We are saved by God's grace (Eph. 2:5). It is not earned, but a free gift merited by Christ's sacrifice (Eph. 1:6-8, Rom. 3:24). We receive grace through faith; not through our own works (Eph. 2:9), nor through the legalistic works-righteousness of the Mosaic Law (Rom. 3:28). But true saving faith is more than mere intellectual assent to Gospel facts. God in His love makes us co-workers in our own salvation (1 Cor. 3:9), and our faith must be lived, by the strength of God's free grace, in obedience (Mt. 7:21, Rom. 1:5, 16:26) and love (1 Cor. 13:2, Matt 25:31-46, Gal. 5:6). Otherwise it is dead faith which cannot justify us (Jas. 2:14-26). When we

We are called to be perfect as God is perfect (Mt. 5:48), to imitate Jesus' perfect sacrificial love (Eph. 5:1-2), to strive "for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord." (Heb. 12:14). Only by giving ourselves completely to God and fully opening ourselves to His grace can the work of Christ flow through us unhindered and raise us to this perfect holiness. There is nothing we can do on our own to reach this perfection. We are dependent entirely on God. Yet virtually all of us have fallen short of opening ourselves fully to God's grace so that Christ can reproduce his work in us. Virtually all of us have fallen short of this perfect holiness. Does this mean that we be denied our heavenly inheritance for failing to obey and love with the perfection that Christ did? No, for not all sin is mortal (1 Jn. 5:17), and when we die as adopted children in God's holy family, repentant of any mortal sin which would disinherit us, we're assured that we will receive our heavenly homecoming. But not in our imperfect state. Our deeds follow us to heaven (Rev. 14:13), "but nothing unclean shall enter it" (Rev. 21:27). Before we enter heaven, God's free grace must loosen us from every last vestige of sin and worldly attachment that kept us from perfection. All remaining love of self must be transformed into love of God. God has made perfect the spirits of the just in heaven (Heb. 12:23). How? Through purgatory, the final application of Christ's loving and totally sufficient work of redemption on the cross. Note that purgatory is not a second chance for the unjustified. If somebody dies without God's saving grace in their soul, they go to hell, not purgatory.

Thus St. Paul notes that God will test, with fire, the works of the just (1 Cor. 3:13). Our pure works (which are really Christ's own work in us, symbolized by gold, silver, and gems) will withstand the fire and will be rewarded (1 Cor. 3:14), but our impure works (i.e., sin and earthly attachments, symbolized by wood, hay, and straw) will be burned away. As they are burned away, we "will suffer loss, yet will be saved, as only men are saved by passing through fire" (1 Cor. 3:15). Purgatory is this state of loving cleansing, this temporary suffering, this firey and purifying grace, this final phase of our sanctification to which Paul refers. As the Lord said, "I will bring the one third through fire, and I will refine them as silver is refined, and I will test them as gold is tes

Some common words found in the essay are:
St Paul, Lord Heb, Gospel God, Lord's Prayer, God God, Holy Spirit, Church Lk, God Spirit, God Seraphim, Pentecost Acts, 1 cor, god's grace, god's free, free grace, christ's own, god's free grace, consuming fire, virtually fallen short, fire 1, sin earthly, love god, forgiveness world, fire 1 cor, merited christ's sacrifice, sin earthly attachments,
Approximate Word count = 1648
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)