Category: Judgment Day

How to Grieve and Not Be Devastated

The passage discusses the inevitability of death and the importance of preparing emotionally for it. It suggests developing an eternal mindset, finding solace in faith, and accepting life’s temporary nature. Emphasis is placed on supporting loved ones, fostering a purpose-driven life, and understanding that grief can coexist with faith and hope in God’s promises.

There is one thing that I can guarantee to you, and that is that you and the ones you love will die someday. That is how this life works. It ends. Because this happens 100% of the time, one would think that we would be better prepared. We can end up emotionally unprepared for death because we have used denial as a coping mechanism (it is bad choice), we have been isolated from seeing death until there is no way to deny it, or the death or somebody happens in a tragic and pre-mature fashion. I would like to give you some ideas that can make you a lot sturdier when it comes to loss through death or receiving the shocking news that you are dying.

First, develop an eternal mindset. Our experience is limited to this life. That makes this step a little difficult. But there is plenty of evidence to say that we go on. Every world religion includes some form of eternal existence. Christianity not only has the revelation of what I share in this blog, it has proofs in the form of Jesus’ miracles including the raising of the dead and more. These miracles had many eye witnesses. If that is not enough, then consider the multitude of Near Death Experiences. This isn’t wishful thinking. This is something that needs to be throughly investigated and prepared for.

How am I prepared? I am now 64. When I think about my near future I project living to 90ish. The 26 years I have until 90 are not prime real estate. They likely will not be my best years physically or mentally. For this reason, I acknowledge that it could be far less. This would fill me with sorrow if not fear if it would not be for the certain faith that I have that I will move through death into Heaven, and that the best part of my existence is ahead of me. This certainty is not based on my behavior or the depth of my faith. It is based on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus; along with God’s promise, His character, and the experience I have had interacting with God.

As I think of the rest of my life, I can see great purpose. I will do what God gives me to do until my final hour. That is what this life is for. Part of that purpose is to ride this body down to the point where I can leave it. I can handle whatever that may look like. That is my mindset and determination. No living in denial here.

I also expect my loved ones to die someday. It could be before me or after me. I would prefer after me, but should it be before me, I have solace that they are also under the same promise of eternal life and we will pick things up again after we are all out of here. This may mean that I might have to spend some time here without them. I have thought about what I will do and how I will cope. I don’t need to figure this out in an urgent fashion.

What if your loved ones are not clearly connected to Christ? Another thing that I would suggest is be satisfied that you are doing all that you can.

I would be pleasantly surprised if my father’s father is in Heaven. In life, he seemed to have one god and that was himself. I loved/love my grandfather. I take solace in that while he was alive I tried to be a witness to him via letter, book, and speaking to him about Jesus. I don’t know if it took. The result has been a degree of emotional separation. In the end, I cannot force anyone to believe. So there is no grief in that regard. Still, I am not convinced that Jesus is done with him.

Most of the Western Christian Church either believes that death is the end of our opportunity to be saved or has even enshrined this belief in stated doctrine. The Eastern Church is not this way. The information God has given us on this topic is pretty scant either way. The belief that death is the line in the sand is pretty much one passage and that out of context. It is Hebrews 9:27:

27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

Hebrews 9:27 (ESV)

This is a proof text that Jesus only had to die once. He is not sacrificed over and over. That is the context. It is also biblical proof against reincarnation. It says nothing about our physical death being like Judgment Day. Judgment Day is the end of hope for an individual. The opposite is not well supported either, but at least the passage is in context.

6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

1 Peter 4:6 (ESV)

The context is Jesus’s decent into Sheol. https://afterdeathsite.com/2017/03/14/christs-descent-into-hell-part-1/. It is not clear what can happen if a person dies without Jesus, but there is at least reason to feel that there is some hope.

The final preparatory thing I would suggest is to hold on to this life lightly. We all have things that we like to do and places we like to go. Realize that these are all temporary, that you can live without them, and that there are better things coming.  I like to golf, but I could quit right now.  I like to travel, but I don’t need to see everything.  This life is for fulfilling God’s plans for me, not entertainment.  

If we can internalize these things then what is left to grieve is the temporary loss of enjoying things together. That is something. We can also grieve that death is a thing at all. It is wages of death and that is regrettable. So sorrow isn’t a bad thing or a lack of faith. It doesn’t have to be crippling either. Crippling sorrow is dangerous. Not only does it rock the faith of an individual, it can diminish their usefulness in life, and create a negative family dynamic and could have impact for generations.

So prepare yourself. God’s love and promises are resources to grieve well. Ponder them.

Fear God

God has been my friend and my mentor since childhood. God has never done me wrong. Even in His seeming inaction, I have found hindsight eventually as to why He didn’t act. With that said, it is hard for me to have fear of God in the classic way we understand fear.

As part of a summer Bible reading program that I am doing in my congregation, we have recently read Luke 12 which has provided the topic for today:

4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

Luke 12 :4-5 (ESV)

Because I know what Jesus did and why, and have a firm belief in the promise of God and God’s character, I don’t think of my future as potentially including Hell (here the word is Gehenna, a reference to post-Judgment Day punishment), but it would be wise to do so at least in theory. People fall away from grace. It happens. They can mangle the Gospel until it is ineffective (see Galatians), fail to forgive when required, wilt under difficulty or choke out because the temptations of the world. I don’t think about that happening to me. I don’t ponder it. But I need to respect that God sticks to the letter of His Law even when it costs Him. I don’t want my connection to Christ to become compromised. I have only Christ’s righteousness as my hope.

The context in which Jesus speaks these words is one of the original disciples potentially being afraid of what Jewish leaders might do to them. It is scary to confess Christ in an environment where that is not going to be accepted. Worse, if it will probably be persecuted. I don’t live in a family or society where being a Christian is actively persecuted, but I would like to think that, if I did, I would be brave enough and certain enough to not be afraid to confess Christ. My confession would be based on a love of God, not a fear of God. But fear of God wouldn’t be without reason.

8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, 9 but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

Luke 12:8-9 (ESV)

Here is a picture of Judgment Day that I don’t often ponder. People are separated to Jesus’ right and to His left. Some of those put on the left feel like they should be on the right. Before the angels of God, they are denied by Jesus. “I don’t know you”, is how it is expressed in a different passage. “I don’t believe/know Jesus”, is what got them there.

Denying Jesus is exactly what Peter did three times. Peter dared to hope for forgiveness, and he found it. Jesus gave Peter the chance to confess him three times a bit later. It was a chance to do things in reverse. There is forgiveness for being cowardly. It is tougher when the denial is adopting a different worldview that excludes Jesus as your Savior. Usually, people in that situation don’t seek forgiveness, but even in that situation, there can be hope.

All of these brushes with a Judgment Day disaster can be avoided with a healthy, non-surreal, fear of God. How can one get to that point? I think a great place to start is to ponder these words of Jesus and visualize being brave before you actually have to be brave. If you know that you are in a dangerous situation, ask God for bravery. Peter just thought he had it. There is also a difference between genuinely denying Christ and being clever enough to serve another day. God is not looking for people to invite martyrdom. Take comfort in these words if you are potentially in such a situation:

the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Luke 12:12 (ESV)

We are saved by God’s grace in the end, and not by being brave. Being brave may be pivotal in remaining with Christ. A healthy fear of God and the power of the Holy Spirit can provide these things.

Entering Through the Narrow Gate

The author reflects on a passage from Matthew 7:13-14, expressing concern over the “few” who will find the narrow way to life compared to the many destined for destruction. They discuss the implications of this truth, emphasizing the urgency of sharing the Gospel, and contemplate the meanings of destruction and the challenges of faith in Christ.

Perhaps one should not dislike a passage in the Bible. Yet, I cannot like the message of what I am writing about today. It is good to know. It is a regrettable truth. I doubt that God is happy about it. The passage that I am speaking about comes from the mouth of Jesus toward the end of the Sermon on the Mount. It says:

13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV)

The last word really bothers me, “few”. Few is a relative term. This indicates a minority when compared to those headed for destruction. If indeed that is what is being compared. The best I could hope for is that those saved are few compared to those who could be saved. The death of Jesus is enough for all mankind to be saved. No extra works are required, there just needs to be a connection made with Jesus. If 98% were saved, that could be construed as “few” compared to 100%. I really don’t think that is what is being said here, however.

Unfortunately it is way too easy to understand how you get to below 50%. Using the Parable of the Sower (Luke 8) as a model of understanding, many people end up being a hard path. Billions are confirmed adherents of other world religions that exclude Jesus from the role of savior. Access to the Gospel is not a problem. You can find it on the internet, hear it on the radio, come in contact with some Christian. But many have not had any real exposure to the Gospel. They do not seek what they do not know. That should bother us and motivate us to get the Word out there. It is likely that a large group will have their first real exposure to the Gospel in Sheol. I don’t have much information on this, but it aligns with Jesus’ apparent mission when he descends to Sheol after his death (1 Peter 3:18-20)https://afterdeathsite.com/2017/04/11/christs-descent-into-hell-part-5/

Other people will have plenty of exposure to the Gospel, but it is like seeds on a hardened path. They understand the concepts and it perhaps occupies their mind for a while, but the birds (Satan) snatches it away before it can take root. With those two groups alone, we are probably past 50%. Then there are the groups described as people who believe but are too shallow to have a resilient faith that can endure hardship or are those choked out by the cares of life, love of wealth, or love of the pleasures of life. With them we are probably way past 50% leaving only a relative few.

Another bothersome word in Matthew 7:13-14 is “destruction”. It is not a place name like Sheol or Gehenna. It is a description. I think “destruction” could describe either. Other descriptors for Sheol are “fire” and “worm” which are classic destroyers. If this is Sheol then it gives a dim hope. The hope is that the “many” enter the gates of Sheol but not necessarily the final judgment of Gehenna post-Judgement Day. But if I am honest, “destruction” sounds more like Gehenna. Little is said about Gehenna directly, but Jesus’ experience on the cross informs it. The spiritual punishment Jesus must endure under the Law is being forsaken. That will fall on the individual who is not connected to Christ.

When God completely pulls his presence from a place or person what should happen? Physics might suggest an increased rate of entropy at all levels. Does destruction come to an end when you are destroyed? Maybe. The Bible speaks of eternal punishment, but in what sense? Time needs to be understood as part of our reality and not transcending it. Time itself could be destroyed for the forsaken.

Finally, why describe the route to eternal life as “narrow” and “hard”? It is narrow because there is only one way to receive it, and that is Jesus. If Jesus were one choice among many, it would seem that the Father would have allowed Jesus to skip the misery of crucifixion, flogging, and forsakenness. But he did not. Those who don’t like the idea that Jesus is the only way deride it as a bigoted teaching. Unfortunately, I think it is a logical teaching that clearly is expressed in the Bible.

“Hard” seems out-of-place because we are saved by grace. We would not come to Jesus unless the Holy Spirit does the hard work of getting through to us with the Gospel. It is hard as humans to make the Gospel available to others. It was hard for Jesus to fulfill the Law and still suffer the ultimate punishment for sin. It is also hard to persevere in faith from the moment we are “in Christ” to the time of our death. As noted above, people fail to do so.

At the end of it all, what do you have? “Few”. The only consolation is that the relative few still constitutes millions if not billions of people.

Do You Feel Hopeless?

At some point in your life the future might have seemed full of possibilities. You had dreams and they seemed reachable. But as time ran on life got in the way. You had troubles. Things didn’t pan out. It became obvious that your vision of the future was not going to happen. Perhaps you can add to this your concerns about the world in general. The promise of unending human progress seems fenced in by unfixable problems.

It is hard to live when all you have is the routine, and the problems of life seem entrenched. Without hope it seems that life is not worth living. Too many people reach this point and then act on it. In fact, very few people live their dreams. There is only so much room to be famous athletes, entertainers, or great leaders. That doesn’t mean that only those people get to have hope. In fact, these roles aren’t as great as might think them. If this is your dream, then in some respects you are shooting too high and in others too low.

In it sinfully natural to want to set your own agenda for life. In the end, your personal agenda won’t count for much. God has a plan for each of us. This plan may not be recognized by other people. Currently, it may not be recognized by you. Rather it is recognized by God. It may not change the world as a whole, but it will definitely change a part of it. It may not be rewarded in this life with money and ease, but it will be rewarded on the Day.

God-given hope starts with something that we did not have the right to hope for. It is a whole tapestry of things that are the true meaning of life. It starts with the right to call the Creator of the all things, “Father”. Normal people are far too sinful to be this presumptuous. This relationship allows us to navigate any set of problems. It is true that aging and illness moves us closer to death, but even that isn’t negative. God’s grace to us moves into having a God-given role in life. We can count on having a purpose even when all health has failed us. We only have to be faithful in what prepares for us. We do not have to compete with the world. These things make some space for hope that life will remain purposeful and do-able, but the big payout is yet to come.

The gifts of God are heavily back-loaded. This life is important, but it is nothing compared to what comes after it. Without Jesus this would not be hopeful. God’s Law requires sinners to forever banished. When God forsakes a person all good things are gone and so is hope. Jesus get us past this Law. Because Jesus fulfills the requirements of the Law, and we can be connected to Jesus through faith and baptism, we have a promise of eternal life.

The Apostle Paul, who went through some serious stuff in life, says this:

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV)

Energizing hope comes from being able to see what is “unseen”. That means that God has had enough time to marinate you in His love and promises so that you have a clear grasp of what is coming to you when you leave this life connected to Christ. This blog is for sharing with you what God has shared about this through the Bible. It is exciting. Because of God’s Word and his action throughout history and in my life, I have hope. That hope will carry me through anything that may happen from today until my death. I can do anything because it all is temporary. I know that my life purpose will change, but it will always be something. After that the true living will commence.

Would I ever consider taking my own life. Nope. Not even to cut the corner and get to Heaven. I have things to do here for God. Do I get discouraged. Not really. It is short-term discouragement at best. In the end I know that I win.

Is this hope a form of self-delusion? When you consider that the whole construction of the universe down to the tiniest detail of life is clearly designed by a vast intelligence, no. When you consider the prophecies pointing to Jesus from deep in time, and the eye-witnesses of Jesus willing to suffer for their testimony, and the giant emergence of Christianity in an environment of persecution, there is plenty of evidence that this hope stands on fact.

I have also had plenty of experience of God teaching me and changing me, encouraging me through prayer and people, working through me in ways that I cannot take the credit, that tells me my hope is well placed.

Is this hope just for me and not for you? God loves the whole world. God wants all people to be saved and come the knowledge of the truth. God wants you. I have hope that He can reach you no matter of how far away you have been and no matter how hopeless you currently are. If you have lost hope, take a look at what the Bible has promised to people in general and to you specifically. Read through the other articles in this blog and get the lay of the land. It is a very hopeful message.

The Current Kingdom of God

John the Baptist and Jesus spoke of the “Kingdom of God,” which signifies God’s reign rather than a worldly kingdom. Jesus’ life and sacrifice shifted heavenly authority, breaking Satan’s hold over humanity. While some expect a political kingdom, a true reign of God exists in believers’ hearts, with a future establishment on Earth.

“The Kingdom of God is near”, that is what John of the Baptist declared. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…”, that is what Jesus often said. Are they the same thing? What exactly is being referred to? What is “near”?

It would be nice is the Bible had a glossary. Then you could know for sure the meaning of every term. As it stands you largely have to depend on context to figure out certain terms.

So what context do we have? Let’s start with the definition of a “kingdom”. That is where a king reigns. When talking about Jesus, you might want to say that He reigns everywhere, since He has created the universe with the Spirit and His Father and has been given authority over all things; but the wording of the Bible suggests that Jesus isn’t the “King” of this world, at least not yet. The Bible speaks like Satan is more of the ruler here:

2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

Ephesians 2:2 (ESV)

Heaven is surely different. But when you look in the Old Testament for references about Satan, you find Him in Heaven. He may not be in charge, but He seems to have free rein. What is going on?

When John the Baptist or Jesus said the Kingdom of God is near, they were not being fast and loose with the definition of near. Within a few years there would be a major event that not only changed leadership in Heaven but it is also created a change of leadership within individuals on Earth. It did not create a worldly political kingdom, just yet. Jesus’ successful obedience to God’s Law all the way to death, and His subjection to being forsaken by His Father essentially broke the legal leverage that Satan held over all human beings. That “leverage” was the if Satan were damned for his disobedience, humanity would have to go with him. We were “captives” or better yet “hostages”. God didn’t want to damn all of humanity, nor is He the type of being to arbitrarily suspend His own Law. Having Jesus do the work and creating a means that we can be connected to Jesus, was God’s way of fulfilling His Law and saving people.

Jesus’ life and death changed the leadership in Heaven. Without the leverage mentioned above, it was just Satan’s power against God’s and Satan lost.

7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.

Revelation 12:7-10 (ESV)

Notice that when Satan and his angels are cast out of Heaven, only then the Kingdom of God and the authority of His chosen one (Christ) has come to Heaven, not before. This is why Jesus tells Pontius Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world.

For those who expect God’s kingdom to be an earthly, political entity this is disappointing, and they tend to deny that Jesus is the Christ. The benefits to people are far superior this way, however. First, we didn’t have a place in Heaven. There is not promise of our dwelling in Heaven ever in the Old Testament. This is a big add-on.

Also, God can now reign in us. We may still have a sinful nature that influences our will, but Satan has no internal influence. The Holy Spirit does. Satan must work with externals. In that situation, the Kingdom of God has come to us. It is what we pray to continue or to come to others when we say in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come.”

Will there ever be an earthly “political” kingdom of God? Yes. In due time. When God brings about Judgement Day and creates a New Earth, God will live and reign here. In this arrangement Jesus fulfills all of the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah being a King and having a reign.

Your Eternal Self

The post explores the concept of eternity through a theological lens, comparing God to a geometric line that exists infinitely. It discusses the nature of the spirit and body, eternal life, and the implications of sin on existence. It emphasizes God’s desire to recreate believers in a form suited for eternal life.

It is admittedly hard to conceptualize what “eternal” means. We can think of a long time, but not eternal. I sometimes use a math concept to get people to understand what they are. It helps.

God is like a line in geometry. I line goes infinitely in both directions. When Moses encountered God in the burning bush, he asked for God’s name:

14 God said to Moses, “Yahweh” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘Yahweh has sent me to you.’”

Exodus 3:14

Yahweh is a verb form of “to be” not found in English. God always was, is, and always will be, is what is means. He is the whole line. People who don’t believe in eternal life think we are a segment. A clear beginning and a clear end in death. God has made us to be a ray. We do have a beginning at our conception. We do not pre-exist this except that God knows us. But we will have no end.

Our bodies clearly have an end. The body you have is a segment. You may feel the terminal point creeping up on you right now. We are more complicated than just a body. We are for now this body, our spirit, and the interface between the two, our soul.

Having a spirit is clearly a part of being created in the image of God. It is not cognition, intelligence, emotion, or imagination. It is something not properly a part of this universe. Our spirit is coupled with this body through a mechanism that has not been revealed to us. It is probably something on a very small scale, perhaps the micro-tubules found on our neurons.

What faculties are resident in our spirit? I’m not sure. It does become hard to sort. Things like memory, reason, consciousness, even senses can all be associated with parts of the brain which belongs to the body, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are resident there. They may just interact with the body there. People having a Near Death Experience (NDE) can have all of the above without use of the body.

One thing I can say with certainty is a part of body and not the spirit is our sinful nature. The genetic damage we have all inherited that builds our body to be unreceptive to God and inclined to sin is cooked into the flesh. That is why we need to physically die. We need to get rid of this body when it is time.

Can our spirit simply float around without a body for long? Paul suggests that this wouldn’t be desirable:

5 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

2 Corinthians 5:1-4 (ESV)

Being “unclothed” in verse 4 is being a spirit without a body. You really don’t want that. You want to be “further clothed”: to get rid of your current body/tent and upgrade to a body built for Heaven (v.1). I would assume that our spirit will interface with that body either through a similar means or something completely different.

Don’t think that you are done. God is very determined not to lose in the struggle for this time-space continuum. While your body for here is damaged and will die, He wants to remake this universe and remake a body for you for this universe.

How would that work? Now we are pushing a bit into a mystery. We don’t know how that will work. At the time of Judgment Day, Christ’s visible return, and the making of a New Heaven and Earth, there will a resurrection of the dead. Will God recycle what remains of earthly bodies? Not sure. I doubt it. He will make something that is uniquely us. Do we still have the “(body) eternal in the Heavens?” I would assume from the word “eternal” used in 1 Corinthians 5:1 that the answer is “yes”. I will be a spirit connected to a body or bodies at that time and forever.

Can I mess this up? Until we get rid of our sin-damaged body the answer is “yes”. We are saved completely by God’s action. Jesus kept the Law. Jesus absorbed the eternal punishment for our sin by being forsaken on the cross. The Holy Spirit has connected us (if we are connected) to Jesus. Normally, through the process of baptism. We can throw this away. The biblically listed methods of doing this are: distorting the Gospel (Gal. 5:2-4), being unrepentant despite the pleas of the Spirit (numerous verses), neglecting God’s means of keeping our connection viable (Parable of the Sower), refusing to forgive (Lord’s Prayer/Matthew 6). After our death, there is nothing to suggest the possibility of undoing our salvation. Isaiah 65:20 is meant to be rhetorical.

Is a damned person eternal? Their resurrected body doesn’t seem to be:

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.

Malachi 4:1-3 (ESV)

They won’t need a body for the New Earth because they won’t be staying.

46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Matthew 25:46 (ESV)

Is There Such a Thing as Purgatory?

This article examine the origin of the doctrine of Purgatory, which is unique to the Roman Catholic Church. It looks at Scriptural, Apocryphal, and human reason and understanding. It also examines the question of where sin resides in our being.

Yes. But we call it “seminary”. That is just a joke. The doctrine of purgatory, which is unique to the Roman Catholic Church is no joke. I think it is somewhat dangerous. But let’s look at the origin, andthe proof, which is very thin.

The idea is that there is a place and a period in your existence where you have been saved by the grace of Christ but to reach your Heavenly state of perfection you have to go through some suffering in purgatory. How long this will take varies from person to person. It is also something that might be shortened based on the actions of others on your behalf. It is not punishment, per se, it is more polishing.

The doctrine of purgatory does not arrive on the scene until the 12th century. It doesn’t get endorsement until the 13th at the Council of Lyon (1274AD). That is long ago, but awfully late. Could the Holy Spirit wait to reveal a truth until nearly 1300 years after Christ. Sure. Is that what happened? I personally doubt it.

The source of this teaching comes from two things that are owned by the Roman Catholic Church, a likely third thing, and I expect a dangerous fourth.

First, this:

11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 (ESV)

I love quoting this verse. They see this event as something that happens immediately upon death. I would argue that this is our Judgment Day experience. Judgment Day is described in a couple of places as a judgment of our works, and here you have detail. The fire is a way of revealing our acts and motives. It is not a means of purging our sinful acts and motives. Consider the end of this one:

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

2 Peter 3:10 (ESV)

This is clearly of Judgment Day description with the “works that are done on it” being exposed. That is what 1 Corinthians 3:13 is describing. The person whose works are “burned up” is still saved. Why? Because we are saved by Jesus, not our works. We are rewarded for our works.

One other thing gets dragged into the reasoning for the teaching of Purgatory, and it is from a source that wasn’t even considered Scripture in the 13th century.

43 And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection,44 (For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead,)45 And because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them.

46 It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.

2 Maccabees 12:43-46 (Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition)

2 Maccabees is a part of the Apocrypha which isn’t included in the Roman Catholic canon of Scripture until the Council of Trent (1563). The reasoning is that someone is praying for the dead in hopes that they might “rise again”. This story’s context is that some of the Jews who lived in the 2nd century BC prayed for some of their men killed in battle. Would these people be in Purgatory? No. This brings me to the third likely source of the doctrine of Purgatory. Purgatory is a misunderstanding of Sheol. https://afterdeathsite.com/2025/07/22/sheol-as-a-waiting-room/. (There is more about Sheol/Hades on this website. Use the search box to look it up or click “Sheol” in the topic section and scroll down)

Sheol is not a place of purging. For the Old Testament righteous, it is a reasonably nice place to wait for the atonement of sins which will happen with Jesus. They are in the “good neighborhood” of Sheol. The Roman Catholic Church has this. They call it “The Limbo of the Fathers”. Some church bodies just use the term from the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man and call it “the bosom of Abraham”. For the damned, Sheol was and is a place of suffering waiting for Judgment Day.

Why pray for the dead? First, I don’t recognize 1 Maccabees as Scripture. Then, I think you have to be careful about how you interpret a narrative, even in Scripture. Just because they did it, doesn’t make it right. That said people in the Limbo of the Fathers really wouldn’t need prayer nor sacrifice. They just needed Jesus to arrive and do what he did.

Is it wrong or pointless to pray for the dead? A person in Heaven doesn’t need it. What about the bad neighborhood of Sheol? Are they judged and damned and beyond hope? That all comes down to the meaning of 1 Peter 4:6.

6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

1 Peter 4:6 (ESV)

The context of this passage is Jesus’ decent into “Hell” (which should be “Sheol”)https://afterdeathsite.com/2017/03/14/christs-descent-into-hell-part-1/. (There are five parts to this). Does this say that the currently damned in Sheol might still be redeemed by Christ? It would explain why Jesus preached to people from Noah’s day (1 Peter 3:18-20). This is not nullified by Hebrews 9:27, which seems to be the one proof text for those who want to say otherwise.

27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

Hebrews 9:27 (ESV)

The context of this verse does not suggest that final judgment comes immediately on death. It is simply talking about Jesus only needing to die once.

The idea of needing to be purged raises the question of where sinfulness actually resides. Is it in the earthly body, our spirit, or both? “Sinful nature” seems to suggest the body; even specifically our DNA which is the source of our nature. Paul blames the body in Romans 7. Jesus’ virgin birth also points to the need for a body without the starting contamination of sin. What about our “will”? Using the definition of what we are as body, soul, and spirit. The soul seems to be the interface of spirit and body. That is where I would surmise the “will” resides. Its connection to the body is why we don’t have a perfectly free will.

The body is the problem. We purge the body by dying. There is no need for something further.

A final reason, and a dangerous one, for the teaching of Purgatory I fear is a misunderstanding of grace. It is tough to accept salvation as a gift. It feels like we need to add something or experience something to complete it. This idea gets close to the error of the Galatians. The Galatians believed in salvation through Christ but requiring circumcision. That was enough to invalidate the Gospel.

2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.

Galatians 5:2-4 (ESV)

This is why the teaching of Purgatory, even holding to it as tradition, seems dangerous on top of erroneous to me. It does not pass the scrutiny of Scripture and falls into a category where people come up with it via bad logic. The Judaizers appealed to tradition to argue for circumcision being added to grace. Their understanding of the value of tradition was fatal.

Will Good People Be Lost?

The text discusses challenging biblical concepts, particularly the harsh consequences of sin and the unpredictability of salvation. It highlights that both minor and major sins lead to damnation unless atoned for by Jesus. It explores divine love and justice, emphasizing God’s plan for salvation, the unique role of Jesus, and the urgency of sharing this message with others.

There are a couple of things that God reveals in the Bible that are tough to accept. One is the severity of the punishment for sin. Sin can manifest itself in people in ways that are not that destructive. Still, unless it is atoned for by Jesus minor sins are as damning as major ones, and damnation is serious and permanent.

The other difficult thing is that some fairly serious criminals can come to faith and be saved, while other nice people never do and, yes, they are lost. That doesn’t seem fair to us, but we have the wrong perspective on the situation. It is almost inherent to our being to feel that good people deserve good things and bad people deserve bad things. Other world religions fall in line with this tendency. But that is not how it always works in this situation.

If I were to add a third difficult thing to accept it would be that a God of love would accept this arrangement. To sort this out, we have to take a deep dive into the character of the being who has created all things and who is the ultimate judge of what is good and evil.

The first thing to note is that God didn’t create any being in order to damn them. He foresaw that certain individuals would rebel against His primacy and that sin and evil would be a real thing, but rather than scrap Creation God had a plan from the beginning.

4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

Ephesians 1:4 (NIV)

The plan wasn’t for every creature. It doesn’t have a way to save or reform Satan, a cherubim/seraphim. It doesn’t have a way to save rebellious angels/demons. Their rebellion is different in a way. They choose out of a completely free will to reject God. Adam and Eve did not conceive of evil on their own. Satan deceived them. The rest of us are deeply influenced by our “sinful nature”. This is some sort of genetic abnormality created by the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 3) and passed along to everyone. Other creatures are dragged into this cycle of sin, death, and decay unwillingly.

The plan shows the primary characteristics of God, which is love and justice. He is willing to make to ultimate sacrifice to save. The Son of God becomes a human and absorbs the main penalty for sin Himself. But God doesn’t just forgive because He can. He keeps His law in tact. Jesus even asked if this could be done a different way as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Father’s commitment to not arbitrarily change His own law led to Jesus going through with the plan.

25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Romans 3:25-26 (NIV)

He is “just” (i.e. He won’t change the Law), and the justifier (He makes a sacrifice out of love to save.)

A further statement about God’s intent is found in the most famous passage in Scripture:

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

John 3:16-17 (NIV)

Because of the nature of the plan, Jesus is not an option. He is the only way to stand before God as sinless. Even very good people are sinful. We all do something contrary to God’s will every day. We are all modified physically from what we are meant to be. When we call somebody “good” or think of ourselves as “good”, we are speaking relative to others we have known or heard about. We don’t meet that criteria relative to God.

“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good.”

Matthew 19:17 (NIV)

Even knowing the interplay between God’s love and God’s justice, the situation of those who are not connected to Christ can be disturbing. Especially if we know them personally. It is not a bad thing to be disturbed. God is disturbed. It should move us to do what we can. We can tell people of the pertinent parts of Jesus’ story and urge them to read it if they can. We can tell of the promise and the Bible’s description of our human situation. We can even share the rational proofs for the reality of the Bible’s revelation. (Please look at my other blog: http://givingchrist.com for some of these.). We can also demonstrate the love of God through action. God must do the rest. If there is a chance of connecting them to Christ, God will do whatever He can during life and possibly beyond it until Judgement Day. But people will be lost, and some of them will be “good people”.

God’s Declaration In Isaiah 66

The content discusses the prophetic insights of Isaiah, emphasizing accurate predictions concerning Jesus and His significance beyond Israel. It highlights themes of eternal life and the New Earth, expressing God’s promise to reach all nations. The conclusion warns of the consequences for those rejecting Jesus, presenting a stark contrast to the hope provided in faith.

Looks into the future within the Old Testament are common. That is what prophecy is. We are living far enough in the future from the time of Isaiah that almost everything in it we can examine through hindsight. Almost.

Isaiah had warnings for the people of Israel and for the surrounding nations. It has all come true to my knowledge. It is so accurate that skeptics conclude that Isaiah had to be written after the fact, but there is no proof of this. Isaiah also spoke a lot about the coming of Jesus: virgin birth, living in Galilee, heir of David, widely rejected by the Jews, put through a judgment process where He did not defend himself, crucified for the salvation of others, and buried with the rich. They would be impossible or undesirable events to stage.

Toward the end of Isaiah there is a large and confusing section about the New Earth which is still future even to us. Check out my take on this section here: https://afterdeathsite.com/2022/05/24/wrestling-with-isaiah-65/

Then there are the final verses of the last chapter. It speaks about some stuff that is in our rear-view mirror and some that is not. It starts like this:

18 “For I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, 19 and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations.

Isaiah 66:18-19 (ESV)

It is intriguing (to me) to ponder what constituted the right time to send Jesus to fulfill the Law and create an opening for people to have eternal life with God starting with Heaven and then later adding the New Earth. With this event comes a spreading out of knowledge about the God who encountered Israel for millennia, the events around Jesus’ life, and the promise of eternal life. God didn’t keep His promise within the borders of a chosen people. He opened the doors to everyone starting most likely 33AD. His description of “the nations” is strange to us, but must have been well known to the contemporaries of Isaiah. “They” in verse 19 must be the early disciples. The communication of God’s actions and the promise of eternal life continues with the disciples of Jesus today all around the world.

20 And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21 And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the Lord.

Isaiah 66:20-21 (ESV)

Not only was it surprise to hear that God would reach out to other nations, but an even bigger surprise that some of them would be used like the priests and Levites. This chosen group served in the temple as their sole occupation. They were chosen because of the faithfulness of one clan during the Exodus. In the future this would be opened up. I am such a person.

Another surprise is that these saved foreigners would be “your brothers”. This is not a promise to gather the dispersed Jewish people but rather to gather the elect from every nation. These are people whom God can foresee that He will be able to reach. Not everyone will embrace the promise of Jesus. This is sadly observable. Why? I’m not sure the cause or causes. But some will.

The weird modes of transportation are interesting too. I have never brought somebody to church on a dromedary. But this isn’t transportation to a place exactly. This is being involved in diverse ways in people’s lives so that they are connected to Jesus and when we all move past Judgment Day and to the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21-22), we will be like a grain offering that makes God very happy. The New Jerusalem is a place. We just help bring people to Jesus.

“For as the new heavens and the new earth
    that I make
shall remain before me, says the Lord,
    so shall your offspring and your name remain.
23 From new moon to new moon,
    and from Sabbath to Sabbath,
all flesh shall come to worship before me,
declares the Lord.

Isaiah 66:22-23 (ESV)

Eternal life with God is just that–eternal. That is the consistent message of the rest of Scripture. This passage speaks of the permanence of the New Heavens and New Earth, the offspring of the people of faith within Israel, and their name. Part of our experience in Heaven and the New Earth will be worship. Don’t relate that to times you were bored in church. It is also notable that it is “all flesh”. Humans aren’t complete as a disembodied spirit. Paul calls that being “naked” (2 Corinthians 5). We will have a Heavenly Body and a resurrected Earthly body. Worship will be an immersive and positive experience. Everyone will do it. Everyone who is saved that is.

24 “And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

I don’t think that we will make it a part of our eternal routine to observe “dead bodies”. The Bible says that everybody (saved and not) will be a part of the resurrection of our earthly bodies. While this may seem like an amazing and hopeful moment, those who stand judgment bearing their own sin rather than the righteousness we receive from Jesus will find their resurrected bodies are not indestructible. Malachi 4 speaks about them being turned to ash. That will be observable on Judgment Day, probably not after it.

The spirit of a damned person then experiences the ultimate consequence for sin that was completely avoidable. By rejecting Jesus they allowed themselves to bear the full consequence of the Law. They will experience an unending decay (the worm does not die), a fire that is never quenched, be abhorrent to themselves and others, and forsaken by God.

For my part, I wish this ended at verse 23. I can’t deny verse 24 and others like it. Jesus says many will enter destruct and few into life. I hope those relative terms do not mean like they sound. It sure sounds like the majority will experience verse 24.

What Is Hell Fire?

The post contemplates the concept of Hell, defining it as a place of eternal suffering for those without Jesus’ atonement. It explores metaphors used in scripture, such as fire and Hades, to convey the nature of divine judgment. Ultimately, it emphasizes the profound severity of separation from God’s presence in Hell.

It’s a name of a missile, right? It is, but I want to contemplate something else. First, let’s establish a meaning for the word, “Hell”. When I speak of Hell, I am talking about the final place of eternal judgment. It is a post-Judgment Day actual place. It is a place of suffering that includes all who have rebelled against God and have an eternal nature (they don’t just cease to exist) and do not have Jesus’ atonement for their sins. It includes people, Satan, and demons. Jesus uses the word “Gehenna” to refer to it. Revelation calls it the “Lake of Fire”.

Fire, as we have experienced it, is a rapid oxidation resulting in an exothermic reaction. Light a match, that is what is happening. Is that what is happening in Hell, or on Judgment Day (1 Corinthians 3:10f, 2 Peter 3), or even in Sheol? Just a lot of combustion? I doubt it.

When the Bible needs to introduce a concept to us for which we have no frame of reference, it has to use something we know as a metaphor. Fire, as we have experienced it, is similar to the things mentioned above in some way, but it is not necessarily oxidation. I could do this with something in our physical world to help someone with no knowledge of it. I could call nuclear fission a fire. They are both hot.

Let’s start with Sheol/Hades. If you are not familiar with these terms, type them in the search box in the top right of this page. In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus tells the account of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Both are in Hades but one on the “good” side of the chasm and one on the bad side. The Rich Man describes the bad side this way:

24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’

Luke 16:24 (ESV)

Maybe it’s combustion, does it matter? It helps to understand that while all of these use “fire” or “flames”, they are not the same thing and this adds to our understanding of what will happen. Hopefully, we never experience what the Rich Man is experiencing. Jesus is the way to not experience it. For me, it raises the questions of where Sheol is and what is a person’s nature within it. I think it is obvious that Sheol/Hades is not in the center of the Earth as the ancients imagined it. Volcanic activity was just an available metaphor. If it is other dimensional, then do we have a body for Sheol that experiences heat. If this is just their spirit. What can a spirit experience? It suffers to the intensity of being in the scorching heat of a volcanic chamber.

How about the destruction of the universe in 2 Peter 3?

7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

2 Peter 3:7,10 (ESV)

The destruction of the universe does sound like a nuclear-type reaction. If fact, during the Cold War, people read this as a nuclear destruction of our own doing. Even nuclear reactions leave molecular remains of slightly less mass. If this verse is being that technical, then this “fire” may go further than even a nuclear fission process.

How about this fire?

13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.

1 Corinthians 3:13 (ESV)

This fire doesn’t consume anything. It tests and reveals the historical actions of one’s life. More like the Goblet of Fire in Harry Potter. Here the point of comparison may be appearance, just like “tongues of fire” resting the disciples heads on the day of Pentecost. There is some discomfort with this. This is the judgment of our deeds. While not the determining factor in our salvation, it is a probing evaluation of life which will be less than perfect and somewhat embarrassing.

Finally, we get to Hell:

14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 20:14-15 (ESV)

This is the fire most to be feared. Yet, it is a fire that doesn’t seem to consume anything. Neither combustion nor fission, it deals out eternal suffering. The same questions I applied above to Sheol/Hades apply here. Where is it? Most likely some other dimensional plane that is not connected to the New Universe nor Heaven. Is it just the same as Hades? Here I would refer to what Jesus experienced on the cross to spare us from this fate. He is forsaken by the Father.

The presence of God is a very complicated thing. There is the full blown presence of Heaven at present, but even in Sheol/Hades there is some element of His presence (see Psalm 139). Now Hades is dumped into Hell. Is this somehow completely forsaken and removed entirely from the presence of God? What happens to any part of reality in that situation? Do even spirits burn? The point of contact is clearly the suffering connected with a burn. Is that just the best one can do to describe what happens in a relatable way? The resurrected body, which all receive if briefly (Daniel 12) and is referred to as indestructible (1 Corinthians 13) does prove to be destructible for the damned (Malachi 4). In Hell as person does not have this body. Stripped down in their nature to probably just the spirit, Satan, rebellious angels, and the damned among mankind experience what it is like to be forever out of the presence of God. I don’t care to have a fully relatable experience to this.