Does 1 Corinthians 3 Teach the Doctrine of Purgatory? A Theologian Reacts

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:00][music] >> Here's a react video. This is to a short clip by Dr. Jeff Morrow from the Saint Paul Center talking about about purgatory. So let's hear what he has to say. If you're not familiar with me or who I am, I am a professor of theology.

[00:00:22]I have position chair of Lutheran dogmatics at American Lutheran Theological Seminary and I run a theological education organization known as Just and Sinner. If you haven't subscribed to the channel yet, I would urge you to do so if you want to see more videos like this. I'm trying to hit 100,000 subscribers this year. And so help me to get there. All right, with that let's just hear what this video has to say.

[00:00:45]Is purgatory in the Bible?

[00:00:47]Well, as with many Christian teachings like [music] the Trinity, the phrase purgatory is not found in scripture.

[00:00:53]Okay, just quickly stop there. So there are all sorts of teachings that are not found explicitly word-for-word in the Bible, right? So yes, it is true certainly that the the doctrine of the Trinity in terms of like the word Trinity is not found in scripture, right? You're not going to find an entire passage in the New Testament that just like lays out the the Nicene Creed, right? So the Nicene Creed is not found in scripture. There's nothing in scripture that says there is one God and this, you know, one God is subsists in three divine persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit relate to one another with relations of begetting and procession.

[00:01:33]You don't get all of this stuff within scripture in some clear passage. Now, all of those things are true according to scripture, but you do have to you do a little bit of synthesis to say, "Okay, where does scripture teach about these various points and how then do we synthesize them?" And so when we speak about how scripture like lays the groundwork for theology, it's not the case that doctrine has to be based on like one paragraph, you know, or one passage. Instead, we do this this thing of synthesis of various various passages. And so that which is biblical in theology is not only that which is explicit, but that which is necessary by good and necessary consequence. And that's a language that the Westminster Confession uses, though I'm not I'm not a Presbyterian. I think that's a helpful way to phrase this.

[00:02:19]So there are things that are true in scripture by consequence, there are things that are true in scripture because we're synthesizing truths that are in various places. And so it's true that the idea of purgatory, if it was found in various places in scripture, even if the name wasn't there, even if there wasn't a clear description of what it is, it's something that we should affirm as biblical. So the question is, is the passage that he is going to cite here uh that he's going to say is proof of purgatory in the Bible, is that referring to that? Is purgatory a kind of necessary result of that compared to other passages or synthesis of various passages, or is it not? So let's hear what it is that he has to say here.

[00:03:00]But the idea is, in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 15, we hear St. Paul tell his audience that some will be saved, but only as through passing through a fire. They're saved, but as through this purgative process. So what's going on here? In chapter 3, what he's saying in 1 Corinthians is that some Christians are building on the foundation of Christ with straw and hay.

[00:03:21]Others with precious stones and [music] gold and silver.

[00:03:25]And the fire will come and test the work. If it survives, they receive their reward. If it perishes, they still be saved, but as through passing through a fire.

[00:03:34]This is where we see purgatory >> [music] >> in the Bible.

[00:03:38]Yeah, okay. So this is an this is um an interesting video. It's interesting because he actually cites the whole context of what Paul's talking about, which I think doesn't strengthen the case. I think it weakens the case. So uh I appreciate that he at least did give the context for this because I hear this argument used quite a bit that people say that well here is a clear instance of a teaching of purgatory in scripture because this text does speak about fire.

[00:04:04]So that after death there is some kind of fire that occurs and those who, you know, have have built on the foundation that is Christ with with hay, they're going to have to suffer through whatever this this fire is. So usually I hear people just kind of grab onto the text and cite it with not actually mentioning the context.

[00:04:21]Well, Paul mentions fire here, so therefore that's purgatory. But as as we saw in this video, he doesn't do that.

[00:04:26]So he does cite exactly what the point of the argument is. So let's take a look then at that passage that he is looking at here. And I will say this particular passage is the most common passage used to defend the notion of purgatory in scripture. That's not to say that it is the only passage used. There are various kind of supporting passages that that people will cite in defense of the notion of purgatory in the Bible, but this is the one that does all the heavy lifting if you're looking at Roman Catholic arguments for purgatory. So let's take a look at what Paul says. All right, I'll start reading at verse 10.

[00:05:00]According to the commission of God given to me, like a skilled master builder, I laid a foundation and another man is building upon it. Let each man take care how he builds upon it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

[00:05:15]Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, each man's work will become manifest.

[00:05:25]For the day will disclose it because it will be revealed with fire and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Okay, so that that's the whole the whole text here.

[00:05:47]So, what exactly is St. Paul talking about? What is the function of the fire within this particular context that we're talking about here? Now, I just want to give you a quick overview of what the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory is. So, there are two elements of what purgatory does within a Roman Catholic approach. And through different periods of time and in different writers, one you know, each of these can kind of be highlighted in some places and the other in other places. So, the one element of this is that there is a purging, a gradual purging of the sinful nature.

[00:06:23]So, that's when one is done with the process of purgatory, the sinful nature, when one is purged of the sinful nature, one is is purely righteous then and can partake of the beatific vision. You can be in in the presence of God. So, that's the purgative element of purgatory, which is where the name comes from. Now, I want to say about this that there is broad agreement in the church over the fact that our sinful nature has to be purged before we can enter into heaven.

[00:06:49]And the question here is though, is this purging of the sinful nature something that is instantaneous upon death or is this purging of the sinful nature a process and probably a lengthy process depending on which kind of approach to purgatory one takes. It was certainly the case in like the medieval period that it was the expectation that purgatory is going to be a place where almost everybody goes and it's going to be a a process of, you know, hundreds, thousands of years of suffering until that sinful nature is purged. So, there also then is a kind of penal element to purgatory. That's the other side of this. The penal element of purgatory is dependent upon a distinction within Roman Catholic theology between the temporal and the eternal penalties of sin. And so, there are these eternal penalties of sin, which is separation from God, which is essentially damnation. And the eternal penalties of sin are These are things that Christ has himself born on his body on the cross. That's been satisfied. But there are these temporal penalties alongside of that that the sinner has to bear in one way or another. These penalties have to be born. Uh one of the ways that these penalties are dealt with is through penance. Uh this also happens through like people can get indulgences through private masses, all sorts of different kinds of things. Whatever penalties are left after death are then paid within purgatory. So there's this penal element of purgatory and this purgative element of purgatory. We have to keep this in mind as we're thinking about purgatory. This this And this is a very short clip, obviously, but he's focusing on this purgative element of purgatory. But if we're going to say that purgatory's biblical, you have to have both of these elements somewhere if you're going to defend it as biblical in its entirety. Um So obviously that's not all laid out in this this single passage. So with that in view, now let's look at what it is that the passage is talking about. Now first I want to say 1 Corinthians is a book that Paul's addressing a really tough congregation, right? This congregation's kind of a mess. They've got a lot of issues that they're dealing with.

[00:08:59]They're all fighting over each other.

[00:09:00]Just prior to this section, he's talking about how they're divided. Some are saying like I follow Paul, I follow Apollos, I follow this guy, I follow that guy. Uh we see later in the book that they're getting drunk during the celebration of the Lord's Supper. This is a congregation that is They're just a giant mess. They they have lots of issues.

[00:09:18]And so Paul is trying to rebuke the congregation for this. Uh and it's not just rebuke. There were plenty of words of hope throughout 1 Corinthians as well.

[00:09:29]But it's evident that though they are Christians, they're engaging in all sorts of behavior that they shouldn't be engaging in, right? That that's pretty pretty clear.

[00:09:37]And so he is trying to speak specifically to this congregation about the fact that they're not building on the foundation of Christ with good works.

[00:09:47]Because they're just living like heathens. They're living in ways that even are horrifying the pagan their pagan neighbors as Paul is going to talk about in chapter 7 of the same book. So keep all that in mind as we look then at what he says here.

[00:10:01]So he says that every man has to build upon the foundation themselves, right?

[00:10:05]So the foundation is Christ and if we are in Christ, we then have to live lives that are in Christ. So the question is what do you do to live a life that is in Christ? And so he makes some distinctions. He's like some people will take the foundation, build on it with gold, silver, or precious stones.

[00:10:26]Or some people will choose not to build on that foundation very well. Instead, they'll build on it with wood or hay or stubble.

[00:10:37]Verse 13 is really key here to see what it is that Paul is talking about.

[00:10:43]Because he's clearly talking about judgment and he is talking about judgment as it relates to works.

[00:10:50]So your works are going to play some role in judgment. So what exactly is the role that works play? In verse 13 he says that each man's work will become manifest for the day will disclose it. Okay, so the day is what?

[00:11:06]The day is the last day. This is the last day, this is the return of Christ, this is final judgment.

[00:11:12]Which is why day is often capitalized in translations here.

[00:11:17]I'm using the Catholic edition RSV by the way if you want to know what Bible I'm using here.

[00:11:22]Um and not just because I'm dealing with the Roman Catholic view. This is just a tiny Bible I keep on my desk. So uh so he is talking about the day of judgement.

[00:11:34]And then he says, "The work will become manifest." So, what he's talking about here is the the manifestation, the demonstration of work.

[00:11:44]The display of one's works in one's life that occurs at the last day, at the return of Christ.

[00:11:52]And it is here that he then says, "The day And again in 13, will disclose it."

[00:11:59]Then he says, "Because it will be revealed by fire." Okay, we have the language of disclosing, revelation, manifestation. These are all reiterating the same reality that we're looking at something that is being revealed. The context here is about the quality of one's life and works being revealed. The context is not about the purging of the sinful nature.

[00:12:23]Or certainly nothing about, you know, dealing with temporal penalties for sin.

[00:12:28]This is all about the the manifestation that occurs on on the last day.

[00:12:33]Okay. Then it says, "The day will disclose it because And then he's going to talk about fire." So, the fire leads to the manifestation, right? So, he says, "Um It will be revealed with Okay, because it will be revealed with fire and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done."

[00:12:54]So, the fire results in the manifestation of the quality of one work one's works. And the purpose of the fire is to test.

[00:13:03]The purpose of the fire here is not said to be the a purgation of sin. Or to, you know, deal with the temporal penalties of sin. None of that is in the context at all. He He's explicit about what the fire does.

[00:13:14]It It's a test. It shows something about the work that was performed. It makes it manifest.

[00:13:20]Then he says in 14, "If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward." So, this is the point. This is what the fire does. The fire tests the quality of the work, and this is why we have this illustration of like, "Hey." So, hey versus precious gems, what's the difference if you you have a fire uh and you you stick both hay and precious gems in the fire, well, one is going to survive, the gem, and one is not going to survive, which is the hay. It's going to burn up. It's going to be gone.

[00:13:51]But, the point is that the fire is what demonstrates what kind of works these things are.

[00:13:58]And so, it's going to demonstrate that some works are actually hay. They weren't good >> [laughter] >> and they're burned up. So, they have no eternal reward.

[00:14:06]The fire then is going to make a demonstration of the works that are good. They're like the precious gems.

[00:14:10]They survive. The fire reveals the actual the quality of the thing. It reveals the nature of the thing, that it was in fact a precious gem. It was not in fact hay.

[00:14:22]And then in 14, he says, "If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward." So, the the day manifests the quality of works.

[00:14:33]If this this manifesting fire, this testing fire demonstrates that one's works are precious gems, they're going to have a heavenly reward.

[00:14:42]If the fire manifests that these works were hay, there isn't going to be any reward.

[00:14:48]And then verse 15, he says, "If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire." But, the but only as through fire, there's no indication here that he is talking about a process of purgation or a dealing with the temporal penalties of sin at all.

[00:15:05]The fire that he will be saved through is the fire that tested the works. The point is, he is still going to be saved, but his works are all going to be burned up. It's as through fire. Like, the works that he has, they're gone. They don't last. They don't have any temporal rewards because one has not built on the foundation in a God-honoring way. One has only built upon the foundation with with works that are essentially like hay.

[00:15:27]Uh so, there's nothing in the context at all that gives any indication of what you would think about as as purgatory because fire is used again as that which is a serves as a demonstration of the quality or material of one's works.

[00:15:43]There's no indication that this is a purging of the sinful nature nature.

[00:15:46]There is no indication again that this is something that is dealing with the temporal penalties of sin of sin at all.

[00:15:53]So, I think it's a pretty weak argument for purgatory. Also, I I would also note that the way that Paul speaks about this fire here is that he speaks about it as if this this fire the burning up of one's works is not kind of what's expected among Christians.

[00:16:09]He's like, this this is not what you want and this is not generally what's going to be the case, but if you do deal with your like you don't deal with your sin and you live in these crazy ways that you're living right now, you know, Corinthians, uh then you are not going to have any lasting rewards for your works.

[00:16:26]But purgatory is pretty different than that because it is the Roman understanding that most people are going to go through the fires of purgatory.

[00:16:34]And this is it's only a very particular group of holy people that do not actually go to purgatory. That's generally at least how this has been conceived. And so, Paul doesn't write like that. He doesn't write like this is the expectation that most people are going to go through this fire prior to to entrance into heaven or reception of the beatific vision, something like that. It's it's just not the case at all. So, I think it's important to look at the context of these kinds of verses when you're when you're looking at these these things because I think sometimes when you find and this is not the case with this video cuz this this I mean, he's a scholar so he's actually he knows the passage well in context uh and I appreciate that he gives the context there, but sometimes when you look at like Roman Catholic apologists, they just kind of pile passage to passage to passage to passage. And when you hear this out of context, you're like, "Oh, that kind of does maybe sound like purgatory." But you have to go and look through what's the argument, what's the context, and is this being used in the way that the Roman Catholic Church would use this today? And I just don't think that's the case in this text really at all. So, I don't find it a strong argument on behalf of of the Roman doctrine of purgatory. Uh I think contextually it says something very different than that, even if the language of fire and judgment happen to be similar to purgatory. Uh it's really a similarity only in language, but not in concept. Well, thanks for watching.

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