1 Corinthians 3:15-17
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
15 But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved,[a] but only as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?(A) 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.[b]
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- 3:15 Will be saved: although Paul can envision very harsh divine punishment (cf. 1 Cor 3:17), he appears optimistic about the success of divine corrective means both here and elsewhere (cf. 1 Cor 5:5; 11:32 [discipline]). The text of 1 Cor 3:15 has sometimes been used to support the notion of purgatory, though it does not envisage this.
- 3:17 Holy: i.e., “belonging to God.” The cultic sanctity of the community is a fundamental theological reality to which Paul frequently alludes (cf. 1 Cor 1:2, 30; 6:11; 7:14).
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