What does the phrase " saved as by fire" in 1 Corinthians 3:15 mean? What does the phrase "saved as by fire" in 1 Corinthians 3:15 mean?


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

bruisedreed's answer has the gist of it.


  1 Cor 3:11-15
  (RSVCE)
  11 For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid,
  which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any one builds on the foundation with
  gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble— 13 each man’s work
  will become manifest; for the Day[a] will disclose it,
  because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what
  sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work which any man has built
  on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s
  work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be
  saved, but only as through fire.
  
  a. 3.13 the Day: i.e., the day of the Lord: God’s searching
  judgment.


The Navarre Bible New Testament Compact Edition has, in part, the following note on vv. 4-23:

The root of all apostolic work is God who gives growth (v.7). Man is God's instrument - servant, minister (v.5), or fellow-worker (v.9) - in that task, which can only be carried through if Jesus Christ is its foundation (v.11). Paul develops these ideas with the help of two similes - God's field (vv.6-9) and his building (vv.9-17). If Christ is the foundation, then Christians must not only be linked to Jesus Christ: they must, as it were, be glued to him [...]. He is the foundation and we are the building; he is the trunk of the vine and we are the branches; he is the husband and we are the wife; he is the shepherd and we are the flock (St. John Chrysostom, Hom. on 1 Cor 8:4). Extending the building metaphor, Paul appeals to ministers to act responsibly, reminding them that a Day of Judgment will come, the day of the LORD (vv.10-17).

Paul uses two biblical quotations (Job 5:13; Ps 94:11; cf. vv.19-20) to show that an unspiritual approach is doomed to failure; whereas a person who has Christ has all things [.]

Catholic Holy Tradition Perspective

From scripture, 'fire' is the means by which God tests and purifies his elect [cf.Hello's answer] and also the means he executes his searching judgment (see above). From Catholic Tradition, in this passage, the person has passed on, and that person is gold but impure, therefore they undergo purification by fire before admittance to the Beatific Vision. It is a cleansing fire. 

We know the worst for a person and their achievements is when they gain the whole world and forfeit their life. The works in the OP's question that get burned up, are those that did not profit one as regards eternal life. 

cf. This answer to According to Catholicism, in what cases is Purgatory necessary?



Please see: 


  CCC
  1031
  The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the
  elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the
  damned.1 The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on
  Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The
  tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture,
  speaks of a cleansing fire:2
  
  As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final
  Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever
  utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in
  this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that
  certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in
  the age to come.3
  
  1. cf. Council of Florence (1439):DS 1304; Council of Trent
  (1563):DS 1820; (1547):1580; see also Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus
  (1336):DS 1000.
  2. cf. 1 Cor 3:15; 1 Pet 1:7.
  3. St. Gregory the Great, Dial. 4,39:PL 77,396; cf. Mt
  12:31.




cf. Wis 3:5-7 (RSVCE) 5 Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself; 6 like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them. 7 In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, and will run like sparks through the stubble.