If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
All Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 3:15 Go To 1 Corinthians 3
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
But he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. Isidorius Clarius wrongly applies this to the "foundation." Grammatically it is possible, but logically not, for it does not agree with the context. For the Apostle is showing that those teachers who erect an empty and showy structure on the faith of Christ shall be punished with fire. Moreover, the preceding words, "he shall receive a reward," evidently refer to the builder, not to the foundation. Song of Solomon , too, the opposite clause here must be referred to him who builds and not t the foundation laid.
Notice (1.) that as is a mark of truth, not of comparison. So in S. John i14: "We have seen His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten. (2.) That it is possible for as to be the introduction of a comparison here. The meaning then would be, He shall be saved like as one who escapes from a burning house, and passes scorched through the flames, as I said at ver12. Hence it appears both that there is a purgatory and that there is fire. Hence Chrysostom (Hom. ad pop69) says that "the Apostles ordered that at the sacrifice of the Mass prayer be offered for the departed." Dionysius (Eccles. Hierarch. cvii. pt3) records these prayers, and says that he received them from the Apostles. For, as S. Augustine says (Ps. xxxviii), "Because it is said "shall be saved," this fire is thought little of, but it will be more than anything that man can endure in this life." S. Bernard too says (de Obit. Humb.), "What we have neglected here shall there be paid a hundredfold."
Many think that the fire of purgatory is the same as the fire of hell, which borders on purgatory, but only differs from it in duration. From this Anselm gives the wise advice: "If to escape tortures we obey a king here, let us obey the will of Gos so as to escape that fire which is more terrible than all tortures here." And S. Chrysostom (de Penit. hom5) says: "Now there is space for repentance; let then penitence forestall punishment; let us come before His face with confession; let us extinguish the fore prepared for our sins, not with many waters, but with a few tears." At all events, it is better and easier to be purged with water than with fire: it is better to spend the life whole in the purgatory of penitence than to dwell for a year in the purgatory of fire.
S. Bernard, in his sermon on "the wood, hay, stubble," gives a tropological discourse that is much to the point. He says: "The foundation is Christ, the wood is perishable, the hay yielding, the stubble light. They who began stoutly enough, but when broken are not renewed, are the wood. They are the hay who, being lukewarm by reason of the sloth that they should have fled from, are unwilling to touch arduous labours with the tip of their fingers. They are the stubble who, being tossed about by every light breeze, never remain in the same state. For such must we fear, though not despair: for if they have heed to Christ as the foundation, and have finished their life in Him as the Way, they shall be saved, yet so as by fire . . . Fire has three things—smoke, light, heat. Smoke calls forth tears, light illuminates what is near, heat burns. So he who is of this sort ought to have smoke, that Isaiah , a smarting as it were in his mind, because of his lukewarmness, his remissness, his fickleness; for as far as in him lies he disturbs and overthrows natural order. Song of Solomon , too, should he have light in his mouth, that he may by confession say and bewail that he is what he knows himself to be; so that his tongue may sharpen his conscience, and his conscience shame his tongue. It is necessary, too, that he feel in his body the heat of the suffering exacted by penitence—in some degree at all events, if not very acutely. Thinkest thou that He who wishes all men to be saved will cast away those who in this way are of contrite heart, who humbly confess, and try to bring under their bodies? . . . There are, too, others who build on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, who begin ardently, more ardently go forward, and most ardently seek perfection, not paying any heed to what the flesh can do, but what the Spirit wills."
