Luke 12:47-48 That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows.
LK 12:4-5 "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him."
This is spoken to Jesus' friends. So there is reason even for Jesus' friends to fear hell, apparently. But in the next breath he tells them not to fear ("Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows"). So apparently there is security here, despite the warning.
2CO 5:9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.
A goal is not a guarantee! We may still have to wrestle with sin after death.
MT 18:8 If your hand or your foot causes you to sin cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
And this section of the Sermon on the Mount seems to be directed to those who were really saved:
MT 5:13,14 "You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world."
MT 5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
MK 9:49 Everyone will be salted with fire.
And destruction of only the body (and not the soul), is mentioned in Mt. 5:30, which is reminiscent of Paul's counsel in 1 Cor. 5:5.
Why is the time of ultimate perfection set at the Second Coming of Jesus, if at death all believers are made perfect instantly?
1CO 1:8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1TH 5:23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
If believers are purified immediately after death, why does the Scripture not select that point in time here in these verses? It seems that the concern (or rather confidence) that Paul has for the believers now, for purity in spite of pressure, continues until Jesus returns.
2TH 1:6-7 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven...
Thus relief for all saints, for every saint, is not apparently immediate after death, there may be more pain, until Jesus is revealed from heaven, now Purgatory would be ruled out if there were some verse saying there will be no pain for believers in heaven, before Jesus returns, but statements instead indicate that this is not the case.
One possible picture of purgatory is the rich man in hell (Luke 16:19-31). Notice several aspects of this that are unexpected: Abraham addresses him as "son," the rich man addresses Abraham as "father," now this may simply refer to Jewish descent, yet the acceptance of this title by Abraham seems also to refer to a possibility of some spiritual relationship here (cf. Gal. 3:7). Also, the rich man is given a most unexpected reason for his being in hell: "In your life you received your good things," issues of salvation are not addressed, it is not "you never had faith in God." Now he didn't repent! But do any believers die in some substantial measure of unrepentance in a particular sin? "Everyone will be salted with fire" (Mark 9:49) seems to be relevant here, so if there is no purifying fire in a person's life, then perhaps it must happen after death.
Blessings,
Lee
LK 12:4-5 "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him."
This is spoken to Jesus' friends. So there is reason even for Jesus' friends to fear hell, apparently. But in the next breath he tells them not to fear ("Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows"). So apparently there is security here, despite the warning.
2CO 5:9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.
A goal is not a guarantee! We may still have to wrestle with sin after death.
MT 18:8 If your hand or your foot causes you to sin cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
And this section of the Sermon on the Mount seems to be directed to those who were really saved:
MT 5:13,14 "You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world."
MT 5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
MK 9:49 Everyone will be salted with fire.
And destruction of only the body (and not the soul), is mentioned in Mt. 5:30, which is reminiscent of Paul's counsel in 1 Cor. 5:5.
Why is the time of ultimate perfection set at the Second Coming of Jesus, if at death all believers are made perfect instantly?
1CO 1:8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1TH 5:23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
If believers are purified immediately after death, why does the Scripture not select that point in time here in these verses? It seems that the concern (or rather confidence) that Paul has for the believers now, for purity in spite of pressure, continues until Jesus returns.
2TH 1:6-7 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven...
Thus relief for all saints, for every saint, is not apparently immediate after death, there may be more pain, until Jesus is revealed from heaven, now Purgatory would be ruled out if there were some verse saying there will be no pain for believers in heaven, before Jesus returns, but statements instead indicate that this is not the case.
One possible picture of purgatory is the rich man in hell (Luke 16:19-31). Notice several aspects of this that are unexpected: Abraham addresses him as "son," the rich man addresses Abraham as "father," now this may simply refer to Jewish descent, yet the acceptance of this title by Abraham seems also to refer to a possibility of some spiritual relationship here (cf. Gal. 3:7). Also, the rich man is given a most unexpected reason for his being in hell: "In your life you received your good things," issues of salvation are not addressed, it is not "you never had faith in God." Now he didn't repent! But do any believers die in some substantial measure of unrepentance in a particular sin? "Everyone will be salted with fire" (Mark 9:49) seems to be relevant here, so if there is no purifying fire in a person's life, then perhaps it must happen after death.
Blessings,
Lee
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