In my article 1 Corinthians 3:15: A very un-Protestant Biblical Verse, I discuss the problem this text poses to most Protestant theologies. I have added the following taken from a very interesting work on the imagery of "fire" in eschatological texts in the New Testament:
Commenting
on the sense of σωζω + δια + genitive, Daniel Frayer-Griggs (who himself is a Protestant) wrote:
The construction occurs twice in the
Septuagint, in eight other instances in the Greek New Testament (not counting 1
Cor 3:15), frequently in the Apostolic Fathers, and sparingly in Philo and
Josephus. In the vast majority of these cases, the preposition takes the instrumental
sense.
The sense of eight of the ten additional
biblical occurrences of the phrase σωζω + δια + genitive is uncontroversial:
1. “ . . . so he [the LORD] saved them
[Israel] by the hand [εσωσεν . . . δια χειρος] of Jeroboam son of Joash” (LXX 2 Kgs 14:27)
2. “The Lord has founded Zion, and the humble
among the people will be saved through him” (δι’ αυτου σωθησονται) (LXX Isa 14:32b).
3. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the
world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through
him” (σωθη . . . δι’ αυτου) (John 3:17).
4. “But we believe that we are saved through grace”
[δια της χαριτος . . . σωθηναι] of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 15:11).
5. “Much more surely then, now that we have
been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him [σωθησομεθα
δι’ αυτου] from the
wrath of God” (Rom 5:9).
6. “Now I would remind you, brothers and
sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you . . . through which also you
are being saved” (δι’ ου . . .σωζεσθε) (1 Cor 15:1-2).
7. “For by grace you have been saved through
faith” (σωσωσμενοι δια πιστεως) (Eph 2:8).
8. “He saved us through the water [εσωσεν . . .
δια λουτρου] of rebirth
and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).
In each of the above passages—two of which
are from undisputed Pauline epistles, and two of which are from Deutero-Pauline
epistles—the phrase σωζω + δια + genitive
unambiguously takes the instrumental sense . . . in each case the object of the
preposition belongs to a cluster of theological themes related to the gospel:
faith, grace, Jesus, the good news, or the waters of rebirth and the Holy
Spirit. Indeed, one gathers the impression that resistance to the instrumental sense
of “saved through fire” in 1 Cor 3:15 stems from the apparent inconsistency between
being saved by means of fire, on the one hand, and being saved by grace, the
gospel of Jesus, or faith in Christ, on the other hand. For this reason, the
remaining two biblical occurrences of the phrase σωζω + δια + genitive are of particular significance,
despite the difficulties implicit in their own meanings.
According to the Deutero-Pauline 1 Tim 2:15, “she
[woman] will be saved through childbearing” (σωθησεται . . . δια της
τεκνογονιας). The instrumental
sense of this phrase I frequently contested, presumably due to the tension that
it creates with the conviction that one is justified by faith, nor works. The
local reading of the verse would suggest that the woman’s life will be preserved through the dangerous process
of giving birth. Attractive as this reading may be to modern exegetes who find
this verse overtly patriarchal, it does not adequately fi the context of 1 Tim
2:15, for in the Pastoral Epistles σωζω is always used soteriologically, and given this context the instrumental
sense of the preposition δια is most plausible. The instrumental reading, moreover, coheres
with the Jewish view that the travails of childbirth in some way overcome the
curse of Eve (see Gen 3:16) and that women attain merit by fulfilling their
duties as wives and mothers.
We also have a rough parallel to this
construction in 1 Pet 3:20, where we read that in the days of Noah, “eight
persons were saved through water” (διεσωθησαν δι’ υδατος). At first glance, this verse appears to
support the local reading, and some have taken it in this sense, for Noah and
his family were preserved as they physically passed through the waters of the
flood. However, as v. 21 explains, “baptism, which this [the flood] prefigured,
now saves [σωζει] you.”
According to the allegorical logic of these verses, the water of the deluge
typologically signifies the water of baptism and the verb διεσωθησαν stands parallel to σωζει. Admittedly, reading the destructive waters of the flood as a
type signifying the saving waters of
baptism is, as R.T. France puts it, “a little whimsical.” However, as France
goes on to observe, it is “certainly to belong the imagination of a keen
typologist.” Indeed, if we follow the logic of 1 Peter 3 itself, the sense of
the verse seems to be that the flood waters were instrumental in the salvation
and cleansing of the believer. Thus, in our consideration of the construction σωζω + δια + genitive in 1 Cor 3:15, it is
significant that in every other biblical instance it is used in the instrumental
sense. (Daniel Frayer-Griggs, Saved
Through Fire: The Fiery Ordeal in New Testament Eschatology [Eugene, Oreg.:
Wipf and Stock, 2016], 211-13)
This meaning
is also borne out in Greek texts contemporary with First Corinthians (e.g.,
texts dating to the Apostolic Fathers, such as 1 Clem. 9:4; 12:1; 58:2; 2
Clem. 3:3; Pol. Phil. 1:3; Herm. Vis. 3.3.5; 3.8.3; 4.2.4; Sim. 9.12.3). Such is also buttressed by
Philo,
. . . for he too uses the construction σωζω + δια + genitive
exclusively in the instrumental sense (Leg.
3.189; Cherub. 130; Agr. 1.13; Abr. 145). The most significant of these is in his discussion of
the judgment of Sodom:
Because of the five
finest cities in it were about to be destroyed by fire, and one was destined to
be left unhurt and save from every evil. For it was necessary that the
calamities should be inflicted by the chastising power, and that the one which
was to be saved should be saved by the beneficent power” (σωζεσθαι δε δια της ευεργετιδος). (Abr. 145) (Ibid., 214)
In light of
the overwhelming evidence that the believer will be purified through the instrumentality
of the fire in a posthumous state, Frayer-Griggs writes:
This is not to
question Paul’s insistence that believers are justified by faith (see Galatians
2-3 and Romans 3-4) are ultimately saved through Christ (see 1 Cor 15:1-2; Rom
5:9). Indeed, in his building metaphor Paul assumes that the foundation is
Christ (v. 12). Yet in Paul’s
soteriology, the believer’s justification and future salvation do not preclude
the possibility of punishment for sins either in this life or at the last
judgment (see Rom 14:10; 1 Cor 4:4-5; 5:5; 11:29-32; 2 Cor 5:10). The verb ζημιωθήσεται
in v. 15a may suggest that some of the saved will be “lightly punished at the judgment, depending
on their deeds,” and in this instance the builder’s punishment may be the
painful purification process of being saved δια πυρος. Perhaps the most relevant
Pauline parallel is 1 Cor 5:5: “hand this man over to Satan for the destruction
of the flesh [εις ολεθρον της σαρχος], so that [ινα] his spirit may be saved [σωθη] in the day [εν τη ημερα] of the Lord.” here the circumstances of
exclusion, suffering, and possible death contribute (ινα) to the individual’s salvation
on “the day.” Similarly, in 1 Cor 3:15, the ire of divine judgment on “the day”
appears to be the circumstance through which the builder is purified of his
sins and through which Christ saves. (Ibid., 216, emphasis added)
