Yes God is a consuming fire. There are also verses claiming his eyes are as a fire or like fire and others as well. Jesus Is a MAN. He is not a literal physical fire. He is a man...a man that is very powerful. And it is that fire or his powerful words that SAVES MAN. It is even in the verse that man may suffer loss yes....yes his sinful nature, that's what he loses then it continues to say, but he himself shall be saved, HOW? YET SO AS BY FIRE. His words are sharper than a two edge sword....... Jesus is a man, not a literal physical fire and he saves man. Jesus is savior of how many....The world, not a few but the world.
He died for all the world yes, but no one is saved by death. made holy through his death yes (Col. 1:22), but still in need of life and this is possible from God the Father if one goes from born with unbelief to belief and that one receives new life in the Spirit of God and is from God born again., just read Rom. 6 and 8 to see the distinction of flesh and Spirit.
Romans 6:1 What
shall we say then?
Shall we continue in
sin,
that grace may abound?
Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were
baptized into Jesus Christ were
baptized into his
death?
Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of
life.
2 Corinthians 3:6 who also hath made us able ministers of the
new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth
life.
Romans 8:1
There is therefore
now
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Yes all will go through the fire and either suffer loss or gain. And yes then themselves go through, and either again are burned up themselves or are not. Thus purified, for that is what fire does and is why the Holy Ghost has come with fire to burn out dross in us here and now. If one will ask God to do this in them, to be dead to flesh nature and alive to God in God's Spirit.
We will thus walk as he walked. Not us getting the credit from our view, God getting all the credit.