ACC ~ 1 Corinthians 3 v15

THE FIRE WILL TEST THE WORK. AMBROSIASTER: To suffer loss is to endure reproof. For what person, when subjected to punishment, does not lose something thereby? Yet the person himself may be saved. His living soul will not perish in the same way that his erroneous ideas will. Even so, however, he may suffer punishments of fire. He will be saved only by being purified through fire. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

GOLD SURVIVES FIRE, HAY BURNS. CHRYSOSTOM: If someone has the right faith but leads a wicked life, his faith will not protect him from punishment, because his work will be burned up. A man in gold armor will pass through a river of fire and come out shining all the more brightly, but a man who passes through it with hay will lose it all and destroy himself besides. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 9.5.

THE FAITHFUL TEACHER WILL RECEIVE HIS REWARD. THEODORET OF CYR: The teacher teaches what is right. Some follow him; others do not. Those who follow will be like gold and silver—purified by the fire and shining when they emerge from it. The others will be burned up. But the teacher will not lose anything by this. If he has been faithful, he will receive his reward regardless. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 183.

AVOIDING FALSE ASSURANCE. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: There are many people who understand this text incorrectly, deceiving themselves with a false assurance. They believe that if they build serious sins upon the foundation of Christ, those very offenses can be purified by transitory flames, and they themselves can later reach eternal life. This kind of understanding must be corrected. People deceive themselves when they flatter themselves in this way. For in that fire it is slight sins which are purged, not serious ones. Even worse, it is not only the greater sins but the smaller ones as well which can ruin a person. SERMONS 179.1.

OPPORTUNITY FOR PURGING OF SIN IN THIS LIFE AND THE NEXT. GREGORY THE GREAT: We should remember that in the world to come no one will be purged of even his slightest faults unless he has deserved such a cleansing through good works performed in this life. DIALOGUE 4.41.