True. Now once your sins have been forgiven and you are cleansed by the blood of Christ for your sins there would be no need for purgatory.
I agree. This teaching is exactly why many early postulants chose not to receive baptism until they were near death. This is very risky, especially for soldiers and other high risk professions. However, people wanted to appear before God cleansed.
Since that are committed after baptism are those that create consequences.
Who is the reparation owed to? Does God demand reparation for your sins?
Both to God and to the persons injured, sometimes including oneself. God does not always “demand” reparation for sins. But, sometimes there are consequences that result from our sins that we must bear. For example, when David committed adultery and murder with Bathsheba, God required the life of the child. He also told David “now shall the sword never depart from thy house”. This was a temporal punishment for his sin.
They can’t repay unless someone steps in makes the payment.
This is an imposition of the modern American notion of jail. However, historically, those in debtors prison were on work detail until they set aside their payment.
Is it not also true that purgatory is about “cleansing” and not reparation?
Do you imagine that the effects of our sins do not dirty us?
It could mean that Jesus is teaching that its aburd to think you would be able to and it is of the utmost importance we deal with this in this world while there is time. In the next it will be to late.
I think this is also true, but given the way debtors prison worked in His day, that is not all He wanted to say.
If your neighbor forgave you and did not demand repayment then you have not sinned nor are you obligated to repay.
This is the justification that people use to excuse themselves from bad debt. People are financially irresponsible, then file bankruptsy, and justify themselves because the company to whom they owned $ excused them. However, there are still consequences of this sin. Other consumers and businesses have to pay to make up for the loss incurred by those who do not pay their debt.
Why would you need some kind of penance if your sin has been forgiven and God does not demand reparation?
People and society are still wounded by the wrong.
Who can truly say they can repay God for their sins?
Those who are in Christ! He pays our debt in full, and if we remain in Him, He will stand for us before the father.
This true about our works being tested but this passage is not about sin though. It has nothing to do with making a soul “clean” for heaven.
I can see how you wish it did not. However, ALL the passages about judgement are related to our deeds. Jesus teaches that our actions (what we say and do) flows from our souls. Unclean souls produce evil works, and clean souls produce good fruit.
Nothing unclean can enter heaven, so any uncleanness that we have produced through our words and actions must be cleansed.
Your right about the father in the parable being God. My point in bring this parable up is that purgatory has do with God and not your neighbor.
I agree. If an illustration were made about the neighbor, I would say that the prodigal son needed to make amends with his elder brother, by taking over the work load so he could go on sabbatical.
In the parable of prodigal and various other places in the NT do we find God demanding some kind of reparations from us when we sin? Is there any threat of this for those who placed their trust in Christ Who died for their sins?
You misunderstand the mercy of God, ja4. The opportunity to make amends and reparation is part of God’s grace and healing. It is not a threat, but a blessing!
