"Saved As By Fire"

I Corinthians 3: 11-17

11. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

13. Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

14. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

15. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

16. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

17. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

I

f we are not saved “as by fire,” we cannot be said to be saved, at all. The idea of salvation coming as the result of “fire” means that all will be tested and only that which is spiritual will be able to stand. There is one thing of which we can be sure and that is that we will be tested.

Just so that you might understand that testing is not “something strange,” the Lord has led me to share with you my experience:

Upon receiving salvation, I was allowed to “ see” the Lord. You might question this in light of the fact that the scriptures say “…no man has seen God at any time.” I recognized Him as God through His presence. He had a scroll upon which He was writing. He told me that He would put my name on the scroll, but that I would be tested. That was 32 years ago and I’ve not been spared testing, yet.

So, you see, I have never been under any misconceptions as to what life in salvation is supposed to be “about.” The Lord did that for me, no doubt, to enable me to be in a position of credibility. My job is to get the saints of God to understand that testing is “normal” in salvation and must be accepted as the proving tool that it is. We are much too busy in salvation to be “stumped” by what happens in our everyday lives. These things are to “roll off our back(s)” like the proverbial water off that of a duck. We are to learn to accept these things “in stride” as we “walk” with the Lord. Our time and attention is to be consumed with hearing the voice of God and performing His commands.

Unfortunately, the saints of God of this day seem not to understand that they must and will be, tested—and that that test will be neither easy nor pleasant, but rather, “…as by fire.”

The testing is necessary because of the fact that there is, of course, a difference between those who are really willing to answer the call of God and follow all of His requirements for salvation. Therefore, the latter will be tested and then, rewarded for successfully completing the test. The Lord is quite familiar with the fact that salvation that is not tested is no “salvation,” at all.

That which is inevitable must simply be endured, learned from and used to one’s advantage. Since we must be tested, we would be wise to allow it to do its “job” and bring us as close to the Lord as possible. Unfortunately, this is generally not the case, for we have a tendency to panic, rather than to recognize and accept that God tests no one above that he is “able to bear” (or, prepared to handle.)

In the scripture, salvation is compared to silver and gold and the things of God are recognized as being “more precious.” If then, Man’s richest treasures are inferior to that which we have of the Lord, but yet are “tried by fire,” how much more will that which is more precious be required to withstand the fire?

Parts of our many “fires” are the “incidents” allowed to come to us through our fellow “humans” and our “brothers and sisters.” What we seem to be able to “take” from the “man on the street,” coming from these people, we will allow to “steal” our salvation. Our extreme reactions to what others say and do “to” or “about” us generally stem from the fact that we either do not see or refuse to acknowledge that the Lord is in control of all.

Our “liberation” from the anxiety of these situations lies in our willingness to accept the presence of God in all things. If we honestly believe that there are things neither controlled nor acknowledged by the Lord, we have a much more serious problem than we may be willing to admit.

If we are to be used in the “cauldron of the Lord,” we must be proven; tested; tried. After all, do not fine cooks use only the “best” ingredients? If anyone can “cook” some “stuff” out of us it is “church people,” better known to us as the saints of God. This is because all that is in us must be brought out so that we can be ready for the “outside.”

Actually, it is vital to one’s salvation that he come to the understanding that people do not arbitrarily “mess” with us, but rather, situations come about as the result of God’s love of us. “Love,” you might say? In the case of the Lord, “definitely,” for if He did not love us more than Himself, He would neither have died nor “press” us so hard now that we might be able to make it to heaven.

Now that we are saved, we must accept that our work and ministry now is to promote Jesus Christ. On the contrary, because we have been so used to doing this, we believe our job to be that of “preserving self.” Though this is practically engrained in the species, we do what we do because of what is in us. Now, it may have sounded as if we just said this, but when this statement is made concerning a saint of God and it is made with regard to an undesirable behavior, we know that that behavior is being exercised over the Holy Spirit.

That which is not yielded to God will not be able to stand the test of fire. You see, fire burns off that on the outside and brings forth that on the inside. What is brought forth will also either be destroyed or will become fit for use. Even when speaking of natural forest fires, though hundreds or thousands of acres can be destroyed, that which is called forth, even years later, is rich, fertile, nourishing ground. In much the same way, once we are purified, there is nothing that we will not be able to be successful in for the Lord. How can we say this? Because purification in us means that we will be free of all selfish motivations and desires.

The fires of salvation also are required in our lives that we might prove that we are not “in love with” ourselves. Obviously, we need not prove to God that which He already knows so, evidently, the “lesson” is for us, that we might be under no misconceptions about where we really “are.” We are the ones to whom it must be proven that we will not “give in” to our flesh. This is taught us only as we are given opportunities, through tests, to trust God that we might “grow away” from dealing with things according to the flesh.

Being “saved as by fire” is the only way that we will be saved. There is no way around testing, no way to “shorten” one’s time of testing and there are no substitutions that can be made for testing by fire. That being the case, any fears we have of “flames” can be used against us (by the enemy) to control us. Now is the time to make up our minds to submit ourselves to the inevitable.