Sinfulness Of Man And The Old Teatament:
If we look back into the Old Testament to the book of Jeremiah: Chapter 1 verses 4-5, God speaks to Jeremiah and we read,
"Then the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."
This is God speaking to one of His prophets Jeremiah, and telling Jeremiah that not only did God know him spiritually, but that before he was born, God sanctified Jeremiah so that when Jeremiah came into the world he was already cleansed from sin and made purified and therefore Holy.
This being the case, sinfulness of man, was not the ultimate reason for Jesus death and resurrection, as sanctification for man could have happened any time God so chose it to.
What about the souls of those dead and in the grave before Jesus Crucifixion?
What happened while Jesus was laid in the tomb?
What was the immediate effect of His Crucifixion?
There are many in the Christian belief who would argue and say that there is no "Purgatory", that it is a Roman Catholic belief, with no foundation in Christianity, because there is no scriptural backing for it.
Although the term or name "Purgatory" does not appear in the Bible, this is not exactly true though. If there were not some waiting place for those souls, dead prior to Christ’s crucifixion, be it called Purgatory or Hell, which is a waiting place for the not yet converted, there would be no reason for the following scripture, as we read:
1 Peter: 4: 6
"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."
Since no man alive, is able to go into the bowels of the earth, to talk with those dead, to give a witness about Jesus and His resurrection, and His defeat of death, through his resurrection, and return to life on earth, then we must assume that Jesus Himself accomplished this during the time of his burial and His descending to Hell, otherwise there would be no purpose for this verse to be in the Bible.
This would mean that any person, baby or adult, dead prior to Jesus crucifixion, would be given the choice immediately, to choose to accept Jesus as redeemer or not, and be either raised up to heaven, or left to remain in Hell, awaiting Jesus second return to deal with satan and all of his followers.
The Sinfulness Of Man After The Resurrection Of Christ:
Since we have now witnessed through the scripture in Jeremiah, that man’s sanctification from sin was not a necessity achieved solely through Christ’s crucifixion, that God was and is capable of sanctification at His discretion, we can only assume that Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection was carried out through God’s desire that not even one sole be denied His Grace, and that all should have the opportunity to through repentance, become sanctified and made Holy again in order to enjoy a meaningful and personal and intimate life with Creator God.
Jesus tells Martha, Lazarus sister in: JOHN : 11: 25-26
"I am the Resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die."
Jesus tells His Apostles the only way that man can be received by God the Father: JOHN: 14: 6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me."
We are also reminded by the Apostle Paul in:
1 CORRINTHIANS: 15: 20-22 "But now in Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ, shall all be made alive."
Lastly we read from The Apostle John in:
REVELATION: 20: 12-13 "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and an other book was opened which is THE BOOK OF LIFE, and the dead were judged out of those things, which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged according to their works."
Purgatory or Hell is still the waiting place for all the souls infant or adult who still have not accepted Christ as "The Way" The Redeemer.
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