‍ 

Dialogue on the Punishment of Christians

 

A discussion of the biblical and historical evidence

for regenerative baptism

 

Gary Hoge

 

Indulgences, Purgatory, merit, etc. are only for those who are already in the covenant. They have to do with the sanctification of those who are already being saved, not with the salvation of those who are outside the covenant.

 

I think the issue I would have here is that of whether or not there is actually a judicial application of the work of Christ on behalf of His people at the Eschaton Judgement. Catholic soteriology would say no, thus necessitating purgation for complete purity, while I wonder why God could not apply judicially the merits of Christ (imputation) to the sinner.

 

I think not, for the simple reason that the Bible says of heaven, “Nothing impure will ever enter it” (Rev. 21:27). God’s not going to allow sin into heaven and pretend it doesn’t exist, or overlook it for Christ’s sake. He’s going to eradicated it. We can dispute whether justification is merely judicial here on Earth, but I don’t think there’s any doubt that in heaven, it’s real.

 

The verse about no condemnation comes to mind and to me, perhaps misunderstanding, Purgatory still involves some amount of suffering, which to me smacks of condemnation.

 

Suffering, at least for a Christian, smacks of sanctification, not condemnation. The Bible says,

 

⁵And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,

⁶because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”

⁷Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?

⁸If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.

⁹Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!

¹⁰Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.

¹¹No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

¹²Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.

¹³“Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

¹⁴Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Heb 12:5-14)

 

A couple of things to note here:

 

• God disciplines Christians.

 

• This discipline is painful (vs. 11).

 

• The purpose of this discipline is sanctification (i.e., that we may share in God’s holiness) (vs. 10).

 

• Without this sanctification, no one will see the Lord. The NASB renders verse 14 this way: “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.” Isn’t it interesting that the author of Hebrews is telling Christians that they must pursue a certain level of personal holiness, or else they will not see the Lord?

 

We must be sanctified if we would see the Lord. I see no hint of anything merely judicial in that. We must be made holy, and share in God’s holiness. This is a lifelong process, and the doctrine of Purgatory simply asserts that if it is not completed in this life, it will be in the next. The word itself, “Purgatory,” does not refer to a place, but to the final sanctification process itself by which we are made fit to enter the presence of him whose “eyes are too pure to look on evil” (Hab. 1:13).

 

It does seem to me (as a father myself) that our God, in describing Himself as Father, would try to take every possible means He could to bring as many of His children to Himself as possible. This makes the issue of Purgatory seem like mercy rather than judgement.

 

Exactly. It’s the loving, fatherly discipline described in Hebrews 12.

 

The Calvinist view of forensic justification really seems to hinge upon a very strict judicial view of God as the stern judge looking for any imperfection at all and condemning all who do not meet the standard. That is why the need for an imputed righteousness.

 

God cannot tolerate sin, and that’s why an imputed righteousness is not enough. God did not send His Son so that he could cover over sin and pretend it no longer exists, he sent him so that sin could be defeated and washed away. That’s why God says, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” (Ezek. 36:25-27). He does not say he will cover your heart of stone and consider it righteous for Christ’s sake. He says he will remove it and replace it with a heart of flesh.