Question: Loida asks – My sister once asked me that if I don’t believe in purgatory, where would people go when they die? And if we receive our judgment whether to go to heaven or hell upon our demise, what is the purpose of Jesus’ second coming? Would he judge the dead and throw them back to hell a second time?

Answer: Hi Loida! Thanks for your question. The Bible talks about Heaven more than 100 times, and Hell more than 40 times, but never does it mention Purgatory even once. Instead, in Hebrews 9:27, it says, “It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.” What this verse means is that after physical death, men are judged. The judgment will be in 2 “phases” – an initial judgment and a final judgment.

The 1st judgment will immediately determine our destination. The Bible talks about an intermediate Heaven and Hell. Both places are pretty close to the eternal Heaven and Hell which are the ultimate destinations of mankind, depending on their response to Jesus. The account of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 gives us an idea of these intermediate places.

From this account, we learn at least 3 things: (1) there are only 2 destinations: intermediate Hell (a place of torment) and intermediate Heaven (Abraham’s Side – a place of comfort); (2) both Lazarus and the rich man are fully aware of their situation, both are fully conscious, feeling the torment or comfort; and (3) there is a great and fixed chasm between the 2 destinations so that one cannot move from one place to another. Such is the finality of these destinations. It is nothing like the concept of purgatory where people supposedly have another chance to gain entrance to heaven through the intercession and/or good works of people on earth.

Let me emphasize that the 1st judgment will be a judgment of faith, not works. “This initial judgment depends NOT on our works but on our faith. It is NOT about what we’ve done during our lives but about what Christ has done for us. If we have accepted Christ’s atoning death for us, then when God judges us after we die, He sees His Son’s sacrifice for us, not our sin. Salvation is a free gift, to which we can contribute absolutely nothing.” (Randy Alcorn, “Heaven” p 47. Do also review some verses on salvation/justification: Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 3:20-28)

The 2nd and final judgment will be a judgment of works. “Both believers and unbelievers face a final judgment. The Bible indicates that all believers will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ to give an account of their lives (Rom 14:10-12, 2 Cor 5:10)… this is a judgment of works, not of faith (1 Cor 3:13-14). Our works DO NOT affect our salvation, but they do affect our rewards. Rewards are about our work for God, empowered by His Spirit. Rewards are condition, dependent on our faithfulness (1 Tim 2:12, Rev 2:26-28; 3:21)… Unbelievers face a final judgment of works as well. The Bible tells us it will come at the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev 20:11 -13), at the end of the old Earth and just before the beginning of the New Earth.” (Randy Alcorn, “Heaven”, p 47)

As regards to your other related question, “What is the purpose of Jesus’ 2nd coming?”… The purpose of Jesus’ 2nd coming is to establish His reign on earth. “At the 1st coming, Christ was blasphemed, denied, betrayed; at His 2nd coming, every knee will bow, acknowledging Him as King of kings and Lord of Lord.” (J. Oswald Sanders, “Just Before Heaven”, p10)

These things might be too much for your sister to understand now (honestly, I too, have limited knowledge on this). There are some things in the Bible that are not (or not yet) very clear. For such things, God reminds me of Deuteronomy 29:29 – “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law”. In other words, let us not worry about the things we don’t understand; let’s worry about the things we understand and do not deal with. What the Bible has made clear is that our choice of eternal destination (which is by faith alone) is determined during our life on earth – there will be no purgatory; hence, no 2nd chance after death. As an additional information purgatory was defined as a dogma only in AD 1439. The first century Christians did not believe in its existence. Christ never taught about it. I hope your sister will make the right decision soon. God bless you and your sister!–Avi Gan

Question: Jan writes in response to the article “The Christian Response to the Gay Today Forum”: God bless this kind of ministry. I am encouraged by your passion in reaching out to them. I have some concern related to this. Every first Saturday of December, there’s a LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender) parade in Malate area, what should Christian churches do with this? Should a church just keep silent and watch them?

Answer: With regard to the question raised about whether our church should respond to the gay parade, I personally believe that meeting these people there head-on and trying to stop their parade may just produce negative results. Some kind of confrontation may just make them more adamant and defiant about exercising their “rights” to engage in this sinful bondage/lifestyle.

The approach we have been taking is to focus on God’s love and the presentation of the gospel, in line with CCF’s overall thrust. What we can do is to send some people to these parades and try to invite select individuals into our programs and evangelistic seminars. We invite people, like Jan, to get involved. If anyone out there has a burden for these “deceived” souls to make time and become active and to join us in our activities to be able to influence a greater number of people. At the moment, we are understaffed and need to have more people join us in our ministry. Thanks very much! (Alberto Rodriguez)

Question: Rovicor wants to know how to answer a person who asks why we interpret the Bible literally. Specifically, the prohibition on the use of carved images in the Ten Commandments.

Answer: The key to understanding the Bible is context. Context simply means background. There are 2 general kinds of contexts: 1.) Historical context which refers to the background of the passage in terms of the author, audience, occasion, purpose, geography and culture and 2.) Literary context which looks at the specific GENRE or the type of writing of a particular Bible passage. One of the literary genres of the Bible is the historical narrative. Both the Exodus and Deuteronomy, where the 10 Commandments can be found are good examples of this. These historical narratives are stories that not only teach lessons but also chronicle the events that happened during this very critical and defining era in the life of the nation of Israel to serve as a testament for the future generations (See Exodus 13:14; Deut. 6:20-25). They are not allegories with details that  have hidden symbols or meanings.
Within the Exodus and Deuteronomy accounts, you will find the Ten Commandments which is a covenant and written in a format and standard that is used for covenant writing during those times in the Ancient Near East. Covenants and contracts just like most legal documents are written in a straightforward style avoiding the use of any figurative language to avoid any misinterpretation.
Both Exodus 20:4 and Deuteronomy 5:8 refer to the same stipulation in God’s covenant with the Jewish nation that they should not worship according to the ways of the pagans during that time. This second commandment clearly forbids the use of images to worship God. Other passages in the Bible lends support to this prohibition (Deuteronomy 27:15; Isaiah 45:9-20; Romans 1:23 & 25) – From Divina Gracia Montague as edited.

Question: Bonger asks if listening to New Age music is dangerous. He also wants to know if “meditation” as practiced by New Agers is similar to the spiritual discipline of silence and solitude?

Answer: Personally I have heard the “New age” music you described (instruments and nature sounds). This is usually the music they play at spas because the nature and soft sounds are very soothing. The ones I’ve heard are purely instrumental, i.e., do not have any lyrics, and because of this I personally think that listening to this does not go against God’s Word. The music is neither suggestive/sensual nor blasphemous (unlike many pop, rock and R&B songs). I am not sure how the “new age” music of this type will promote the beliefs of the new age. It may, however, arouse curiosity and entice the constant listener to “try out” new age since the music is nice and relaxing. It’s remote, but can be a possibility.

On the other hand, the meditation that you talked about is a very serious matter. I have learned about this kind of meditation from a professor in college, where it involves “emptying the mind” and relaxing and allowing “nature” to talk to you in silence. This type of meditation is very dangerous, and this is not the type of silence and solitude that the Bible teaches.

The commands in 1Peter are clear: prepare our minds for action! 1 Peter 1:13 says, “[Be holy] Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Christ Jesus is revealed.”

1 Peter 4:7 says, “The end of all things is near. Therefore, be clear-minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.” — “Clear-minded does not mean “empty-minded.” Clear-minded means knowing what to pray and how to pray.

We are also to “Set our minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:2) Emptying the mind and making it idle opens it to a very dangerous situation which Satan can use to deceive, plant wrong thoughts about God and lead us astray.

The command rather is to fill (or set) our minds with the Word of God, to meditate on His Word. We can do both in solitude (during our alone times with God) and silence (during our daily quiet time). But we can also be in constant communication with God through prayer (even during noisy, busy times!). We can never do this if our minds are blank.

It is therefore not a wonder that Paul adds a “helmet of salvation” to the armor of God. What is the helmet for? It is to guard the head (or the mind) against any attacks of Satan. Helmet of Salvation — which is to remember our salvation through God’s grace — to protect us from any lies Satan might fill our minds with. “Emptying the mind” is therefore not an option. We can’t guard our mind if it is empty, but instead exposing it fully to attacks.

Hope this answers your questions. It is good that you raised these issues because new age beliefs are very “in” right now, and are practiced by many in Hollywood. Many unsuspecting people including some in the faith are being lured into adopting their lifestyle and their values–Jaymee Anne Bernardo

Question: Jonathan M. questioned the appropriateness of using Revelation 3:20 in the presentation of the gospel which according to him seems to be out of context since the original readers of John’s letter to the Laodiceans were already Christians (or it seems that way since they belonged to the local church).

Answer: I think the confusion arises because another NT writer, the Apostle Paul, addresses his readers in the different local churches that he writes to as “saints.” However I believe that, while it was out of diplomacy for Paul in his letters to address the members of a church as “saints”, in reality there exists within the churches he started, elements which are not exactly genuinely saved (e.g. Acts 20:30, Romans 16:17-19, 2 Tim. 4:10).

The Apostle John, on the other hand was less diplomatic to members of the church in his letters to them. A specific example of this is Diotrephes in 3 John 9-11. Other examples can be found in 1 John 3:10, 15; 4:20; 5:2. Therefore, I believe that in the church in Laodicea which was also written by John, he was reflecting the patience of Jesus in inviting the members of the local congregation who have not yet really accepted Jesus.

Likewise in CCF, although Pastor Peter addresses everyone in the Church as Christians, he is also aware that it is quite possible some may have not yet really accepted or received God’s gracious provision of His Son as payment for their sins and are still clinging on to salvation by their own merits. Therefore, the use of Revelation 3:20 for non-Christians is still in keeping with how it was originally written for unconverted church goers.

We are starting a new category of posts so that everyone can benefit from the answers to some of the questions we receive through the website. Our first question is from Bernadette in Florida, USA.

Question: Good day! I just want to know your opinion about the involvement of Rick Warren in the New Age Movement, because I’ve read his book. Please comment on this to enlighten my mind. Thanks & God bless. – Bernadette M.

Answer: Many critics say that Pastor Rick’s actions show he supports the New Age movement, primarily because he works with Catholics, Muslims, Jews, and even homosexuals on humanitarian projects. He even collaborated with alleged New Age supporter Ken Blanchard in leadership conferences like Willow Creek’s Leadership Summit in 2005.

But consider these: (1) He is the pastor of Saddleback, a Bible-based church (Click here to see Saddleback’s statement of faith.).

(2) He clearly says that he is not a supporter of the New Age and has a clear stand on not making compromises for his convictions. Christianity Today Magazine asked him, “But as long as you’re working with groups of other faiths, where do you draw the line?” To this, he replied, “You never compromise your convictions. I’m not a champion of interfaith dialogue. I think most interfaith dialogue is a waste of time, because you just sit in a room and talk. You’re probably not going to convince a Muslim to change his views, and he’s probably not going to convince you to change your views about Christ. I am interested in interfaith projects. Can we work together on issues that apply to humanity like caring for the sick, assisting the poor, educating the next generation, ending corruption, and promoting reconciliation? I don’t have to agree with you and you don’t have to agree with me on everything, but I’m not insisting that you compromise your beliefs.” (Click here for the full interview.)

(3) Furthermore, I don’t see any New Age teaching in his book, “The Purpose Driven Life.” On the contrary, the five purposes he wrote in his book are very biblical (Worship God, Fellowship with Believers, Discipleship, Ministry, and Evangelism).

Pastor Rick’s ways maybe interpreted by some as very New Age, but the truth of the matter is, we all have different views on how we can be in the world but not of the world, on how we can be set apart for the Lord but at the same time impact the world for the Lord. CCF’s attitude about differences is: In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In everything, charity. I believe that in most cases, the how is a non-essential matter.

Here’s an important reminder: let’s be like the Bereans, who kept checking everything with scripture. I think that many things – including Pastor Rick’s “Purpose Driven Life” and even preaching from the CCF pulpit – can be misinterpreted if one does not know what’s written in the Bible. So, I would like to encourage you to keep on reading, studying, and meditating on the Bible; that’s our only sure and full proof against wrong teaching – Avi Gan, CCF (GLC Level 2 Graduate)