This very recent audio sermon (simply called “Romans 5”) discusses the vital theme of Federal Headship, transferred to the entire human race
2. The sins of the elect (believers) transferred to Christ on the cross
3. The righteousness of Christ transferred to the elect (believers)
So why John would you think you are fit to enter heaven after death?
In and of myself, I have no hope WHATSOEVER of entrance into God’s heaven. My only hope is found in the word SUBSTITUTION – that there was One who stood in my place, that my very own sins were transferred to Him as He hung on the tree, that He bore the punishment that was mine, that He died in my place, that He drank the bitter cup of Divine wrath for me; and that grace upon grace, the righteous life of that One was credited to my account when I trusted in Him, and that I stand in His righteousness alone. I have no other plea but this: that based on the sure foundation of SCRIPTURE ALONE, that CHRIST ALONE the Perfect Savior is my Subsitute, and that He is mine by GRACE ALONE, through FAITH ALONE, to the GLORY OF GOD ALONE.
As you may have heard in the news this week, the new Pope (Francis), wishing to make use of the new social media announced that indulgences would be granted not only to those who attend the upcoming Roman Catholic Youth Day celebration in Brazil (a week-long event which starts tomorrow, July 22), but also to those who follow the event online, and especially follow his tweets on twitter. Some people seem very surprised by this announcement and yet the only thing new about it is the twitter component. The doctrine of Indulgences remains a central teaching of the Roman Catholic Church.
PURGATORY: (Latin: purgatorium; from purgare, “to purge”) – the condition, process, or place of purification. This is a place of PURGING or temporary punishment in which the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for heaven.
The doctrine of purgatory is an integral doctrine to the Roman Catholic understanding of redemption. It is the place where the vast majority of even professing Christians go upon their death.
As recently as the Roman Catholic Catechism, the Church declares that if a person dies with any spot or blemish or stain on their soul – any impurity – instead of going directly to heaven they must first go to this place of purging which is this intermediate state between earth and heaven. Rome makes clear that purgatory is not hell. It is not a place of the punitive wrath of God, but it is a place for the corrective wrath of God, as it were, where the sanctifying process is continued through the crucible of fire.
A person may be there for two weeks or they may be there for two hundred million years – as long as it takes for a person to become truly righteous – inherently righteous, and once that process is completed, they can be declared justified by God and released into heaven.
I’d now like to go through all the Bible verses that teach the doctrine of purgatory ________________________.
Ok.. well that did not take long, because there are none! That’s right, we do not find either the word or the concept of “purgatory” in the Bible. It is a tradition of the Roman Catholic Church that developed over a long period of time. Continue reading