Sunday, October 24, 2004
Fw: [catholicACT] post purgatory dialogue
----- Original Message -----
From: Matthew Tan Yew Hock
Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2003 3:25 AM
Subject: Re: [catholicACT] post purgatory dialogue
Dorothy, Matthew and all,
Just to follow-up on the verses quoted by the other Matthew.
Heb 10:10 "And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once for all."
It appears that "we" refer to everyone who has been baptised, as shown in the following verses.
Hebrews 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of [our] faith without wavering; (for he [is] faithful that promised;)
Heb 10:14 "For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified."
However, here the emphasis is the "single offering", that is the "once-for-all" sacrifice, which is also the emphasis of the chapters from Hebrew 7 and 10. "Once-for-all" sacrifice completes the sanctification "for all times". The verse surely cannot be applied to living christians, since none of us is "made perfect" yet. The author is probably referring to the Saints he described in Chapter 11. The OT saints were being "made perfect" as they passed from earthly pilgrimage, through death, and on to heaven. This outcome is mentioned in Hebrew 12:32 as "the spirits of just men made perfect".
Heb 12:32 "and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect," 'Firstborn' are those who are saints; they go directly to heaven. 'Made perfect' are those who needs to undergo purification process of 'purgatory'.
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In addition to,
1 Pet 3:18~20 "18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit; 19 in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water."
we can also mention
1 Peter 4:5 Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.1 Peter 4:6 For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
David Currie's is a good book. Strongly recommended.
I also recommend "Surprise by Truth" series (Vol 1, 2, 3).
As for Martin Luther, why would you like to read his works? Even the Protestants today are not reading his books !!! The information given by Catholic apologists should be sufficient for your purpose, unless you want to be a scholar on Luther.
