1 Corinthians 3:10-17 "According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder..."

"According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. It what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire. Do you not know that you are God's temple, and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple." (1 Corinthians 3:10-17).

Question:

Is Paul saying that he is laying the foundation which is the teaching of Jesus and each of us must build on this foundation in the way we live our lives and through our being and beliefs? Then through to verse 15 is Paul saying that even if we make wrong choices the foundation which is Christ will remain and we the builders can start the building process again? Is the work burned and the loss suffered a letting go of old beliefs and teachings? I have a faith in Jesus but I can't accept that it could be even possible that a loving God could banish anyone to eternal hell. This passage here appears to be saying all will be saved and God's temple us cannot be destroyed. Although at the beginning of the letter Paul is addressing the church and those who are sanctified in Christ and to those who call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, so is he meaning only the believers in the Lord Jesus and not all people have the foundation (Christ) to build on?

Comment:

I would pretty much say “yes” to every question you ask—and add that the very asking of the questions expresses an ownership of this message. I think the 'foundation' is the Christ—the very core of the message of Jesus Christ, the new understanding of our innate and eternal Oneness with God. We can build upon that foundation in many ways—with massive cathedrals and humble meeting houses, elaborate rituals and simple prayers. The only thing that truly matters is that we honor the foundation always. If we don't—if we get carried away with our own constructions and ignore the underlying Truth—then the energy of our wandering off course will create conflict, and in that conflict the edifice will collapse. It's like the man building his house on sand.   I would only add that, as throughout the Gospel of Matthew, the image of “fire” can be seen two ways. It can be destructive, true. It can also be purifying. So I think our false constructs are “burned up” not as punishment, but so that we can begin again on the solid, constant foundation of the Christ that never varies.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed