Cor 5:5 Paul was saying that he delivered over the sinning brother so that his flesh, that is, his fleshly inclinations, would be destroyed and so that his spirit, his inner man, might be spiritually healthy at the Bema.
BW: Wow. That is a radically different way to look at 1 Cor 5:5.
ZH: Yes. But it is really the only way that makes sense. Paul couldn’t be saying that if the sinning brother failed to respond properly to the coming discipline, he would end up in the lake of fire! Whether the sinning brother responded properly or not, he would remain eternally secure.
BW: That makes sense. But if that is the case, might that not influence the way we understand other uses of sōzein in 1 Corinthians, like 1 Cor 3:15, “saved so as through fire”?
ZH: Yes, it might. That is a line of inquiry worth pursuing.
Very quickly I became convinced that at least 1 Cor 5:5 referred to being spiritual healthy at the Bema.
At that time, I did not consult the commentary literature. I’ve done that now, but before I share what the commentaries say, I will share my research that led me to confirm what Zane Hodges suggested.
The issue is sexual immorality in the church of Corinth. A man in the church of Corinth—“there is sexual immorality among you” (1 Cor 5:1, emphasis added)—had taken his father’s wife as his paramour. While this was surely not his own mother, but his father’s second wife, it was the sort of sin that even the immoral unbelievers of Corinth did not commit (v 1).
That this man was a believer cannot be doubted since Paul went on to say, “But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person” (v 11).
Delivering him to Satan looks at church discipline. This expression is found twice in the NT, both in Paul—here and in 1 Tim 1:19-20. “Some…concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.” The word learn is from paideuō, a verb associated with training children and with the chastising ministry of the Lord toward believers (cf. 1 Cor 11:32; Heb 12:6, 7, 10; Rev 3:19).
While 1 Cor 5:5 does not use paideuō, the idea is present in the reference to the destruction of the flesh, which we will now consider.
For the destruction of the flesh. This is a unique expression, found only here in the Bible. It does not refer to physical death because the aim of this destruction is restoration (“that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus”).
In Paul, the flesh often refers to the sinful fleshly lusts of a believer (e.g., Rom 7:25; 8:4-5; 13:14; 2 Cor 7:1; 10:2). The destruction of the flesh refers to the cessation of the man’s sinful behavior. Paul’s aim was his restoration. If 2 Cor 2:5-11 refers to this man, then he was indeed restored to fellowship through church discipline.
That his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. It never made sense to me that Paul was talking about salvation from eternal condemnation here. If he were, then he would be saying that if the man repented, he would regain everlasting life. And he’d be saying that if the man did not repent, then he would have lost everlasting life forever. But everlasting life cannot be lost (John 6:35; 11:26).
The contrast between the flesh and the spirit here is strong. Destruction of the fleshly lusts would result in the salvation of the man’s spirit. In other words, his inner self would be spiritually healthy “in the Day of the Lord Jesus.”
The following expressions all refer to the Bema:
- The day of the Lord Jesus (1 Cor 5:5; 2 Cor 1:14)
- The day of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor 1:8)
- The day of Jesus Christ (Phil 1:6)
- The day of Christ (Phil 1:10; 2:16; 2 Thess 2:2).1
Once I saw that “the Day of the Lord Jesus” referred to the Bema, the idea that the salvation in 1 Cor 5:5 referred to being spiritually healthy made perfect sense. In order to be spiritually healthy at the Bema, a believer must be walking in fellowship with Christ at the time of his death (or at the time of the Rapture). That idea is found also in 2 Tim 2:12 and Rev 2:26.
The word save (sōzein) in the NT often means to be physically or spiritually made well, healed, or healthy.2 The following verses, all of which are translating sōzein, show this to be true:
- “Your faith has made you well” (Matt 9:22; Mark 5:34; 10:52; Luke 8:48; 17:19; 18:42).
- “Your faith has saved you [i.e., made you well]” (Luke 7:50).
- “…the prayer of faith will save [i.e., heal] the sick” (Jas 5:15).
Admittedly, the theology of many will not even consider such an interpretation as possible in 1 Cor 5:5 (or the other two texts we are considering). Even if the interpretation I’ve laid out is obvious and compelling, one cannot accept it if his theology says that a believer cannot be guilty of sexual immorality this extreme. (Most people hold that genuine believers may fall prey to sexual immorality, but that they will not remain in it for long, nor will they be involved in extreme forms of sexual immorality.3)
I do not expect to change the view of people who are convinced that this passage can’t be talking about a born-again person. I’m writing to everyone who is open to the possibility that the most natural reading of the text is that Paul is talking about an errant believer being restored to fellowship via church discipline so that he might be healthy at the Bema.
A. The Views Concerning 1 Corinthians 5:5 in the Commentary Literature
Most commentators think that Paul is saying that if the sinning brother did not respond properly to the discipline coming, he would not make it into Christ’s kingdom. Many commentators imply he would prove he was never born again in the first place. Some suggest that a failure to repent would result in loss of everlasting life.
I only found two commentators who suggest the interpretation of being spiritually healthy (or not) at the Bema. Dwight Hunt writes,
There are two strong clues as to what is meant. First, the verb sōzō is often used in the NT to refer to being healed or being healthy (cf. Matt 9:21-22; Mark 5:23, 28, 34; 6:56; 10:52; Luke 7:50; 8:36, 48, 50; 17:19; 18:42; Acts 4:9; 14:9; Jas 5:15). Second, Paul’s desire is that this man’s spirit will be healthy in the day of the Lord Jesus. As already noted, the day of the Lord Jesus is the Bema (cf. 3:13 and comments there). Thus Paul’s desire is that this man would respond well to church discipline so that his spirit would be healthy at the Judgment Seat of Christ.4
Tony Evans similarly comments, “In other words, Paul wants the man to be driven to repentance and even allows the devil to be used as the instrument to accomplish this so that the man could be delivered from this sin before facing Christ’s judgment seat.”5
David Lowery sees this as referring to temporal judgment and church discipline, but does not discuss the Day of the Lord Jesus or the salvation of the spirit.6
Many commentators seem to imply that the salvation in question is ultimate deliverance from eternal condemnation, yet without clearly explaining how a believer can end up being eternally condemned.7 Ciampa and Rosner are clearer than many, saying that
…those who persist in flagrant sin have no future with God…[While] Paul is confident that God’s faithfulness will confirm believers “until the end, blameless at the day of our Lord Jesus” (1:8)…future salvation is not a foregone conclusion for any who claim to be fellow believers but are sexually immoral (v. 11). It is not that ethical failure results in the loss of salvation, but that assurance of salvation depends in part on ethical progress…Paul does not answer the question of whether the man is presently saved. His point is that so-called brothers who engage in blatant sexual misconduct will finally be saved “on the day of the Lord” only if “the sinful nature is destroyed”.8
In a Feb 19, 2019, blog, John MacArthur argues that this man is a genuine believer and that if he repents, he will avoid premature death. But, if he does not repent, he will die prematurely, yet “The inner man belongs entirely to Christ and we have absolute assurance that he will be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”9 How this statement fits with his view that all believers are guaranteed to persevere in faith and good works until death is not stated.
B. Conclusion of 1 Corinthians 5:5
This verse is very difficult for Calvinist interpreters since it does not readily fit their paradigm. It is no difficulty for Arminian interpreters since it fits their view that everlasting life can be lost. But the view that best deals with the particulars of the text is the Free Grace dispensational interpretation. The issue here is temporal judgment with the aim that the believer in question will be healthy at his eschatological judgment, the Bema.
III. SAVED SO AS THROUGH FIRE (1 CORINTHIANS 3:15)
The interpretation I learned for this verse when at Dallas Theological Seminary was that Paul was saying that even if all of a believer’s good works were burned up at the Bema, such that he had no good works on display, he would be saved, that is, admitted into Christ’s kingdom.
I never felt very comfortable with that view. Believers are secure no matter how many or how few good works they have. Why would Paul say something so obvious?
Besides, will there be a single believer at the Bema who has absolutely zero good works? The only way I could see that happening is if a believer died at the moment of faith or within minutes of his new birth.
Didn’t the Lord Jesus say that even unbelievers do good works? He said,
“If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:11-13).
Didn’t the Apostle Peter say that the unbeliever Cornelius was a man who had “work[ed] righteousness” (Acts 10:35)?
Even unbelievers still retain the image of God.10 It is likely that every human being does some good works almost every day. Of course, that is a far cry from saying that every human being is walking in fellowship with God, or that their lives are characterized by good deeds, or that their good works are rewardable. If a believer does good works with bad motives, then those works cease to have eternal rewardability (Matt 6:1-21). If an unbeliever does good works, he may gain blessings in this life (and a lessening of eternal torment if he fails to come to faith before death, Rev 20:11-14).
After coming to see salvation in 1 Cor 5:5, a Bema passage, differently, I began to wonder if 1 Cor 3:15 (which also deals with the Bema) also referred to being spiritually healthy at the Bema.
First, I will explain how I came to see the passage. Then afterwards I will discuss whether modern commentators agree or disagree with my interpretation.
The context concerns Paul and Apollos, spiritual believers. Verses 5-15 of chap. 3 deal with the Bema. Two men are used as illustrations: Paul and Apollos. Those men are mentioned by name in the verse which precedes this discussion (v 4), as well as in vv 5 and 6. In addition, Paul refers to himself or both of them using pronouns in vv 9 and 10. It is evident he is talking about them both when he speaks of planting and watering in vv 7 and 8. And after this section ends, he again refers to Paul and Apollos in v 22.
When we look back at 1 Cor 2:14–3:4, we see that Paul and Apollos illustrate spiritual believers, not carnal believers, or babes in Christ. It is vital that we understand that this is not some general Bema text. This is a specific Bema text concerning the judgment of believers who persevere to the end of their lives as spiritual believers.
Texts like Matt 25:14-30, Luke 19:11-27, and 2 Cor 5:9-11 consider all types of believers at the Bema. But not this text.
The bad building materials lack eternal value. I once thought that gold, silver, and precious stones referred to good works and wood, hay, and straw referred to bad works. But one day a friend challenged me to consider the possibility that the issue is works with eternal value versus works lacking eternal value. He illustrated the latter types of works with a church youth group ski trip. The youth and adults on the trip will enjoy a nice vacation together. But aside from an occasional Bible study or spiritual conversation, most of what will be done that week will have no eternal value. He suggested that to do works which certainly have eternal value we should invest our lives in things which the Bible clearly commands.
Paul is talking here specifically about how spiritual believers, “wise master builder(s)” (v 10), build up the local church. His words can be applied to all areas of life, marriage, parenting, work, extended family, neighbors, etc. In a sense, of course, all areas of life are part of the ministry of the local church. So being a good spouse is part of building up the local church.
On giving this further thought, I came up with other examples. Golfing, fishing, hunting, watching sporting events, going on vacation, and the like are all morally neutral things. There is nothing wrong with any of them. But those things have little eternal value. If a believer spends too much time in those sorts of activities, he will find that much of what he did with his life will not be rewarded at the Bema.
There is no indication that the wood, hay, and straw represent bad deeds like immorality, murder, theft, lying, and so forth. If that is what Paul meant, he would have said so as he did in vice list passages (e.g., Gal 5:19-21).
Most buildings in the world today have a lot of wood in them. Wood is not a bad building material. But it is a building material that will not survive a fire. The point is that we should build on the foundation of the local church with works that will survive close inspection (i.e., fire) at the Bema.
The good building materials have eternal value. We know what some of these works are because Paul uses them as illustrations. Planting (i.e., evangelism) and watering (i.e., discipleship) are works that have eternal value. Whether you preach in the pulpit, teach a home Bible study, teach Sunday school, evangelize or disciple your children and others, you are laying up works that will survive the test at the Bema (assuming your motives are correct, Matt 6:1-21).
The burning up of works lacking eternal value is not the burning of all works. It is surprising to me now that I formerly thought that Paul was talking about the burning up of 100% of the works of a given believer. In the context he is talking about the burning up of the woody sort of works, not the golden works. Paul will have a lot of rewardable works at the Bema. But not all of his works will be shown to have had eternal value.
Paul is urging spiritual believers to make their lives count. Maximize your life. Don’t be satisfied being a half-hearted believer (e.g., Luke 8:14). Don’t let cares, riches, and the pleasures of life choke out your effectiveness so that much of what you have done will go up in smoke.
The reference to future salvation shows regeneration is not in view. In Eph 2:8-9, Paul used a past tense (perfect passive indicative) to refer to the salvation of the believers in Ephesus. They had been saved in the past. They were still saved at the time Paul wrote. And they would remain saved forever.
Paul occasionally spoke of reaping everlasting life as a reward (Gal 6:7-9; cf. 1 Cor 6:9-11; Gal 5:19-21; Eph 5:5-7; 1 Tim 6:12, 19). But on those occasions, he was speaking of reaping an abundant experience of everlasting life. Paul never used the word saved (sōzein) in the future tense to refer to what many today call final salvation. For Paul, as with his Lord, salvation was final the very moment a person believed in Jesus.
Therefore, when Paul says, “he will be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus,” he is talking not about final salvation, but about a fullness of salvation that the enduring believer will receive at the Bema.
“The Day” (3:13) refers to the Bema. As with 1 Cor 5:5, the word day (hēmera) is used. The Day, by itself, refers to the Bema. Compare 1 Cor 4:3, “it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court.” The word translated as court is actually the Greek word hēmera. Paul is saying that he does not fear being judged by any human day. His concern is the Divine Day, “the time” (kairos, 1 Cor 4:5).
Bottom line: the spiritual believer will be healthy at the Bema. A point often missed is that Paul is saying that even if some (many?) of a spiritual believer’s works will be burned up at the Bema, he will still be spiritually healthy at the Bema.
If Paul meant to say that there will be some believers at the Bema who never did a single work that had eternal value, he could have said that.
A. The Views of 1 Corinthians 3:15 in the Commentary Literature
As with my view of 1 Cor 5:5, I did not find many commentators who were in essential agreement. Dwight Hunt writes,
While this future salvation is commonly understood as being granted kingdom entrance, it is possible that in this context Paul is thinking of being found spiritually healthy at the Bema. Compare 5:5 and comments there. Paul and Apollos, the examples under consideration (vv 5, 6, 9, 10), were both spiritual men who, if they continued on the same path, would be found healthy at the Bema, though both would surely have some works that failed to pass the test of eternal value.11
David Lowery lays out four different understandings of the two types of building materials (the first of which is the view I suggest):
(a) The gold, silver, costly stones refer to the enduring quality of the builder’s work; and the wood, hay, or straw suggest work that is temporary and valueless. This view is supported by “work” (v. 13) and “what he has built” (v. 14). (b) The three expensive materials suggest sound doctrine which the builder “builds” into people’s lives, and the three valueless materials are false doctrines. (c) The first three materials refer to the worker’s worthy motives, and the other three to his unworthy motives (cf. 4:5). (d) The “gold, silver, costly stones” refer to believers who constitute the church…and the “wood, hay, or straw” represent unregenerate people present in the church…12
Pheme Perkins, though not crystal clear as to what the salvation is, does refer to Paul and Apollos as likely the builders in question, and she does speak of builders who “might forfeit some penalty if the work was not up to code.”13
Ciampa and Rosner, though not taking the passage precisely as I’ve laid out, do agree on several points.14
Most commentators suggest that the words “saved so as through fire” refer to getting into Christ’s kingdom, though they are often quite vague about whether there will be believers with zero works and even what the good and bad building materials represent.15
B. Final Thought on 1 Corinthians 3:15
Understanding and explaining the salvation in 1 Cor 3:15 is so much easier if one recognizes that “the Day” (1 Cor 3:13) refers to the Bema.
IV. PRESENT TENSE SALVATION CONTINGENT ON HOLDING FAST TO THE GOSPEL (1 CORINTHIANS 15:2)
The common interpretation of 1 Cor 15:2. Most commentators understand the salvation mentioned in 15:2 to refer to getting into Christ’s kingdom and avoiding eternal condemnation.16
Robertson and Plummer say that you are being saved refers “to what is being done for the future. They accepted his teaching; in it they stand with a firm foothold; and they are thus among hoi sōzomenoi [those who are being saved]…those who are in the way of salvation.”17
Holding fast is nearly universally understood as continuing to believe and apply the truth of Paul’s gospel. Most commentators believe Paul is warning the readers that for them to obtain final salvation (or in order to prove they are actually saved), they must continue to abide in Paul’s gospel until the end of their lives. Perseverance is required in order to make it into Christ’s eternal kingdom.
Leon Morris summarizes his view of v 2 in this way:
If people profess to believe the gospel, but have not given due consideration to what that implies and what it demands, they do not really trust Christ. Their belief is groundless and empty. They lack saving faith.18
Ciampa and Rosner write concerning the need for perseverance for the Corinthians to have eternal salvation,
Those who believe in the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints and those who reject that doctrine both agree that people who do not persevere in the gospel have no true claim on its promised blessings and benefits.19
Charles Hodge writes:
The present tense is used to express either the certainty of the event, or the idea that believers are in this life partakers of salvation. They are already saved. There is to them no condemnation. They are renewed and made partakers of spiritual life. Their salvation, however, is conditioned on their perseverance. If they do not persevere, they will not only fail of the consummation of the work of salvation, but it becomes manifest that they never were justified or renewed.20
For years the typical explanation of 1 Cor 15:2 was unsatisfying to me. It did not fit with Paul’s teachings elsewhere. Why should someone have to hold fast to Paul’s gospel in order to stay saved or prove that he is saved? And why was Paul using the present tense to speak of salvation?
Zane Hodges came up with a solution to this problem and it satisfied me for a few years. He suggested that the Greek verb translated as if you hold fast (katechō) in this context essentially means if you have believed. He writes,
The problem in correctly understanding this verse is caused by the English translation. A very flexible Greek verb (katechō) is translated “hold fast” in the NKJV (the AV has “keep in memory”). But the verb could equally be rendered “take hold of” or “take possession of.” In that case it would refer to the act of appropriating the truth of the Gospel by faith.
Closer examination of the Greek text suggests that this is indeed the correct understanding. The Greek word order can be represented as follows: “by which also you are saved, by that word I preached to you, if you take hold of it, unless you believed in vain.” From this it appears that Paul is thinking of the saving effect of the preached word when it is duly appropriated, unless in fact that appropriation (by faith) has been in vain.21
Holding fast is not the same as one-time believing. While grasping something might be synonymous with believing it, the context suggests that Paul is referring to an ongoing holding fast, or an ongoing believing (and applying), of his gospel that is required for the salvation to continue. The conditional particle if (ei in Greek) before you hold fast suggests this is not automatic. In fact, it is quite similar to Col 1:23, “if indeed you continue in the faith” (ei ge epimenete tē pistei), another Bema passage.22 Their present salvation would only continue if the believers in Corinth continued to hold fast to Paul’s gospel, unless Christ did not rise from the dead (the subject of 1 Corinthians 15), in which case they had believed in vain.
Paul goes on in vv 3-11 to remind the readers what his gospel is. It is the message that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, rose from the dead, all in keeping with OT prophecies, and then He appeared to many, including Paul.
In vv 12-19, Paul counters the view that “some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead” (v 12). There was a need for the rest to hold fast to the gospel Paul preached lest they be led astray (cf. 1 Tim 1:18-20).
Paul’s use of the word “believe” (pisteuō). Paul used the word believe at the end of v 2 and again in v 11. If he had meant since you have believed, Paul would have used a perfect tense of katechō, not a present, and he would use the verb pisteuō, not katechō. In addition, he probably would not introduce the conditional word, if.
It is extremely unlikely that even if katechō were a well-known synonym for believing, Paul would use the synonym first and then the actual verb. Why not the other way around?
The context deals with the Bema. As with 1 Cor 3:15 and 5:5, the context here deals with the Bema. While Paul does not refer to the Day of the Lord Jesus here, he does end the chapter with a magnificent reference to the Bema: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” To be steadfast and immovable and always abounding is akin to holding fast to Paul’s gospel. Or, to put it the other way, one must hold fast to his gospel in order to be steadfast, immovable, and abounding. One cannot cease to believe (and apply) the death and resurrection of Christ and yet still be an overcoming believer.
The salvation in 15:2 is most naturally being spiritually healthy. As with 1 Cor 3:15 and 5:5, the verb sōzein is used. In all three places the context is the Bema. In this passage the focus shifts from being spiritually healthy then to remaining spiritually healthy now. A person must persevere in the faith in order to be healthy at the Bema (Col 1:21-23; 2 Tim 2:12). One who is spiritually healthy now must hold fast to the gospel in order to remain spiritually healthy (1 John 2:28).
I was able to find a few commentators who essentially agree with the interpretation I’ve suggested. Dwight Hunt writes,
Furthermore, it is the Gospel by which also [believers] are saved, if [they] hold fast that word. This statement stresses the fact that the gospel includes more than justification, which brings forth eternal life; it also includes daily sanctification (are saved) if believers hold fast (or abide in) the word (cf. John 8:31-32; Rom 1:15; 10:9; 1 Cor 15:2; Gal 2:20; Eph 2:10; Jas 1:21). This daily sanctification process relates to the quality of life the Christian will spend in eternity.23
Tony Evans concurs, saying,
Paul affirms that the same Gospel that justifies sinners, giving them eternal life, also sanctifies them as saints (being saved here refers to present tense salvation for deliverance from the power of sin). But they must continually abide (i.e., hold fast) in the knowledge and application of God’s Word (15:2).24
V. CONCLUSION
Three passages in 1 Corinthians which speak of present (1 Cor 15:2) or possible future (1 Cor 3:15; 5:5) salvation have been shown to be rewards passages, not passages dealing with who gets into Christ’s kingdom. Two of those three texts refer directly to the Bema in the verse itself when they refer to “the day of the Lord Jesus” (5:5) or simply “the Day” (3:13-15). The third verse is part of the great resurrection chapter, which ends with a strong statement about our labor in the Lord not being in vain (15:58).
To be saved in these three passages refers to being spiritually healthy. That should be the aim of every believer. We are spiritually healthy today by being grounded in the gospel of Jesus Christ (15:2). We, as part of a group of believers who are encouraging one another until Christ returns, can remain spiritually healthy by holding fast to the gospel.
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1 See Bob Wilkin, “‘The Day’ Is the Judgment Seat of Christ,” at https://faithalone.org/journal/2007ii/Wilkin%20The%20Bema%20Is%20the%20Day%20edited.pdf. All the passages mentioned in this paragraph are considered in detail.
2 BDAG writes concerning this type of salvation, “[to] be restored to health, get well …Matt 9:21, 22b; Mk 5:23, 28; 6:56; Luke 8:36; Ac 4:9; 14:19,” 982.
3 Most Calvinists would say that an isolated incident of heterosexual immorality, or even a short affair, is possible for a born-again person. However, they would say that even one incident of incest or homosexuality would prove that the person was not born again.
4 Dwight Hunt, “1 Corinthians” in The Grace New Testament Commentary, Edited by Robert N. Wilkin (Denton, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 2010, 2019), 357.
5 Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman, 2019), 1155.
6 David K. Lowery, “1 Corinthians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Edited by John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck (NP: Victor Books, 1983), 514.
7 See, for example, Archibald Robertson and Alfred Plummer, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the First Epistle of St Paul to the Corinthians, Second Edition (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1914), 99-100; Alan F. Johnson, 1 Corinthians (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2004), 90; Pheme Perkins, First Corinthians (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2012), 93; Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians, Revised Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1958, 1985), 86.
8 Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, The First Letter to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2010), 209.
9 https://www.gty.org/library/bibleqnas-library/QA0140/what-does-it-mean-to-be-handedover-to-satan.
10 See, for example, Deidre Richardson, “Has Man Lost the Image of God?: A Study of the Old and New Creation,” at https://www.bible-knowledge.com/image-god-old-newcreation/. Last accessed Dec 30, 2019.
11 Hunt, “1 Corinthians,” 355.
12 Lowery, “1 Corinthians,” 511-12.
13 Perkins, First Corinthians, 74-75.
14 Ciampa and Rosner, First Corinthians, 150-57. They suggest that the good building materials may concern what ‘is important about Christian ministry’…The issue then is not reward or punishment, heaven or hell, but reward or no reward. It is the builder’s ‘work’ (3:13) that will burn up, not the builder himself…The word reward could be translated ‘wages, pay, salary,’ the main concept being ‘closely bound up with that of an employer’s assessment of the value of the work.’…Whatever its [the reward’s] precise nature, its essence is ‘praise from God’ (4:5)” (pp. 156-57).
15 For example, Robertson and Plumber, First Corinthians, 65, write, “The sōthēsetai [i.e., The words he shall be saved] can hardly refer to anything else than eternal salvation, which he has not forfeited by his bad workmanship…Salvation is not the misthos [reward], and so it may be gained when all misthos is lost. But it may also be lost as well as the misthos. The Apostle does not mean that every teacher who takes Christ as the basis of his teaching will necessarily be saved: his meaning is that a very faulty teacher may be saved, and ‘will be saved, if at all, so as through fire.’” See also the complete discussion by Lowery, Perkins, and Ciampa and Rosner.
16 See, for example, Perkins, First Corinthians, 179; Johnson, 1 Corinthians, 283-84.
17 Robertson and Plummer, First Corinthians, 331.
18 Morris, 1 Corinthians, 201.
19 Ciampa and Rosner, First Corinthians, 744.
20 Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1857, 1980), 311.
21 Zane C. Hodges, The Gospel Under Siege: Faith and Works in Tension (Denton, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 1981, 2017), 153-54.
22 See, for example, Charles C. Bing, “The Warning in Colossians 1:21-23,” Bibliotheca Sacra (January-March 2007): 74-88.
23 Lowery, “1 Corinthians,” 758.
24 Evans, Bible Commentary, 1173.
