1 Corinthians 3:13 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Every man's work shall be made manifest God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil, Ecclesiastes 12:14. There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, neither hid, that shall not be known. But the apostle's primary meaning here is, that it shall be made manifest what kind of materials every spiritual builder uses, that is, what kind of doctrines every minister of Christ preaches, whether they are true or false, important or trivial, calculated to produce genuine repentance, faith, and holiness in the hearers, or not; to promote the real conversion of sinners, and edification of believers, or otherwise: and of consequence, what kind of converts every minister makes, whether they be such as can stand the fiery trial or not. For the day shall declare it Perhaps, 1st, η ημερα δηλωσει, might be rendered, time will declare it; for time, generally a little time, manifests whether a minister's doctrine be Scriptural and sound, and his converts genuine or not. If his preaching produce no saving effect upon his hearers, if none of them are reformed in their manners, and renewed in their hearts; if none of them are turned from sin to righteousness, and made new creatures in Christ Jesus, there is reason to suspect the doctrine delivered to them is not of the right kind, and therefore is not owned of God. 2d, The expression means, The day of trial shall declare it; (see 1 Peter 4:12;) for a day of trial is wont to follow a day of merciful visitation; a time of suffering to succeed a season of grace. Where the gospel is preached, and a church is erected for Christ, the religion of such as profess to receive the truth is generally, in the course of divine providence, put to the test; and if it be a fabric of wood, hay, and stubble, and not of gold, silver, and precious stones, it will not be able to bear the fiery trial, but will certainly be consumed thereby. The religion (if it can be called religion) of those who are not grounded on, and built up in Christ, (Colossians 2:7,) will evaporate like smoke from wood, hay, and stubble, in the day of trial. But, 3d, and especially the day of final judgment, the great day of the Lord, is here intended, and this day shall declare it; shall declare every man's work to all the universe: because it shall be revealed by fire Which shall consume the earth with its increase, and shall melt down the foundations of the mountains; the heavens and the earth, which are now, being kept in store, reserved unto fire, against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men, 2 Peter 3:7. And the fire shall try every man's work As fire tries metals, and finds out and separates whatever dross is mixed with them; or, as the fire of that great and awful day will penetrate the earth to its centre, and consume whatever is combustible, so shall the strict process of the final judgment try, not only the religion of every private Christian, but the doctrine of every public teacher, and manifest whether it came up to the Scripture standard or not. Although there is here a plain allusion to the general conflagration, yet the expression, when applied to the trying of doctrines, and consuming those that are wrong, and the trying of the characters of professors, is evidently figurative; because no material fire can have such an effect on what is of a moral nature.