Purgatory - Part 1

one more wicked invention...

1030 - 1031A: "All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned."


One thing is for sure... you would never in A MILLION YEARS develop the nonsense above by the strict teachings of Scripture. How can I affirm this? Well, let's examine the Scriptures...


"Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." (Acts 13:38-19)


"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (Ephesians 1:3-6)


"And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved; and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:1-9)


"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 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. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. (Romans 6:3-7)


"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. (Colossians 2:13-14)


"But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 10:12-17)


Now I could go on and on... but I think that these verses will sufficiently prove my point. The point? Simple. By the verses above, it is clear that "all who die in God's grace and friendship", or as the Scriptures puts it, those who have been sanctified (set apart), are FREE FROM ALL SIN, THEY ARE PERFECT, THEY ARE JUSTIFIED, THEY ARE HOLY AND WITHOUT BLAME, THEY ARE ACCEPTED IN CHRIST!!!

So what's this nonsense of "imperfectly purified". Well, it's just that... NONSENSE. This is a great heresy my friends. To say that a saved soul has been "imperfectly purified" is an affront to the atonement of Christ. And to try to smooth this wickedness out by saying that Christ's atonement was perfect but that it's efficacy isn't total because of men's sins after baptism or any other ordinance is still GREAT HERESY.

I have no need for any time anywhere to "achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven", the Lord Jesus Christ has done it all for me. By His great atonement, BEFORE GOD, I AM PRESENTLY HOLY AND WITHOUT BLAME. When God beholds me, he sees me IN CHRIST JESUS; spotless, whiter than snow! And He didn't do all this only for Mr. Rand, He did it for every single one of His sanctified, His elect! Praise His Holy Name!

So this begs the question, where in the world did they dream up this stuff? Well, that's the subject matter of Purgatory, part 2.

Stay Tuned.


Rand

Labels: Romanism