Mercy -- and Purgatory?

 

I can’t read the story without shaking my head in dismay. In short order David trampled on at least three of the Ten Commandments. He coveted another man’s wife, committed adultery with her, and murdered her husband to cover up his sin. You can read the story in 2 Samuel 11.

But the most amazing thing about that whole sordid and murderous affair occurs in the next chapter. When God sent Nathan the prophet to denounce David for what he’d done, David repented, and Nathan told him: “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.” (2 Samuel 12:13)

Coveting. Adultery. Murder. Crimes for which there was no acceptable sacrifice under Mosaic Law – yet the merciful God totally, thoroughly, completely forgave the penitent sinner. David would later write the 32nd psalm as a testament to God's unfathomable mercy:

"How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity . . . I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin.” (Psalm 32:1-2a, 5)

Yes, during the rest of David’s earthly life he suffered what might be called God's ‘temporal’ or ‘earthly’ punishment for his sins. And God tells him the reason for the impending punishment: “Because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.” (2 Samuel 12:14

Indeed, the apostle Paul picks up this same idea in his letter to the Christians at Rome: “You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, just as it is written.” (Romans 2:21-24)

And so, because David’s sin gave the Lord’s enemies reasons to mock God, the child born from his adulterous union with Bathsheba died, and God later raised up terrible troubles and divisions within his own family.

But the critical message here for you and me goes back to what God told David through the prophet Nathan: “God has taken away your sin.” And who has the temerity, the impudence to think David still had to pay for his sins after death?

And now the application:

Take a moment to think of the absolute worst sin you have ever committed in your life. Take some moments to go back in your memory to the worst sin you’ve ever committed.

Did you repent before God for what you’d done? Do you even to this day feel grief and deep regret over it? Then listen to what God says to you through His apostle: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

The Greek word John used in this text for ‘forgiveness’ means God treats the confessed sin AS IF IT HAD NEVER BEEN COMMITTED. The Greek word used for ‘cleanse’ means to be purified and SET FREE from the guilt of sin.

Yes, we – as David did – might have to pay a penalty IN THIS LIFE for our sin, but who dares to call God a liar when He tells us He treats our confessed sins on the other side of the grave as if we’d never committed them? Why does anyone doubt God's inviolable promise to set the penitent forever free from the punishment in the next life for the guilt of his or her sin?

Think again of the worst of your sin. Your absolute worst.

If you repented to God for that sin, then you have no Biblically-sound reason to fear any punishment or cleansing of that sin in that place some call ‘Purgatory’ after you die.

Yes, God's mercy and forgiveness is unfathomable. But His mercy and forgiveness is absolutely reliable.