Paul does not leave us guessing about the fate of our works as believers. He draws a sharp line between the incorruptible and the corruptible, and he is unambiguous about how God deals with each. The coming “day”—the day of Christ’s appearing—will not be a tribunal where Christ recites a record of our failures. Instead, the day itself will expose and judge the nature of every work. This is not a threat, but a promise: “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the 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.” (1 Corinthians 3:13)
The Purifying Fire: God’s Tool, Not a Threat
The fire of that day is not a menace hanging over the believer’s head. It is God’s own instrument, designed to test and purify. Everything that is corruptible—our foolish mistakes, dead works, and sins—will be consumed. These things will not merely be hidden or ignored; they will be utterly burned away, ceasing to exist. There will be nothing left to reference, nothing left to inspect, and nothing left to shame us. This is not a loss, but a liberation. The removal of the corruptible is a positive act of God’s mercy, ensuring that shame and the memory of sin have no place in our eternal future.
What remains after the fire is only what is incorruptible—what was wrought in Christ, by His life. These are the works that “abide” and are rewarded. The fire does not threaten the believer’s standing; it guarantees that only what is fit for eternity survives. This is the very opposite of the legalistic imagination that pictures believers standing exposed and humiliated. God’s fire is for our glory, not our disgrace.
Transformation: From Earthly Tent to Eternal Habitation
But Paul presses further. The same fire that purifies our works is the very power that transforms us. Our present existence is likened to an “earthly tabernacle”—a temporary tent. God’s purpose is not to patch up this tent, but to dissolve it entirely and replace it with something infinitely better: “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.” (2 Corinthians 5:1)
This is not mere metaphor. The fire that tests our works is the same fire that transfigures us, clothing us with an incorruptible, eternal body. Our new habitation is not the product of our striving, but the work of God Himself—a building not made with hands, but prepared in the heavens. The temporary is swallowed up by the permanent; the corruptible gives way to the incorruptible.
What Is Lost If We Miss This?
To deny or distort this truth is not a minor error. If you imagine that your corruptible works—your failures, sins, and dead efforts—will follow you into eternity as a source of ongoing shame or loss, you have not understood the gospel. You have collapsed justification into a probation, and inheritance into a perpetual audit. You rob the believer of the assurance that Christ’s work is truly finished and that God Himself has committed to remove every trace of corruption. If you cling to the idea that your eternal standing is shadowed by your earthly record, you have traded the promise of sonship for the anxiety of servitude. This is not a secondary matter; it strikes at the heart of salvation itself.
The Finished Work and the Believer’s Hope
God’s procedure is clear and unyielding:
- He uses the day of Christ’s appearing to manifest the true quality of every work.
- He employs His purifying fire to remove everything corruptible, ensuring that no shame or reference to sin remains.
- He transforms us by that same fire, dissolving our earthly tent and clothing us with an incorruptible, eternal body.
This is the fullness of our inheritance: not only are we rewarded for what abides, but we are also freed—forever—from the burden of what does not. Our sanctification and our reward are inseparable, secured by God’s own action, not by our performance. The only things that survive the fire are those that belong to Christ, and in Him, we are made fit for the eternal habitation God has prepared.
Do not settle for a gospel that leaves you half-saved and half-shamed. The fire of that day is your friend, not your foe. It is God’s guarantee that only what is incorruptible—only what is of Christ—will remain. And that is our hope, our confidence, and our boast.
Read the book here: Christ As Righteousness Sanctification and Reward
