Does Purgatory Make God's Judgment More Fair?

On New Year’s Eve I was listening to a radio talk show host, and the discussion turned to the difference between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. The host’s guest, a college president, observed that the Catholic doctrine of purgatory had the advantage of being “more fair.”

His example: think of Ted Bundy, a serial killer, and let’s say he had a death-bed conversion to Christ. He goes to heaven. And then consider a person who lives a good life, but never believes in Jesus. He goes to hell. At least in purgatory Bundy would have to suffer a while before going to heaven.

Why Forgiveness is Frightening

Did you ever think that being forgiven by God would or should induce fear? It seems more likely that being forgiven should make us feel joy, gratitude, humility, or peace.

But I was reading the Psalms the other night and I was surprised by Psalm 130:3-4 (with my emphasis) -

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
That you may be feared.

Three Ways God is For Us, Part One

I’ve been a Christian a really long time – since I was 15 – and yet there are days when I feel alone, as if God has forgotten about me. Maybe you feel that way sometimes, too.

For me, it’s not wise to trust my feelings when I feel this way. Actually trusting one’s feelings isn’t so smart at any time. Our feelings are a barometer for lots of things – what we ate for dinner, illness, the music we’ve been listening to, the mood of others, even our own sin. But our feelings are not a reliable indicator of what’s really true.

So as a Christian I’m better off to come to the Scriptures to determine what’s true. If I feel God has somehow forgotten about me, it’s just not true. He hasn’t. And His attention to my life is written all over the Bible, practically on every page.

For example, the eighth chapter of the book of Romans. I’ve looked into Romans 8 twice in two recent series of posts, and I’d like to do another short series, based on the question Paul asks in Romans 8:31: What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 

Now to be honest, it might feel like plenty of things are “against us.” Satan, evil people, a bad economy, even our own sin nature. But the point of the question is, if the God of heaven is on our side, committed to our good, then how can anything or anybody win? How can they be against us successfully? The answer is, they can’t!

The first way we know God is for us is An Unthinkable Sacrifice - He gave up His own Son. He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32 

The sacrifice of Jesus is described two ways – negatively, what the Father did not do: “He did not spare his own Son.” And positively, what He did do: “but gave him up for us all.”

How Is Christ's Atonement Fair?

At the heart of our faith is the atoning death of Jesus. He said His mission on this planet was to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). For us sinners, the stakes could not be higher. God’s word says unredeemed souls will suffer in hell. Forever.

But have you ever wondered how Christ’s atonement for sins could be fair? How can the death of one man be a just substitute for the sins of a multitude of people throughout time? And how is it that Jesus suffered for only hours on the cross, when without Christ, the sinner is punished endlessly? How can this be fair?

The truth that emerges from these questions reaffirms our love and admiration for our Savior: His life is so worthy, so valuable, that His suffering on the cross was more than enough to pay the penalty for the sins of all God’s people throughout time. He is not just a good man, He is the God-man.

Divine justice is fully satisfied by Christ's sacrifice. The reason is not that the Father is a “pushover,” as if He is willing to accept a symbolic payment--a few hours on the cross by His Son. No, the reason God’s justice is fully satisfied is that the suffering of Jesus is infinitely precious. That's why Jesus could say It is finished (John 19:30) after His hours on the cross. That's the amount of time it took for the substitutionary atonement of the perfect God-man to be complete. 
 

A single drop of Christ's blood is more precious than the sacrifice of a million martyrs. A single second of His suffering carries with it more righteousness than the religious efforts of all of humanity for a hundred centuries.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1) because Jesus completely and finally turned away God’s wrath. We who are “in Him” are granted eternal favor because the impact of His offering can never be undone. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified (Hebrews 10:14).

It's no wonder that we think of the Savior as precious beyond words to explain. No wonder that He is described as the pearl of great price, whose overwhelming worth and beauty so captured the one who found it that he sold all he had to obtain it (Matthew 13:46).