Purgatory? Part 2 of 2

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Weeds! They have been around since the fall of Adam and experience has taught me they always end up growing in all the places you wish they wouldn’t. As a boy I started a vegetable patch but it was always easier to grow weeds than vegetables. Vegetables I planted, weeds just appeared! The work was not in cultivating the ground or planting the seeds but in the constant weeding of the vegetable patch. Even more recently, weeds appear amongst the grass, beside the flagstones, between the stones of the driveway and in every ‘nook and cranny’. There are weeds which are uprooted quite easily but then there are those stubborn ones. They generally break off, leaving the root behind and if not dug out they are sure to grow back again with more vigour than at first.

Weeds are like sin in our lives. Sin can be forgiven and taken away by Jesus in a moment but many of those sins have long deep stubborn roots. From the moment of our new birth in Christ it is not only further sin that must be forgiven but we must deal with the root of those sins: our sin nature. Allowing the Holy Spirit to work in our lives to crucify the sin nature is where growth is experienced and holiness produced in the Christian life. We are not made holy when we first believe. The experience of every believer testifies to the fact that holiness is not imputed to us. It is obedience which leads to holiness or if disobedient, the work of chastening by the Lord which produces this holiness. The writer to the Hebrews has this to say:

If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
Hebrews 12v7

And what is the purpose of this chastening:

For they (earthly fathers) indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Hebrews 12v10&11

The purpose of chastening according to the writer to the Hebrews is to be painful so that we can be partakers of holiness and produce the fruit of righteousness. The writer to the Hebrews continues:

Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord…
Hebrews 12v14

We will not see the Lord without being holy and for this end goal of holiness, chastening to differing degrees must occur in a believer’s life. Whilst this chastening takes place in the present i.e. while we are alive, we must ask the following questions: are all Christians holy before they die? If they are not, is there a process to produce holiness after death as well? If even the worst of Christians were automatically, instantly and miraculously purified and made holy at death, what would be the purpose of obedience for sanctification often through much suffering while alive?

The next verse, Hebrews 12v15, is then a warning to believers not to fall short of the grace of God. This falling short of the grace of God is not losing eternal life, so if a believer does fall short of the grace of God, there must be a lack of holiness in their lives. It stands to reason that if holiness is not obtained by the time of death, holiness must be obtained before one is able to see the Lord in eternity to enjoy the new heavens and new earth. How and when is this accomplished?

Before answering this question and leaving Hebrews 12 I believe it is important to point out something regarding the subject of chastening. The writer to the Hebrews uses the earthly example of fathers chastening their children to instruct the Hebrews concerning the more important work of God chastening His children. It is assumed, which is consistent with many verses in the wisdom book of Proverbs, that fathers chastise their children. It greatly saddens me that governments are not only banning the smacking of children but many Christians are now against the physical chastisement of children, declaring it unbiblical. The supernatural instruction of the Bible has been replaced with super-nanny and this will have catastrophic consequences within families and society. Using methods such as naughty steps, manipulation, bribery and counting 1-2-3 are not biblical methods. They are behaviour modification techniques that miss the underlying problem of disobedience: the heart and do not correctly represent the character of God and how He deals with His children. It is not about behaviour modification and results; it is about heart change leading to holiness (Proverbs 22v15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of correction will drive it far from him). Yes, God is loving and gracious but He lovingly chastises His wayward children which Hebrews says is painful, just as we are to lovingly chastise our wayward and disobedient children, not only for their sake eternally but to correctly show them the character of God. Love and grace involves chastisement.

In my Faith and Works blog I discussed 1 Corinthians 3 where Paul speaks of a judgment based on our works, which are tried by fire, with positive and negative consequences. If one’s works endure the fire there will be a reward which I have argued in The Gospel Part 3 blog is the kingdom inheritance of ruling and reigning with Christ in the millennial kingdom. We come now to consider verse 15:

If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
1 Corinthians 3v15

What does ‘he will suffer loss’ mean? To suffer loss you must already have something or are due to receive something. What is it that every believer is due to receive? An inheritance. I have already argued that you cannot lose eternal life so the only inheritance which can be lost is the inheritance of the millennial kingdom. It makes perfect logical sense that the loss is the exact opposite of obtaining the reward and prize. Suffering loss means to miss out on the first resurrection and ruling and reigning with Christ for a thousand years. It means not entering ‘God’s 7^th day rest’.

We must go further however and explain what is meant by ‘he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.’ Notice this time, it is not the works which are being passed through fire like the booty being purified and then subsequently offered for atonement in Numbers 31 but it is the person himself through fire. A person going through purifying fires is a biblical concept. The Old Testament prophet Zechariah speaks concerning this concept regarding the Israelites at the time of Jesus’ second coming:

I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested.
Zechariah 13v9

The judgment fire of God will not only kill two thirds (verse 8) but it will be used to purify the remaining one third. Peter uses this concept as well when speaking of the trials and tribulations which believers endure to test their faith:

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honour, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ…
1 Peter 1v6&7

The trials and tribulations of life are like the purifying fire used to remove the impurities from gold. However, if we do not allow the trials and tribulations of life to produce character (Romans 5v3&4) and holiness in us then this work is yet to be done and the only time and place for this to occur is in Hades. Once dead, character cannot be improved on the basis of loving obedient works of faith, as character while alive is to be developed by faith, not by sight. It must be done by the purifying fire of Hades.

After a person has come to faith in Christ he/she is chosen to be holy and without blame before Christ (Ephesians 1v4). God will ensure this happens either while alive using the trials and tribulations in life or after death in the purifying fire in Hades.

It is a Christian’s sin/carnal nature that will be dealt with primarily in Hades. While we are alive, we are able to approach the throne of grace to receive grace and mercy upon conviction of our sin or during and after chastisement for Christ to forgive us and remove our sins after regeneration. After death, it is instead the Christian’s punishment and purifying that is in focus as opposed to a Christian’s chastisement while alive. In punishment, a Christian will realize how their unwillingness to be purged from the works of the carnal nature while alive has created the “debt” now owed to God and they must now pay the consequences in full, like the wicked servant.

However, the Bible does not give us all the details concerning the judgment seat of Christ and a believer suffering loss. Paul appears to suggest our works will be tested by fire at the return of Jesus as implied by 1 Corinthians 3v13 & 4v5 but the Bible does not specifically speak to the exact time a Christian must stand before the judgment seat of Christ, especially those who have already died. There is judgment apart from the judgment seat of Christ as Christians are continually being judged and disciplined throughout their lives while on earth. But is the judgment seat of Christ at the time of death or is there a waiting period, with an interim judgment, before the judgment seat of Christ and the purifying fire for the unfaithful believer, if these occur at the return of Christ? Does the purifying fire begin in Hades before the return of Christ, possibly in the place of torment? At this point in searching the scriptures I do not see that these details are clear.

On the subject of purgatory I stand on the shoulders and defend my fellow Campbellian, CS Lewis, who also believed in a purifying after death. Why? Not because we went to the same school or even because he was a famous writer but because what he thought and wrote on the subject is in agreement to Scripture. However, I would not use the term purgatory to refer to the place where some believers will go to be purified to avoid conflation with Roman Catholicism and additional teachings surrounding it. Rather, I think it is best to speak of Hades or the biblical phrase of the place of torment. Although I believe Scripture teaches a purification after death (immediate or during the millennial kingdom) for some believers, I firmly reject the doctrines of praying for the dead (CS Lewis believed in this practice) and the paying of indulgences to shorten the time in purgatory for a number of reasons but these are not the subject of this blog.

The roots of our weeds, our sin nature must be dealt with either in this life or after death. We must allow the Holy Spirit to dig out and crucify those roots now, in this life, rather than suffering loss and facing the purifying fire in Hades. It is holiness that God requires, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’ (1 Peter 1v16).

Simplicity in Christ: The unforgiving, unprofitable and unfaithful believer who has not received God’s chastening unto holiness in life will suffer loss by exclusion from the millennial kingdom and be purified unto holiness in Hades.

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