not enough, therefore, that a minister hold fast to fundamental truth ; he must take heed what he teaches in connection mth that truth. If he mingles with it the wood, hay and stubble of his own philosophy, he will find himself a loser on the day of judgment. Many of the Fathers understand o-co^i^o-crat here in the sense of shall be preserved. His work shall be consumed, but he himself shall be kept alive in the midst of the fire. It is not then the salvation, but the final perdition of the false teacher that the passage teaches. This, however, is contrary to the uniform meaning of the word in the New Testament. The common interpretation is therefore to be preferred.
Yet so as bi/Jire, i. e. with difficulty. Comp. 1 Pet. 3, 20. Jude 23. Zech. 3, 2. He will just escape with his life, as a man is rescued from a burning building. His salvation mil not only be effected with difficulty, but it will be attended with great loss. He will occupy a lower place in the kuigdom of heaven than he would have done. Romanists found their doctrine of purgatory on tradition rather than on Scripture. They are glad, however, to avail themselves of any semblance of scriptural support, and therefore appeal to this passage to prove that men are saved through fire. But, 1. Paul is here speaking of ministers and of their doctrines, and not of be- lievers in general. 2. The fire of which he speaks is not a state of trial preceding the judgment, but the judgment itself. 3. The fire is that in the midst of which Jesus Christ is to ap- pear. ,4. Paul does not say, the man is to be saved by being purified by fire, but simply ' with difficulty,' as the expression " so as by fire " famiharly means.
16. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and (that) the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ?
The apostle justifies the representation given above of the responsibility of ministers. The unfaithful builders deserve to be thus punished, because they are engaged in the erection of no ordinary building. They are not raising up a house for themselves, to be constructed of what materials and on what- ever plan may suit their taste. They are building the temple of God. This truth the Corinthians seem to have forgotten, for they regarded their teachers as men allowed to preach their own speculations, and valued them according to their proficiency in " the wisdom of words." He, therefore, asks them, " Know ye not that ye are the temple of God ? " See 6, 19. 2 Cor. 6,