Jesus is the One who Purifies Us
Some people are taught that in order to go straight to Heaven you have to
merit Heaven and do penance, rituals and prayers etc. It isn't for love of God
that you do these things, but instead when that happens it is trying to
manipulate God and the action is for selfish reasons and not trying to please
God.
There is no way to the Father except through Jesus Christ as seen in the
following passage
John 14:6 "Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth
and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me."
NIV
People have been scared of the term" the fires of purification" and it has been
distorted. What does the word purification mean? It means to be made perfect by
the fire of love which is the Holy Spirit that transforms us into a new
creation. There is nothing to fear because it is Jesus who purifies us.
When a room is dirty, the more you clean it, the more you see imperfections in
it that you hadn't noticed before when you didn't have time to do a good job,
well it is the same with us. The more that Jesus casts a light on our sins, the
more we discover sins we weren't aware of. Then Jesus purifies us of them by
leading us to repentance and a turning away from sin. The more you love Jesus,
the more you don't want to hurt Him and He helps you to become Holier and
Holier.
Some people believe that when you die you don't go straight to Heaven but go to
a waiting room where you are separated from God, and where you have to make
yourself perfect. How can you make yourself perfect when you are an imperfect
human being due to sin, and don't know how to become perfect on your own? The
only perfect one is Jesus. On your own without His help it is impossible to
become perfect.
See the verse which shows that it is Jesus who purifies.
Hebrews 1:3 "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his
being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided
purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven."
NIV
When we are baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire, we become purified with the
fire of God's love as in the following scripture passage:
Matthew 3:11 "I indeed baptize you in (with) water because of repentance that is, because of
your changing your minds for the better, heartily amending your ways, with
abhorrence of your past sins. But He Who is coming after me is mightier than I,
Whose sandals I am not worthy or fit to take off or carry; He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit and with fire." AMP
It is clear that when we belong to Jesus, He prepares a room for us and comes to
take us where He is, as seen in John 14:1-4
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you
that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a
place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be
where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."
NIV
If Jesus said that He is going to prepare a room for us, then He tells the
truth. It is a fact: "nothing can separate us from God's love." If that is the
case; then how can you be alone in a waiting room?
See the following Bible verse: Romans 8:38-39
"For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor
angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to
come, nor powers, Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
AMP
If they are told that they will be alone in a waiting room in order to purify
themselves and where they will suffer, how is that possible when human beings
are sinners, and it is only Jesus who is perfect and who purifies us, for He
took our punishment and sins upon the cross and He is the only one who holds the
keys of death and Hades. Look at the passage and see who holds the keys of death
and Hades. See how only Jesus was worthy to open the seals.
Revelation 5:1-3 "Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing
on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming
in a loud voice, Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll? But
no-one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even
look inside it. I wept and wept because no-one was found who was worthy to open
the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, Do not weep! See,
the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to
open the scroll and its seven seals."
See how we can't depend on human traditions to be perfect as seen in scripture,
but Jesus is the only one that saves. Salvation is by no other way than Jesus.
Colossians 2:8 "See to it that no-one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,
which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather
than on Christ." NIV
It is clear that when we belong to Jesus, He prepares a room for us and comes to
take us where He is, as seen in John 14:1-4 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you
that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a
place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be
where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."
NIV
If Jesus said that He is going to prepare a room for us, then He tells the
truth. It is a fact: "nothing can separate us from God's love." If that is the
case; then how can you be alone in a waiting room?
See the following Bible verse: Romans 8:38-39
"For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor
angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to
come, nor powers, Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
AMP
If they are told that they will be alone in a waiting room in order to purify
themselves and where they will suffer, how is that possible when human beings
are sinners, and it is only Jesus who is perfect and who purifies us, for He
took our punishment and sins upon the cross and He is the only one who holds the
keys of death and Hades. Look at the passage and see who holds the keys of death
and Hades.
See how only Jesus was worthy to open the seals. Revelation 5:
1-5 "Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing
on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, Who is worthy to break the
seals and open the scroll? But no-one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or
even look inside it. I wept and wept because no-one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or
look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of
Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its
seven seals." NIV
See how we can't depend on human traditions to be perfect as seen in
Scriptures,
but Jesus is the only one that saves. Salvation is by no other way than Jesus.
Colossians 2:8 "See to it that no-one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,
which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather
than on Christ." NIV
The following story in the scripture passage is very moving. It shows that what
you need do to be forgiven is to truly repent of your sins, and turn to Jesus,
and to confess your sins with a sincere heart. As a result, the slate is wiped
clean by the Lord. Then you need to have a turning away from whatever is wrong
in your life, and you need to refuse to compromise with all that isn't of God,
and to live each day as if it was your last day. If you compromise then you
don't truly belong to the Lord. Jesus doesn't want people who are lukewarm
otherwise He will spit them out. Jesus wants people to worship and adore Him.
See how God is merciful in the following passage and how He hugs the prodigal
son, kisses him and prepares a feast for him (See Luke 15:11-32)
It is very sad to see how so many Christians pass round chain letters because
they are scared of curses and they think that if they do something good like the
chain letter says, then they think that they can manipulate God rather than
believe that they are protected and purified by Jesus.
If you are passed a chain letter don't do it out of fear or obligation, but take
a stance as we did. We returned the e-mail to sender with the following message:
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ
We don't believe that you also should do something to get something back in
return like blessings and good deeds. Instead we believe that you do an action
because you love God, and want to please Him, and you don't do it out of fear
because fear and manipulation do not come from God.
In the name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit
we bind that chainletter and hand it over to Jesus to put on your cross and
break it.
We ask you to cover us with your Precious Blood Jesus and protect us.
I would urge anyone who reads this to have a personal, intimate relationship
with Jesus and to read especially the Gospels to find out who Jesus really is,
and that they never have to fear threats from anyone because Jesus will always
protect those who love Him and belong to Him and defend Him.
We believe in a God who is infinitely loving, as seen in the following passages.
Psalm 145:8
Romans 8
We have nothing to fear, but stand up for our God when we see others leading people
astray. One day Jesus will call us friend in front of His Father in Heaven if we
do so, but most important is that when we defend God in a world who doesn't know
Him, we make Him happy.
God Bless you.
Marie-Hélène and Dominic Bradshaw
dominic.bradshaw@orange.fr