There Is No Biblical Evidence That Purgatory Is Real

10/26/2018 8 Comments

The fallacy that is purgatory

2 TIMOTHY 3:16 (ASV) 
Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness.

All Scriptures inspired of God are profitable for:

• Teaching
• Reproof
• Correction
• Instruction

These are the main concerns of every Scripture inspired of God! History wise, Scriptures teach, reprove, correct and instruct in righteousness.

The long history of the Israelites as a people teaches every generation thereafter with correction, reproof and instruction.

1 CORINTHIANS 10:6, 11
6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
11 Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Prophecy wise, all Scriptures inspired of God, convey the same thoughts and intent.
DEUTERONOMY 28:47-48
47 Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;
48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.

JEREMIAH 25:11 
And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

All matters of faith must be learned from the inspired Scriptures, no more, no less!

1 CORINTHIANS 4:6 (Revised Standard Version) 
I have applied all this to myself and Apol’los for your benefit, brethren, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.

“…that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written…” 

Why not go beyond?

Because they were written as per commanded by the Lord.

1 CORINTHIANS 14:37
If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

REVELATION 21:5
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

Any article or any matter of faith not written in the Scriptures should not be accepted by a prudent servant of God.

GALATIANS 1:8 
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

Beliefs not written in the Scriptures come from satan!

2 CORINTHIANS 11:3-4, 13-15
3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Teachings coming from satan through his ministers are camouflaged to make it appear as though they were of God!

Alleging that the doctrine of purgatory is in the Latin Bible is a clear manifestation of doctrinal bankruptcy! It’s clear that it is not in the Hebrew and Greek Bible, the original languages used in the writing of the sacred Scriptures! And to claim that the Bible is a book owned by the Catholic Church, is another blatant stupid claim. The official name of the Catholic Church which was only formulated in the late 19th century is, “The Holy Roman Catholic Apostolic Church”.


Why was the original Bible not written in the language of Rome but instead in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic which were never the official language of the Roman Catholic Church? The answer is inevitable: the Bible is not a book owned and written by Roman Catholics! It will be a pity to all Bible-believing people if Roman Catholics were the ones who wrote it!

Sins are purged not in the afterlife but here on earth!

The word used by Paul in his writing to the Hebrews, in the Greek Scriptures is καθαρισμός.

HEBREWS 1:3 
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

καθαρισμός

katharismos (kath-ar-is-mos’) 

From G2511; a washing off, that is, (ceremonially) ablution, (morally) expiation: – cleansing, + purge, purification, (-fying). 

The Hebrew synonym (because he was writing to the Hebrews) is כּפר 

kâphar (kaw-far’)

primitive root; to cover (specifically with bitumen); figuratively to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel: – appease, make (an) atonement, cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pacify, pardon, to pitch, purge (away), put off, (make) reconcile (-liation). 

* (Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries, Dictionaries of Hebrew and Greek Words taken from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance by James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D., 1890.)

Whether in Hebrew or in Greek, the phrase, purge our sins, translated in Latin as “purgationem peccatorum” means an act of atonement, the cleansing or ablution of sins, not a place which the Catholics were made to believe as “purgatory”.

HEBREWS 1:3 
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Before sitting on the right hand of the Majesty on High, “when He had by himself purged our sins,” means, that the purging was done while He was still on earth.

The earth is our home in this age, and the world to come will be our home in eternity.

Our home in this present age is:

THE ACTS 17:26 
And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

Our home in eternity will be:

JOHN 14:1-3
1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

REVELATION 21:1-2
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Our earth or our home in this present age is the right place for the purging of our sins. This is the very reason why He came to this earth!

MATTHEW 1:21 
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

How did He purge the sins of His people? By offering His body as a ransom for our sins.

HEBREWS 10:12 
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God;

HEBREWS 10:10 
By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Being baptized as the Lord Jesus commanded is the way for us to be covered by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus.

THE ACTS 2:38 
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

THE ROMANS 6:4, 6
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

The purging of our sins must be done in this life on earth for us to be prepared to enter the abode of God and the Lord Jesus.

ECCLESIASTES 9:10 
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

REVELATION 21:22, 27
22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Souls of God’s servants rest in God’s domain and are not being purged in purgatory!

REVELATION 6:9-11
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

Will there be a stopover in purgatory? NONE! Why? Because there is no purgatory!

8 Comments:

Easily Angered? Let God Intervene In Your Heart

10/20/2018 26 Comments

Biblical Advice for the Easily Angered

Bro. Eli, 

I would like to ask how I can eliminate my attitude of being so furious and angry immediately whenever I encounter some difficulties. Kindly help me, I know my actions are not acceptable but I can’t help it since I was a child. 

From: Restlyn 

Email: Angeleight_5@yahoo.com

Dear Restlyn,

No man can attain renewal by himself alone.

JEREMIAH 10:23 
O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.

You will need the intervention of the Lord to be renewed from evil things you are accustomed to do.

JEREMIAH 13:23 
Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

By himself, a black Ethiopian can not change the natural color of his or her skin, nor can a leopard remove its spot. It is only through God’s power that a person can attain renewal.

PROVERBS 16:9 
A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.

Pray for God’s guidance and power to intervene in your person, especially in your heart. It is divinely possible.

EZEKIEL 36:26 
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

Enrich your heart with unfeigned love and hatred and anger will be gone away.

PROVERBS 22:24-25
24 Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:
25 Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.

Follow Christ and you will be renewed.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:17 
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

May God be merciful on you!

26 Comments:

Was Peter Really the Rock?

10/13/2018 19 Comments

Peter was no Catholic Pope

This has been the topic of so many discussions in the long history of the Catholic Church. The authorities of the Catholic Church from the pope to the clergy claim that they derived their power from the Apostle Peter, allegedly the first pope and the successor of Christ in the overall administration of the Christian Church. They based their claim on what is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew.

MATTHEW 16:18-19 (Douay-Rheims Version)
18 And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give to thee the keys of the bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.

Their claim and explanation about these verses is printed hereunder from the Modern Catholic Dictionary.

The claim that Peter was the first pope and the rock whereupon the church was built is erroneous and can not be substantiated, either by history or by the Bible. The word pope was first used by an alleged saint, Saint Ennodius, in the year 521, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia. (Photocopied below) 


And also, from the Modern Catholic Dictionary, it states:


How can Peter be a pope when such title was first used 400 years after the death of Peter?

Biblically, Peter can not be a pope! It was prohibited by Christ to the original twelve disciples to be called ‘rabbi’ or teacher because their only teacher was Jesus Christ.

MATTHEW 23:8 
But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren.

They were also forbidden to address anybody on earth their father because, religiously speaking, they have only one Father, which is the Father in heaven.

MATTHEW 23:9 
And call none your father upon earth; for one is your father, who is in heaven.

Peter would definitely not allow anybody to call him pope because that word means Father, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia cited afore.

So, we can safely conclude that Peter did not ever hold the position of papacy, biblically and historically, according to the Bible, and to official documents from the Catholic Church itself.

But was he the rock upon which the Church was built?

Peter, an Apostle first to be called, is part of the Church.

1 CORINTHIANS 12:28 
And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

He is not the rock or the foundation, but was only among those who were founded upon the real rock or ‘petra’, or foundation.

πέτρα

petra

pet’-ra

Feminine of the same as G4074; a (mass of) rock (literally or figuratively): – rock.

Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries

Dictionaries of Hebrew and Greek Words taken from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance by James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D., 1890.

Note that the Church was founded on a ‘petra’ — in the feminine gender, and not on a ‘petros’ (a stone), the name ascribed to Peter.

JOHN 1:42 
And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

It was not only Peter that was called a stone, because Peter himself called the members of the first century Church as “lively stones.”

1 PETER 2:5 
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Members of the first century Church were called by Peter as ‘lively stones’ or ‘lithos’ in the original Greek tongue.

λίθος

lithos

Thayer Definition:

1) a stone

1a) of small stones

1b) of building stones

1c) metaphorically of Christ

Peter, the other apostles, and the members, altogether formed the edifice founded on the rock or ‘petra’.

MATTHEW 16:18 
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The rock mentioned is ‘petra’ and not ‘petros’.

EPHESIANS 2:20 
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone…

Note that the apostles (including Peter) and prophets are built upon the foundation (they are not the foundation); the chief cornerstone is Jesus Christ our Lord.

Is there anybody else qualified to be the foundation of the true Church in the Bible?

1 CORINTHIANS 3:11 
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Anybody who will build a church, and make Peter or any other man its foundation is rejecting Christ, and is building it in vain. Peter said:

ACTS 4:10-12 (Douay-Rheims Version)
10 Be it known to you all and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God hath raised from the dead, even by him, this man standeth here before you, whole.
11 This is the stone which was rejected by you the builders, which is become the head of the corner.
12 Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved.

The house or the building founded or built upon the ‘petra’ or the foundation rock (which is Christ), is the Church of God.

1 TIMOTHY 3:15 
But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

God built it upon Christ — the real foundation.

HEBREWS 3:4 
For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.

PSALMS 127:1 
Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

To Kay, I hope you will consider these things in your search for the truth.

God Bless.

19 Comments:

An Epoch of Fraud and Deceit

10/04/2018 16 Comments

Attain salvation in times of fraud and deceit

Whenever I hear somebody speaking in the name of God (regardless of whichever god he speaks of), my attention will surely be captured; all ears and with gusto, I will listen to him meticulously. This has been my attitude since I got hold of the Bible.

1 JOHN 4:1
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

The Bible also pushed me to be investigative of other books used as religious textbooks of different religious groups that now exist.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:21-22
21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.

I have traveled to different places, I have come across heaps of documents; and was forced to spend time studying a little bit of science, history, culture, and traditions of the world’s great religions. In all these, there is that strange feeling in me which I do not understand. While I am reading a particular religious book, which I wanted to digest, there is that feeling of boredom which I never experience in reading the Bible. Nevertheless, my search for truth and justice obliges me to do so.

HEBREWS 10:36, 38
36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise…
38 …Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

God is not pleased with anyone who started a good work, but drew back. Wisdom and understanding are promised to anyone who does the pleasure of the Lord.

ECCLESIASTES 2:26 (RSV)
For to the man who pleases him God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and heaping, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.


From left to right: Brother Eliseo Soriano, with the former President of the Republic of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, when the latter visited one of the Thanksgiving ceremonies of the Members of the Church of God, International or MCGI (which is presided by Bro. Eli) in Apalit, Pampanga to talk to its hundreds of thousands members. Beside GMA is MCGI’s Vice-Presiding Minister and host of the newest and most talked about morning show “Good Morning Kuya”, Brother Daniel Razon. Beside him is Presidential Adviser for Religious Affairs, Mr. Dodi Limcauco. 


Brother Eliseo Soriano shaking hands with Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. In the middle is the former President of the Republic of the Philippines, Joseph Ejercito Estrada. This photo was taken when the two politicians visited Brother Eli to ask for his support for the then upcoming elections. 

In the performance of my duty, I have met almost all kinds of people — believers and non-believers. I have felt the love and compassion of Godly people, and the hatred of the unbelieving. I had been stoned so many times. I had been beaten by five goons after a public debate. I had been held in prison for ten hours for a charge I am totally innocent of (God is my witness). I had escaped a mob by traveling at the speed of 180 km/hr to save my comrades and myself from their cruelty. I was reminded of the fate of the Apostle Paul.

2 CORINTHIANS 11:25
Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep…

In my preaching sessions, I got the privilege to meet the rich, the educated, the poor, and the illiterate, and even the sick (mentally and physically).

1 CORINTHIANS 9:20-22
20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.
22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

Some ask for prayers and many for healing; but I am not like Benny Hinn, Jimmy Swaggart, Morris Cerullo, Jim Bakker, and the likes, that promise healing but only choose the kind of people they are going to heal. I, oftentimes, advise the sick to pray, turn to spiritual and natural (fasting and nutritional healing) method; and to use homeopathic and alternative therapies, even, sometimes, urine therapy. I seldom recommend them to see conventional doctors using conventional medicine.

From all these experiences, as well as from those people I had listened to, and the books I had read, I realized that fraud and deceit abound everywhere mostly from preachers, priests, ministers, lawyers, judges, magistrates, and even medical doctors. This is what I have discovered from the truth in the Bible.

REVELATION 12:9
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

JOB 9:24
The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he?

These times we live in is described in the Bible as the end times.

DANIEL 12:4
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

Never in the history of mankind did man see the increase of knowledge in technology and science than what we are witnessing now. We are sure from the reality of what we see that we are living in the end times. A collateral prophecy is unfolding before our very eyes.

DANIEL 12:9-10
9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

Wickedness will surely abound at the end times, and will grow worse!

2 TIMOTHY 3:13
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Imagine, a deceiver being deceived! The prophecy is concise. The word of God tells us the truth. It will reveal to us the camouflaged lies, deceit and fraud in this particular epoch of human history.

My curious readers may ask me: Fraud? Deceit? Even with medical doctors and judges?

These men are educated men. Men of wisdom and knowledge. Must their wisdom be doubted?

1 CORINTHIANS 2:6-8
6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to naught:
7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

The Bible tells us so!

Deceit and fraud is not a thing of make believe among lawyers, judges and magistrates!

I invite you to travel with me in time with all the people I had met and with all the books I had read on my next article and decide for yourself if my conclusion is true.

In Christ,

Bro. Eli Soriano

16 Comments: