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Suggestions for leading a study:

Familiarize yourself with the passage in context, including the book itself. Who wrote it to whom, and why?
Read through the study guide a couple times to get the “big idea” as well as the flow of the argument
Have the group read through the passage in it’s entirety before beginning the study. One of the goals is to try to get your members to learn how to study Scripture methodically, and this is an important step.
Be prayed up
Have fun!

Fire-Proof Works

Text: 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (NIV)

¹⁰By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. ¹¹For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹²If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. ¹⁴If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. ¹⁵If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
¹⁶Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? ¹⁷If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

Discussion Questions

-This passage is about the work of building the church in Corinth. According to verse 10, what enabled Paul to accomplish what he did?

-Why would the works we do be by God’s grace, or a gift from him to us? Aren’t they our gift to him?

-Does Paul say that he was the only one involved in this work?

-Why do you think that Paul thought it was important to acknowledge the assistance of others?

-According to verse 11, what is the spiritual foundation our works are built on?

-The work of Jesus Christ was to accomplish forgiveness of our sins through his sacrifice and our faith in him. Why is it important to understand that we build our works on that foundation?

-Read verses 12 and 13. What building materials does Paul use to describe the works that we do? What are the characteristics of these materials that could be used to describe the works we do to help build the church?

-Can you think of some examples of works that might fall into either category?

-Read verses 14 and 15. Do our works affect our status in regards to our salvation through faith in Christ?

-If not, what importance do they have for us in relation to our eternal destiny?

-How is it that you will “fire-proof” the work that you do to help build the church, so that you will be sure to receive all your rewards?

Leaders' Guide

This lesson about the works that we do and their impact on our eternal destiny: they are gifts of God’s grace to us, as is salvation, but the quality of them also effects the rewards that we will receive from God.

-This passage is about the work of building the church in Corinth. According to verse 10, what enabled Paul to accomplish what he did?

Paul says that “by the grace of God” he accomplished what he did in planting the church at Corinth. Although this is a passage about the works that we do, he is careful to begin with the understanding that even these are a result of God’s grace. The following question explores this a little further.

-Why would the works we do be by God’s grace, or a gift from him to us? Aren’t they our gift to him?

We usually think of our works as the “things we do for God.” Here, Paul’s thinking is completely upside-down from that. Instead of seeing them as an obligation or an inconvenience he is thankful that God graciously allows him the opportunity to do something for him. They are a gift from God, because God does not need us to do anything for him. But these are the things that give our lives value, so we should be thankful for being allowed by him to do them. The rest of this passage has to do with rewards that we receive for having accomplished them—another reason to view them as gifts and opportunities to be thankful for.

-Does Paul say that he was the only one involved in this work?

He says that “someone else” is building on the foundation that he laid. If you read the previous part of the chapter to get the context, you will note that he is talking about Apollos, who apparently is the one who carried on the work of building the church after Paul started it.

-Why do you think that Paul thought it was important to acknowledge the assistance of others?

Paul gives us another reason not to be prideful about the things we accomplish. Not only are they given to us by God because of his grace, but there is nothing we can accomplish on our own. Every meaningful work in the church is dependent on more than just one person. Paul wants to make sure that in a discussion of the works we do, that we avoid any hint of pride or self-sufficiency. If God hadn’t given them to us, we wouldn’t do them at all. And without the help of other people, we wouldn’t be able to complete them.

-According to verse 11, what is the spiritual foundation our works are built on?

No foundation can be laid other than Jesus Christ. What that means exactly is explored in the next question.

-The work of Jesus Christ was to accomplish forgiveness of our sins through his sacrifice and our faith in him. Why is it important to understand that we build our works on that foundation?

Here again, the gospel of salvation through grace by faith is underscored as being what everything stands on. Without that crucial understanding people may fall into the trap of thinking that they can somehow earn salvation through their works. That foundation will always crumble: We can’t do enough good works to get to heaven, and if we try to build the church on that understanding it will never stand. The pride and self-centeredness that Paul has already worked so hard in this passage to make sure we avoid will ultimately ruin any church that is built on works rather than the gospel of grace.

Gold, silver, and costly stones are the good ones. Wood, hay and straw are the not so good materials. The characteristics are either they are beautiful, or they are ordinary. Either they last, or they deteriorate.

-Can you think of some examples of works that might fall into either category?

Just a discussion question to try to bring it home. Anything people do for their own ego satisfaction, or because they like to control other people might be examples of bad building materials. In the context of the previous discussion, anything people do to try to earn God’s favor instead of being done in response to it certainly qualify as unworthy. So motives has a lot to do with it. Anything that helps people understand God’s grace, to grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, etc., are things that will have beautiful, lasting impact.

-Read verses 14 and 15. Do our works affect our status in regards to our salvation through faith in Christ?

Absolutely not. As we pointed out in the beginning, our salvation is only by grace through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. That foundation cannot be changed and does not move. Be sure people are clear on this. We are not talking about gaining or losing salvation.

-If not, what importance do they have for us in relation to our eternal destiny?

According to these verses, the quality of our works will effect the level of reward that we receive. If we have received salvation through faith in Christ, then doing bad things (sins of commission), or failing to do the right things (sins of omission) will not send us to hell, but they will compromise our rewards in heaven. The Bible never makes it clear just what that means, or what those rewards might be, but it is very clear that our eternal destiny is about more than just whether we go to heaven or hell. What we experience there is effected by our works here, specifically what we do to build the church on the foundation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

-How is it that you will “fire-proof” the work that you do to help build the church, so that you will be sure to receive all your rewards?

This is a wrap-up application question to help people think through what their own contribution is to building the kingdom of God.