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Many foolishly equate the Bible's hell with the Romish purgatory |
#romish_purgatory
#intermediate_state
Dr Sunny
Sir, may I ask what the difference is between the
Romish purgatory and the intermediate state taught in the Bible?
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Thanks, Brother, for raising the issue of the Romish doctrine of purgatory.
Your screenshot defines purgatory like this:
- "a noun, (in Lord'sCatholic doctrine) a
place or state of suffering inhabited by the souls of sinners who are expiating
their sins before going to heaven."
Let me use the above definition to make the
following comments:
1. By the Lord tender mercies, we both know
these basics:
- Christ died for His people; He bore all the
sins of all His people – past, present, and future – and rendered full
satisfaction for them when He died for them on the cross. God has imputed absolutely
all the sins of all His chosen ones to Christ when He suffered the
substitutionary and atoning death on the cross for His people.
- Their redemption from their sins and just
condemnation in the lake of fire is completely accomplished. God confirmed that
by raising Christ from the dead.
- God’s redeemed people have NO MORE SINS, NO
NOT ONE, to expiate, not in this life nor beyond this life in the intermediate
state.
- In Christ, the redemption of His people from their sins is completely,
perfectly, and immutably accomplished.
2. The Romish purgatory is redemptive in
nature; thus it strikes at the very heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It
repudiates the finished work of Jesus Christ in redeeming His people; there is
work left that sinners can do. How? In purgatory, “the souls of sinners… are
EXPIATING their sins before going to heaven.”
The essence of expiating/expiation is the
removal of sins that stand between God and them.
- the idea of sinners capable of expiating
their own sins before God is repugnant and abhorrent.
- that’s a lie straight from the very pit of
hell.
- it’s a clever fable to generate riches for
the RCC… those other sinners who are alive can be called upon to help to
expiate the sins of their love ones with Romish rituals.
- Many misguided souls love this fable…
because it jives so well with the natural idea of salvation by works; the
wealth of the RCC is built upon this satanic lie.
And one of Satan’s tricks is to hurl the
despicable Romish purgatory upon anyone who dares to bring forth the
Scriptures’ teaching on the intermediate state; as a result, God’s children are
kept ignorant of the subject. This surely delights the devil.
3. How does the Bible’s teaching on the
intermediate state differ from the Romish purgatory?
Let me rehearse some basics:
- There is an intermediate/disembodied (when the body and spirit are separated) state between
physical death and the beginning of the eternal state at the resurrection to
glory at the end of time. It’s such a fuzzy feeling to believe that believers
go straight into heaven after death; however, this does not match the Bible’s
account. Some will quote Eccl 12:7; yes, at death the spirit returns to God for the judgment that determines where the spirit shall wait for the coming resurrection/glorification during
the intermediate state. Some appeal to 2 Cor 5:8 – the Apostle Paul could say that.
Also, verse 10 reads, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade
men.” It’s all about the intermediate state; judgment is “according to that he
hath done, whether good or bad.” v10
- The intermediate/disembodied state is in the realm of
time; it will end when the Creator of time shall abolish it after the great
judgment at the end of time.
- Where a child of God will be during the
intermediate state, before being resurrected and glorified for eternity, is
CONDITIONED upon his life as a child of God during his brief years on earth,
i.e. "according to that he hath done, whether good or bad.” 2Cor 5:10
- Much of the preaching on hell to God's children has meaning and relevance ONLY if the above is recognised.
- No amount of preaching on fiery hell can stop
one non-redeemed man from hell; it’s a complete waste of time; but it will do
much good to warn the redeemed from ending up there in the intermediate state.
Various passages can only be understood with
this understanding.
- Christ’s solemn warnings to His OWN disciples
on taking drastic measures to avoid hell… EVEN though all their sins have been
atoned for by Christ. Why? There is hell and paradise in the intermediate
state.
- When the Scriptures speak of works and
rewards, it can’t possibly be in the context of eternal salvation at
resurrection and glorification; it pertains to the intermediate state.
4. Eternal salvation from the lake of fire is
DETERMINED from ONE CONSIDERATION ONLY: whether names are written in the Lamb's
BOOK of Life, Rev 20:15 – no further details considered. For the non-redeemed, it
would be by “out of those things which were written in the BOOKS. Rev 20:12.
The essence of the intermediate state is NOT
redemptive like that of purgatory; it is disciplinary, correctional, and
chastening. The Father still scourges those whom Christ has completely redeemed
from their sins. Many imagine that the discipline and correction are completely
done in their lifetime on earth, because they think death ends the time for them and they
enter eternity. So many preachers of falsehood and worldly Christians have it
so good in this life; where is the Father's fair parenting, you wonder. God
does all things well; righteous are all His ways.
There is an intermediate state, still in the
realm of time, between physical death and the resurrection to eternal glory,
to deal with them. It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God
These solemn words are addressed to His own
disciples:
Luk 12:1b, 5 “…he began to say unto his
disciples first of all… But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him,
which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you,
Fear him.” What a complete waste of words if the warning does not apply to the
disciples PERSONALLY. Only foolish men issue irrelevant warnings.
Hebrews 10
30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance
belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall
judge his people.
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God.
The Lord shall JUDGE HIS PEOPLE... It's a
fearful thing for His people to fall into the hands of the living God.
These are just some scattered thoughts
gathered from the Scriptures; I do endeavour to make sense of what the
Scriptures say. I don't have the luxury or the liberty to ignore them; I also don’t have all the answers… but I am still studying.
It’s a lost doctrine of great practical implications for God’s children… but it’s a massive uphill task to even get their attention. The devil is delighted with the deep slumber.
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Reggie
An RCC heresy
Sing
Reggie, there is a papist heresy, and
there is the Bible's teaching. It's easy to equate the two but less easy to
dismiss all the facts of Scripture on the subject.
A biblical distinction is the essence of sound
theology.
Kay Scott
Reggie, so many have been taught that they
go straight to heaven when they die. The intermediate state can be quite
confusing.
Kay Scott
How do you explain ghosts?
Sing
ghost - the spirit of a dead person, sometimes represented as a pale, almost transparent image of that person that some people believe appears to people who are alive... (Cambridge Eng. Dict)
By ghosts, I understand them as the mysterious things that people claim are the spirits of dead people that appear to the living.
I was very fearful of "ghosts" before I was converted - I was from a typical background - superstitious and animistic.
After I was converted to Christ and read the Bible, I stopped believing that there is such a thing as ghosts.
I conclude from this passage:
Luke 16:26 "And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence."
Of course, the evil spirits are around playing tricks and havoc on the minds of the superstitious and misguided.
Kay Scott
Sing, thank you for responding
