Spiritually building up to something, What is the gold, silver, and precious stones referred to here?

Question

9 For we are laborers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if any man build UPON THIS FOUDATION GOLD, SILVER, PRECIOUS STONES, wood, hay, stubble;
13 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.
14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive A REWARD.
15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. 1 Cor. 3

What is meant by... "yet so as by fire' ?

Lastly...Since Jesus Christ is the Beginning and the End of all things, and His Fire will consume all the errors and lies and unrighteousness.....is it not mercy from the Eternal God to even be able to consider these things, and prepare accordingly ?

If the fear of the Lord is just the beginning of true wisdom from Above, we better get started wouldn'tcha ya think ?

What does it mean that the gold and silver and precious stones SHALL ABIDE the fire ?


Bonus Q: "...he that has my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? says the LORD."
"Is not my word like as a fire? says the LORD; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?" Jeremiah 23:28-29

p.s. If the kingdom of God is ABOVE us and within us, would that mean it is also existing in a Higher Dimension, and a more lasting plane of reality (Truth), and the fire is that which removes that which holds us captive to our illusions, and deceptions ?

Hence, God asking Jeremiah, "What is the chaff to the wheat" ? "Is not my Word (Spirit and Life) like a fire" ? ((( Burning with Truth's Desire : )))

God be with you all, and help us prepare for the more permanent things, and everlasting Joy !

Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. Isaiah 51:11

For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them. Isaiah 61:7

Answer 1

These are the rewards that christians will recieve for their work on the earth. At the bema seat of Christ, all our works will be put through fire. Some will burn up and some will remain.

Answer 2

1 Cor. 3:13: Paul is using a physical truth to illustrate a spiritual truth.



In building a house, there must not only be a good foundation, but good materials must be used to build on that foundation. In the spiritual realm, faith in Christ is our foundation. Once we are saved, we can either have works of the flesh (wood, hay, stubble) or we can have works of the Spirit (gold, silver, precious stones).



Christians will one day stand before the Lord for the purpose of receiving rewards (see note 6 at Mt. 10:42, p. 228), and all our actions will be revealed, whether they were our own doings or directed by the Spirit of God. If they were spiritual (gold, silver, precious stones) we will be rewarded. If they were carnal (wood, hay, stubble), we will suffer loss.



Notice that the fire will reveal what "sort" our works are, not what "size" they are.



Most people today are preoccupied with quantity of ministry instead of quality of ministry. Yet, Paul said the Lord is going to reward us based on how well we did, not how much we did.



In keeping with Paul's illustration, some people will stand before the Lord with huge houses which will be reduced to rubble after God rejects the building materials they used (works of the flesh). Others who never gained acclaim here on earth because they never did any big important works will be greatly rewarded because they faithfully fulfilled what the Lord called them to do (Lk. 12:48).



Angela



Apostolic Pentecostal

Answer 3

I understand it to mean that this refers to Judgement Seat of Christ where all believers will be judged according to their works. Remember, what we might consider "good" works may mean nothing to God. Our works are like filthy rags to Him. The Gold and silver is the way God puts what is righteous to Him in terms that we can understand. The same with hay and stubble being unrighteous. If we've spent our lives seeking to do God's will but never having the right motives then when our works are tried as by fire and are burned away then the only thing left is our foundation which is our salvation, because it was laid by Jesus Christ for those who believe.

Answer 4

You, Seth, are God's house. Using the gift God gave the one who led you to Christ as a good architect, God designed blueprints; someone else may be mentoring you, and is putting up the walls. Let each carpenter who comes on the job take care to build on the foundation! Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ. Take particular care in picking out your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection. If you use cheap or inferior materials, you'll be found out. The inspection will be thorough and rigorous. You won't get by with a thing. If your work passes inspection, fine; if it doesn't, your part of the building will be torn out and started over. But you won't be torn out; you'll survive—but just barely.



The apostle Paul was a wise master-builder; but the grace of God made him such. Spiritual pride is abominable; it is using the greatest favors of God, to feed our own vanity, and make idols of ourselves. But let every man take heed; there may be bad building on a good foundation. Nothing must be laid upon it, but what the foundation will bear, and what is of a piece with it. Let us not dare to join a merely human or a carnal life with a Divine faith, the corruption of sin with the profession of Christianity.



Christ is a firm, abiding, and immovable Rock of ages, every way able to bear all the weight that God himself or the sinner can lay upon him; neither is there salvation in any other. Leave out the doctrine of his atonement, and there is no foundation for our hopes. But of those who rest on this foundation, there are two sorts. Some hold nothing but the truth as it is in Jesus, and preach nothing else. Others build on the good foundation what will not abide the test, when the day of trail comes. We may be mistaken in ourselves and others; but there is a day coming that will show our actions in the true light, without covering or disguise. Those who spread true and pure religion in all its branches, and whose work will abide in the great day, shall receive a reward. And how great! how much exceeding their deserts! There are others, whose corrupt opinions and doctrines, or vain inventions and usages in the worship of God, shall be made known, disowned, and rejected, in that day.

Answer 5

it is the Word of God, the Power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of the Father

What work we do for Jesus must have all of the above. if we do anything that isn't lead, directed and supplied by Father it will not be fit for being in the house of the Lord. so many people do the good work, without the direction or power of God involved

it is also how we build our own Spiritual lives, wither it is build on the Word of God or we build it by our own means

Answer 6

what is meant here is that is the different levels of heaven one can achieve by serving god. for the more one is willing to give up for god, and to put aside there own well being for the well being of others, the more god rewards this. just as in the natural world one finds more clay than iron, more iron than silver, and more silver than gold (evidence of natural order and god) so it is with god's servants. these concepts are discussed in some of the apocrypha books (which i personally believe at least most of them to be accurate if not all) i am referring to the what the roman catholics consider to be apocrypha here, if you get a roman catholic bible they will have them in there. many of the concepts found in the new testament are clearly found in the apocrypha (which all predate christ, one of the most interesting in doing unto your neighbor as you would have them do unto you)



to abide the fire get's back to how true believers are refined in a furnace (while those rejecting god by serving him falsely or not believing in him, rejecting love essentially, go down to destruction) to be purified as gold. the quote "the tax collector's and prostitutes (these are spiritual terms as much as they are literal, tax collectors meaning those who try really hard to serve god only to find that serving him is easy, and prostitutes those who have turned away from god because of how hateful his false servants are, though they link to the literal as well) are entering the kingdom of heaven (happiness) before you" this implies that the kingdom of heaven is on earth. the disciples were waiting for jesus to enter a physical kingdom, and did not realize he entered the kingdom of heaven when he received the holy spirit.



this all gets back to "the last shall be first and the first shall be last" which is kind of complicated to understand, but basically means that those who serve god in hypocrisy will initially look to be correct and have the good life (similar to how absolom believed that god was on his side because he was good looking and healthy) but in the end those who have been driven away from god because of this hypocrisy shall achieve true happiness. this is why the pharisees were so confident in condemning jesus, because they did not understand the mosaic law spiritually and viewed jesus as a terrible blasphemer, but did not realize that he was suffering under the same human nature as they did, and yet never intentionally harmed another unjustifiably (this is why little is known of jesus life, because unless you knew him, you can't really understand how this is possible especially if you don't understand the true nature of right and wrong, something decidedly separate from the physical understanding of the mosaic law. jesus said "it is not that which goes into a man that makes him unclean but that which comes out" which has given us the freedom to eat bacon:) (though 100% honestly this was never wrong for the jews, but only wrong if they believed it to be) this also gets into the complex nature of sin which is difficult to understand until the holy spirit has been recieved (though as you get closer to that point it becomes easier to percieve)



therefore if jesus had ever eaten pork (as he was not born self aware, but laid down glory and had to grow in wisdom) he would have considered himself to be a sinner, along with a host of other things that many people consider to be sin but are not (though i guarantee you he didn't sleep with anyone) therefore in the pharisees eyes he was easy to condemn, as jesus would not have been ashamed to admit what he had done in his life.