15 If any man’s work burn, he shall lose, but [a]he shall be saved himself: nevertheless yet as it were by the fire.

16 (A)[b]Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

17 If any man [c]destroy the Temple of God, him shall God destroy: for the Temple of God is holy, which ye are.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 3:15 He taketh not away hope of salvation from the unskillful and foolish builders, which hold fast the foundation, of which sort were those Rhetoricians rather than pastors of Corinth: but he addeth an exception, that they must notwithstanding suffer this trial of their work, and also abide the loss of their vain labors.
  2. 1 Corinthians 3:16 Continuing still in the metaphor of a building, he teacheth us that this ambition is not only vain, but also sacrilegious: For he saith that the Church is as it were the Temple of God, which God hath as it were consecrated unto himself by his Spirit. Then turning himself to these ambitious men: he showeth that they profane the Temple of God, because those vain arts wherein they please themselves so much, are as he teacheth, so many pollutions of the holy doctrine of God, and the purity of the Church. Which wickedness shall not be suffered unpunished.
  3. 1 Corinthians 3:17 Defileth it, and maketh it unclean, being holy: and surely they do defile it, by Paul’s judgment, which by fleshly eloquence defile the purity of the Gospel.

15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.(A)

16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple(B) and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?(C) 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

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