10/2020
Daniel (see
HERE)
When it comes to life after death, which would you prefer - purgatory
or reincarnation?
It was during a recent conversation on a very windy sidewalk
that I realized the connections between the two. I believe they are both the product of
man-centered logic and wishful thinking.
Both purgatory and reincarnation are “man-centered” because
the general idea is that our chief purpose in life is to reach a state of
perfection through a man-centered process.
They seem “logical” in that we observe that no one does reach perfection
in this life, therefore we must need extra time to get it right. And they are “wishful thinking” because
although neither are taught in or supported by the Bible, many people wish they
were.
I realized that there is a connection between the very
western idea of purgatory and the very eastern idea of reincarnation as I talked
with Daniel, a former Catholic who once believed in the refining fires of purgatory
but has now adopted beliefs in reincarnation in its place. He talked at length about the process of our character
development to the point where we might achieve god-like perfection.
I wonder if this insistence on our development in character
by either method might often be due to a misunderstanding about the Gospel
message. The biblical Gospel doesn’t just
emphasize that we are forgiven of our sins, which would only leave us with a
blank slate morally. If Christ only
takes away our sins we would be no more righteous than Adam before the fall and
before he experienced any kind of temptation to take a stand against.
No, what is often missing in our Gospel message are the character
development and training that God gives us in this life as children of our
heavenly Father, and the righteousness of Christ that is “imputed” or ascribed
to us as a result of His perfect life lived here on our behalf.
In Hebrews 12:10 we read that “God disciplines us for our
good, in order that we may share in his holiness.” Throughout the New Testament we are
instructed how to grow in godliness to become more and more Christlike in
character. But we are also told we will
never reach that state of perfection in this life, so some sort of purgatory or
second chance might seem necessary.
But Jesus not only died in our place and took the punishment
we deserved for our sins. He also lived
a life of sinless perfection, which includes not only avoiding sinful deeds but
also fulfilling the positive commands of Matthew 22 – to “Love the Lord your
God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as
yourself.”
This is the holy standard of perfection that none of us can
reach, and this is the gift given to us when we are given Christ’s
righteousness through faith in Him rather than trying to depend on our
own. A great exchange is described in 2
Corinthians 5:21 – our sin to Christ, and Christ’s righteousness to us: “For
our sake he made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might
become the righteousness of God”
It’s true, one lifetime isn’t long enough for any of us to
reach God’s standard of perfection, but
then again, neither would be a thousand lifetimes – unless that one lifetime is
the perfect life of Jesus Christ – and that’s the gift of a life he offers to
each of us today.
Thanks, Daniel, for allowing me to record our
conversation. It can be seen on my YouTube
channel. https://youtu.be/8-2deZRk23k
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