” “He will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” (1 Cor 3:15). Now this loss, this penalty, can’t refer to consignment to hell, since no one is saved there; and heaven can’t be meant, since there is no suffering (”fire”) there. The Catholic doctrine of purgatory alone explains this passage.”
On the contrary. The passage itself is clear enough:
“I, like an architect who knows his job, by the grace God has given me, lay the foundation; someone else builds upon it. I only say this, let the builder be careful how he builds! The foundation is laid already, and no one can lay another, for it is Jesus Christ himself. But any man who builds on the foundation using as his material gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay or stubble, must know that each man’s work will one day be shown for what it is. The day will show it plainly enough, for the day will arise in a blaze of fire, and that fire will prove the nature of each man’s work. If the work that the man has built upon the foundation will stand this test, he will be rewarded. But if a man’s work be destroyed under the test, he loses it all. He personally will be safe, though rather like a man rescued from a fire.”
It talks about the reward for working well under the Lord, and the lack of reward for those who build badly. Not punishment for someone “still imperfectly purified”:
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus...” - Ephesians 2
Please notice the tenses - not “will seat us” but “seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”.
“For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”
Again, notice the timing. In God’s eyes, there is nothing left to forgive.
“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” - John 3
“Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” - John 6
It is finished. There is a reason Purgatory is not mentioned.
This interests me HUGELY.
Clearly, Faith is a gift. At least in my life, it has always been there, in and around me, but not OF me or my doing.
On the other hand, if the Psalmist implores God to “remember” his acts of old, it can’t be all that off base for me to remind myself to remember those same acts and on whom my salvation rests.
Here’s a smart-alecky way to say it: The only thing I have to do is to remind myself that I don’t have to do anything. For me, I could almost summarize the entire Catholic and Dominican askesis as learning how to have the faith (and hope and charity) I already have. To pray, to study, to try to avoid killing the other members of chapter (that’s a joke, son) (at least I think it is), to proclaim, as my state of life permits, the Love ... these are about learning to hold still, to let the gift soak me.
And that’s why Ezekiel’s vision and the Vidi Aquam (below) are so important to me.
V. Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus:
R. Quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius.
V. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto:
R. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper,
et in saecula sæculorum. Amen.
...
I saw water coming forth from the temple
on the right side, alleluia:
and all those to whom this water came
were saved, and shall say, alleluia, alleluia.
V. Give praise to the Lord, for He is good:
R. For His mercy endureth forever.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost:
R. As it was in the beginning, is now,
and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
As almost a trivial aside, since Purgation is not about forgiveness, our being already forgiven is not really relevant to the question. Nor is judgment.
It's the fault of too many highly inadequate preachers and teachers that Purgation is made into a bug-a-boo and something scary and punitive. That's one reason I push the therapeutic metaphor. Having the lovely therapist try to yank my arm out of its socket was not a "punishment" for the torn ligament. It was a cure, a mercy, a gift. And since I had used the arm poorly, to come to be able to use it as it was made to be used involved some work, some pleasant things, and some painful things. But I, and everyone with me at the therapy shoppe, was cheerful and happy. We were getting better!
On what ought we to work "under the Lord"?