Purgatory

[Guest Anonymous]

I know that purgatory purifies us b4 heaven... that its not like a 2nd chance or anythin... but in the prophet malachi, or micah, doesn't God say that he doesn't remember our sins? How do y'all square that with purgeetory?

[Laudate_Dominum]

[quote name='Anonymous' date='Jul 9 2005, 11:26 PM']I know that purgatory purifies us b4 heaven... that its not like a 2nd chance or anythin... but in the prophet malachi, or micah, doesn't God say that he doesn't remember our sins? How do y'all square that with purgeetory?
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God is omniscient or all-knowing; so to say God literally forgets anything is absurd. Saying God remembers not our sins is an expression. It means that He has forgiven our sins and it will be as though the sin did happen in His eyes. His mercy is infinite afterall.

And purgatory is not punishment in the same way as damnation or hell is. It may be better to think of purgatory as the journey to heaven, the home stretch. When God forgives our sins in this life, while God might have 'forgotten' our sins, there may still be effects of sin that we must suffer. The consequences of our actions as it were. For example if I were to fornicate and then repent, God might forgive me, but if I had contracted an STD God is not bound to miraculously cure me in order to prove His mercy. I've already been given infinitely more than I am worthy of. And the effects of sin are ultimately for our own good.
Anyway, purgatory is a cleansing of our wounds (which can be painful), the temporal effects of the sins of our lives which must be purged as in a fire. For example, I may be in a state of grace, but I probably still have many attachments to sin and faults (as a result of my past sinful acts), and before I can actually be in heaven, and the Presence of God in Glory, my soul must be loosed from these bonds, healed from these wounds, and let go of these attachments. In my experience, this always involves spiritual (and sometimes physical) suffering. But in purgatory this is a sweet suffering, because you are already heaven-bound. You are sort in the air-lock of heaven, temporarily quarantined as it were; but the sweetness of heaven is already on your lips.

I hope this helps. God bless you.