Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [1 Corinthians: Chapter 3].
"burned up," and that is true also, burned up in smoke. {He shall
suffer loss} (\z•mi•th•setai\). First future passive indicative
of \z•mi•\, old verb from \z•mia\ (damage, loss), to suffer loss.
In Mt 16:26; Mr 8:36; Lu 9:25 the loss is stated to be the
man's soul (\psuch•n\) or eternal life. But here there is no such
total loss as that. The man's work (\ergon\) is burned up
(sermons, lectures, books, teaching, all dry as dust). {But he
himself shall be saved} (\autos de s•th•setai\). Eternal
salvation, but not by purgatory. His work is burned up completely
and hopelessly, but he himself escapes destruction because he is
really a saved man a real believer in Christ. {Yet so as through
fire} (\hout•s de h•s dia puros\). Clearly Paul means with his
work burned down (verse 15). It is the tragedy of a fruitless
life, of a minister who built so poorly on the true foundation
that his work went up in smoke. His sermons were empty froth or
windy words without edifying or building power. They left no mark
in the lives of the hearers. It is the picture of a wasted life.
The one who enters heaven by grace, as we all do who are saved,
yet who brings no sheaves with him. There is no garnered grain
the result of his labours in the harvest field. There are no
souls in heaven as the result of his toil for Christ, no
enrichment of character, no growth in grace.
3:16 {Ye are a temple of God} (\naos theou este\). Literally, a
sanctuary (\naos\, not \hieron\, the sacred enclosure, but the
holy place and the most holy place) of God. The same picture of
building as in verse 9 (\oikodom•\), only here the sanctuary
itself. {Dwelleth in you} (\en humin oikei\). The Spirit of God
makes his home (\oikei\) in us, not in temples made with hands
(Ac 7:48; 17:24).
3:17 {Destroyeth} (\phtheirei\). The outward temple is merely the
symbol of God's presence, the Shechinah (the Glory). God makes
his home in the hearts of his people or the church in any given
place like Corinth. It is a terrible thing to tear down
ruthlessly a church or temple of God like an earthquake that
shatters a building in ruins. This old verb \phtheir•\ means to
corrupt, to deprave, to destroy. It is a gross sin to be a
church-wrecker. There are actually a few preachers who leave
behind them ruin like a tornado in their path. {Him shall God
destroy} (\phtherei touton ho theos\). There is a solemn
repetition of the same verb in the future active indicative. The
condition is the first class and is assumed to be true. Then the
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