Posted on 11/02/2015 6:56:55 AM PST by Salvation
All Souls’ Day by Jakub Schikaneder, 1888
I have blogged before on Purgatory. Here is a link to one of those blogs: Purgatory – Biblical and Reasonable. I have also written more extensively on its biblical roots here: PDF Document on Purgatory.
On this Feast of All Souls, I want to reflect on Purgatory as the necessary result of a promise. Many people think of Purgatory primarily in terms of punishment, but it is also important to consider it in terms of promise, purity, and perfection. Some of our deceased brethren are having the promises made to them perfected in Purgatory. In the month of November we are especially committed to praying for them and we know by faith that our prayers are of benefit to them.
What is the promise that points to Purgatory? Simply stated, Jesus made the promise in Matthew 5:48: You, therefore, must be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect. In this promise is an astonishing declaration of our dignity. We are to share in the very nature and perfection of God. This is our dignity: we are called to reflect and possess the very glory and perfection of God.
St. Catherine of Siena was gifted by the Lord to see a heavenly soul in the state of grace. Her account of it is related in her Dialogue, and is summarized in the Sunday School Teacher’s Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism:
The Soul in the State of Grace– Catherine of Siena was permitted by God to see the beauty of a soul in the state of grace. It was so beautiful that she could not look on it; the brightness of that soul dazzled her. Blessed Raymond, her confessor, asked her to describe to him, as far as she was able, the beauty of the soul she had seen. St. Catherine thought of the sweet light of that morning, and of the beautiful colors of the rainbow, but that soul was far more beautiful. She remembered the dazzling beams of the noonday sun, but the light which beamed from that soul was far brighter. She thought of the pure whiteness of the lily and of the fresh snow, but that is only an earthly whiteness. The soul she had seen was bright with the whiteness of Heaven, such as there is not to be found on earth. †My father,†she answered. “I cannot find anything in this world that can give you the smallest idea of what I have seen. Oh, if you could but see the beauty of a soul in the state of grace, you would sacrifice your life a thousand times for its salvation. I asked the angel who was with me what had made that soul so beautiful, and he answered me, “It is the image and likeness of God in that soul, and the Divine Grace which made it so beautiful.†[1].
Yes, this is our dignity and final destiny if we are faithful to God.
So, I ask you, “Are you there yet?†God has made you a promise. But what if that promise has not yet been fulfilled and you were to die today, without the divine perfection you have been promised having been completed? I can only speak for myself and say that if I were to die today, though I am not aware of any mortal sin, I also know that I am not perfect. I am not even close to being humanly perfect, let alone having the perfection of our heavenly Father!
But Jesus made me a promise: You must be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect. And the last time I checked, Jesus is a promise keeper! St. Paul says, May God who has begun a good work in you bring it to completion (Phil 1:6). Hence, if I were to die today, Jesus would need to complete a work that He has begun in me. By God’s grace, I have come a mighty long way. But I also have a long way to go. God is very holy and His perfection is beyond imagining.
Yes, there are many things in us that need purging: sin, attachment to sin, clinging to worldly things, and those rough edges to our personality. Likewise most of us carry with us hurts, regrets, sorrows, and disappointments. We cannot take any of this with us to Heaven. If we did, it wouldn’t be Heaven. So the Lord, who is faithful to His promise, will purge all of this from us. The Book of Revelation speaks of Jesus ministering to the dead in that he will wipe every tear from their eyes (Rev 21:4). 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 speaks of us as passing through fire in order that our works be tested so that what is good may be purified and what is worldly may be burned away. And Job said, But he knows the way that I take; and when he has tested me, I will come forth as pure gold (Job 23:10).
Purgatory has to be—gold, pure gold; refined, perfect, pure gold. Purgatory has to be, if God’s promises are to hold.
Catholic theology has always taken seriously God’s promise that we would actually be perfect as the Father is perfect. The righteousness is Jesus’ righteousness, but it actually transforms us and changes us completely in the way that St. Catherine describes. It is a real righteousness, not merely imputed, not merely declared of us by inference. It is not an alien justice, but a personal justice by the grace of God.
Esse quam videri – Purgatory makes sense because the perfection promised to us is real: esse quam videri (to be rather than to seem). We must actually be purged of the last vestiges of imperfection, worldliness, sin, and sorrow. Having been made perfect by the grace of God, we are able to enter Heaven, of which Scripture says, Nothing impure will ever enter it (Rev 21:27). And again, you have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the souls of the just made perfect (Heb 12:22-23).
How could it be anything less? Indeed, the souls of the just made perfect. How could it be anything less if Jesus died to accomplish it for us? Purgatory makes sense based on Jesus’ promise and on the power of His blood to accomplish complete and total perfection for us. This is our dignity; this is our destiny. Purgatory is about promises, not mere punishment. There’s an old Gospel hymn that I referenced in yesterday’s blog for the Feast of All Saints that says, “O Lord I’m running, trying to make a hundred. Ninety-nine and a half won’t do!â€
That’s right, ninety-nine and a half won’t do. Nothing less than a hundred is possible because we have Jesus’ promise and the wonderful working power of the precious Blood of the Lamb. For most, if not all of us, Purgatory has to be.
Oh yes, in the context like that. But change it to
“anyone who works should be careful because in the end every man is tired”.
The passage does say that “you are God’s building” or equivalent at least twice. So the context is that every man is both a builder and a building, and every man’s work will be tried by fire.
The answer is that the Good Thief had both faith, repentance, and good works, as the pericope illustrates.
“So the context is that every man is both a builder and a building...” No. Why? Because it says: “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.”
Notice: We work. You are what we work on (field / building). Contrast. For it to say what YOU say it says, it would read “For we are God’s fellow workers; and we are God’s building.”
Or, “We are God’s fellow workers, building ourselves”.
“...like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it.”
Each refers to the builders.
“Now if any man builds...each man’s work will become evident...”
Each refers to the builder. Obviously so.
It is not likely that you will ‘get through’ to someone who insists they must work to obtain righteousness. That is the core of catholiciism, that they must work to be worthy to eventually be born from above. Human pride is so deeply ingrained, it will reject the Promise of God if pride insists they earn what God offers by His Grace. It is as id they can insist that they had a hand in their conception and birthing ...
“It is not likely that you will ‘get through’ to someone who insists they must work to obtain righteousness. “
True. And that is the lie that Purgatory is built on - that WE must pay the penalty of our sins, and can then stand before God.
Do you think this scripture does not apply to "you" either, since it was written to an angel ? Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;,To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Revelation, Catholic chapter two, Protestant verses one to seven,
as authorized, but not authored, by King James
boldness and underlining mine
“Do you think this scripture does not apply to “you” either, since it was written to an angel ?”
That passage in Revelation is NOT what sets the context for a sentence found in 1 Cor 3. That is ALSO basic English and logic. If I want to know what Jesus was referencing when he says “wheat” in a parable, I do not pick up a text on agriculture...
Even from your one-sided exegesis, it is the building that is burning and by burning is purified of straw and stubble.
If you want to suggest that “every man” refers solely to the clergy, the scene of cleansing still refers to the laity.
“it is the building that is burning and by burning is purified of straw and stubble”
Except Paul’s point has NOTHING to do with purification. His word picture has a simple lesson: “But each man must be careful how he builds on it.”
It is a warning to the folks who claim to be wise, but who are confusing the church:
Chapter 1:
“12 Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, ‘I am of Paul,’ and ‘I of Apollos,’ and ‘I of Cephas,’ and ‘I of Christ.’ 13 Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”
Chapter 2:
“And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom...3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”
Chapter 3:
“4 For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not mere men?
5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth...
...So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas...”
Chapter 4:
“6 Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to exceed what is written, so that no one of you will become arrogant in behalf of one against the other...
...18 Now some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power. 20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power. 21 What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?”
The first 4 chapters of 1 Cor deals with the divisions in the church. And Paul makes it clear that there should be none, because any human is supposed to be working for God and under God, and it is God who provides the growth.
But he does give a warning to those at Corinth:
“I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will become evident...
18 Now some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power. “
I deal with the text. The text describes purification followed by salvation. Write your own epistle if you want to make a different point.
“The text describes purification followed by salvation. Write your own epistle if you want to make a different point.”
No, you ignore it the text and substitute instead what your church has told you.
The text:
“For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building. Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful.
For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have - Jesus Christ. Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials - gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value.
If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.”
Nothing at all about purifying the builder or church. What the text says, in contrast to what you claim it says:
“But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value.”
Reveal. Show. “Make manifest” in a more literal translation. “Make manifest [”readily perceived by the eye or the understanding; evident; obvious; apparent; plain]”
Not “purify”. “Manifest” - make it obvious.
That is the text you refuse to deal with, because your church has lied and said it is about purification instead of “reveal[ing] what kind of work each builder has done”. The text needs no interpretation, since it is explicit.
But since you will cling to your church’s catechism, and I will cling to the Word of God, what value is there in continuing?
There is a huge reason why Paul wrote to Timothy to study 'to show himself approved'. Paul didn't say absorb the dictates of the magicsteeringthem to show you know the dogmas of catholiciism, he told Timothy to study, the scriptures and the writings available from the Apostles at that time.
The “angel” or messenger is the Shaliach Tzibbur, of the Synagogue, or Jewish prayer leader. This title was understood by Jewish readers, but quite foreign to Gentile ears. And it has nothing to do with the Body of Christ.
Even a cursory comparison of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, to what is written here to the “angel” at Ephesus, should give anyone pause. Either Paul was contradicting Jesus, or Revelation is for a different audience and/or dispensation.
The difference between Ephesians, and all of Paul’s later letters, to the letter to Ephesus (and Revelation in general) is profound. Its night and day, judgment versus Grace, and wrath instead of Love.
Revelation 2:1-7 (AMP)
1 TO THE angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Ephesus write: These are the words of Him Who holds the seven stars [which are the messengers of the seven churches] in His right hand, Who goes about among the seven golden lampstands [which are the seven churches]:
2 I know your industry and activities, laborious toil and trouble, and your patient endurance, and how you cannot tolerate wicked [men] and have tested and critically appraised those who call [themselves] apostles (special messengers of Christ) and yet are not, and have found them to be impostors and liars.
3 I know you are enduring patiently and are bearing up for My name’s sake, and you have not fainted or become exhausted or grown weary.
4 But I have this [one charge to make] against you: that you have left (abandoned) the love that you had at first [you have deserted Me, your first love].
5 Remember then from what heights you have fallen. Repent (change the inner man to meet God’s will) and do the works you did previously [when first you knew the Lord], or else I will visit you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you change your mind and repent.
6 Yet you have this [in your favor and to your credit]: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans [what they are doing as corrupters of the people], which I Myself also detest.
7 He who is able to hear, let him listen to and give heed to what the Spirit says to the assemblies (churches). To him who overcomes (is victorious), I will grant to eat [of the fruit] of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Now compare THAT to Paul’s Revelation to the Body of Christ.
Ephesians 2:4-10 (AMP)
4 But God—so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us,
5 Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation).
6 And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
7 He did this that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace (His unmerited favor) in [His] kindness and goodness of heart toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;
9 Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]
10 For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].
To further confirm this point, consider OT references in Revelation. Matthew and Hebrews represent two of the most “Jewish” books in the NT. There you find 92 and 102 references to the OT respectively. In Revelation, there are 285. Even though written in Greek, the Hebrew nature of Revelation, the imagery and expressions, cannot be denied. This connects the book back to the OT, and Israel. Revelation is FOR the Body of Christ, but not written TO or ABOUT us. Proceed with great caution attempting to apply what John writes in Revelation, to the Body of Christ as described by Paul.
The very 1st chapter spells out to whom the book is written - servants, a name which peculiarly belongs to Israel. You will not find that name applied to the Body of Christ. In fact, you will note specific verses confirming this change, reaching its glorious conclusion in Paul’s prison letters.
John 15:15 (AMP)
15 I do not call you servants (slaves) any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing (working out). But I have called you My friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father. [I have revealed to you everything that I have learned from Him.]
2 Corinthians 6:17-18 (AMP)
17 So, come out from among [unbelievers], and separate (sever) yourselves from them, says the Lord, and touch not [any] unclean thing; then I will receive you kindly and treat you with favor,
18 And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.
Galatians 4:7 (AMP)
7 Therefore, you are no longer a slave (bond servant) but a son; and if a son, then [it follows that you are] an heir by the aid of God, through Christ.
Romans 8:14-16 (AMP)
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
15 For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father!
16 The Spirit Himself [thus] testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are children of God.
Ephesians 1:5-6 (AMP)
5 For He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be adopted (revealed) as His own children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [because it pleased Him and was His kind intent]—
6 [So that we might be] to the praise and the commendation of His glorious grace (favor and mercy), which He so freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
Not sure how anyone could read Ephesians, Philippians, or Colossians, three of the books written specifically to, about, AND for the Body of Christ, and think it necessary to suffer or work their way to righteousness, in this life, or the next. We are HIS workmanship, made alive and COMPLETE in Christ, seated in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Its a glorious Truth that should be celebrated, not debated and reasoned away, looking for ways to prove that God’s Grace is insufficient. That somehow, the work of Jesus was incomplete. What could a mere mortal do, in this life or the next, that would surpass what Jesus has already done? Believe God’s Word, plant it in your heart. Let it mature in you so His Truth will manifest inside. Then you can truly enjoy all that God HAS DONE for you.
Selah! ... ceteris paribus
You did write your own and now you try to pass it for the real thing, by substituting “builder” for “every man”.
The textual fact is that the building is allegorizing “every man” and the building is purified by burning the stubble off it.
I just commented on what the Holy Scripture says, same as Msgr. Pope. You can stay with your theories or you can read what is written. I do.
“The textual fact is that the building is allegorizing “every man†and the building is purified by burning the stubble off it.”
No, and I’ve quoted the text often enough, in a variety of translations, to prove it to anyone who reads it without bias. I’ve also shown how Paul’s argument fits in to the flow from Chapter 1-4.
The only thing I failed to do was reconcile it to Catholic theology, since Catholic theology with its “imperfect purification” and the need for us to pay the price of our own sins is irreconcilable with the Bible.
What Peter uttered by impetus of the Holy Spirit regarding Jesus, the profession upon which Jesus established HIS CHURCH. Salvation is a work of God's Grace in Christ Jesus. Jesus did not establish His Mother as a mediatrix or a queen of Heaven or a dispenser of all graces. Jesus did not establish a purgatory to deal with what catholiciism asserts He did not go to the Cross to deal with. Catholicism is not Christianity. It is a wholly different religion. I pray you come out from among the heresies and blasphemies which hallmark catholiciism and be born from above in the here and now. Then I will meet you in the clouds ...
Are you trying to claim the seven churches in the book of Revelation were synagogues and not churches ? I find it odd that your purported AMP translation does not match the AMP translation at bible gateway. Can you explain the discrepancy ?
I understand your answer as you do not regard Revelation as applying to you.
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