Молитва за померлих практикується у християн, які думають, що своїми молитвами можуть змінити кінцевий пункт призначення померлого. And so they pray a prayer for the dead person. But was praying for the souls of the dead practiced by the Church in the New Testament or is it a false doctrine that derived from the carnal human mind? Let’s look at what the Bible says about praying for the dead. When can you pray for the dead, and when can’t you pray for the dead?
When can you pray for the dead?
Чи можна молитися за померлих? The answer is both yes and no. Since there is a spiritual state of death and a natural state of death.
People that are not born-again in Christ live under the authority of the devil and the death in darkness and are dead to God. This state of death is the spiritual state of the old man (Старе творіння).
The old man is alive to the world but dead to God due to his занепалий стан and sins and iniquities.
As long as people live on earth under the authority of the death in the kingdom of darkness, they have the ability to be redeemed from the power of death and be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the spirit from the dead and to become alive to God, вірою і відродженням у Христі
You can pray and must pray for these people, who live on earth but are spiritually dead.
Бо як в Адама всі вмирають, так і в Христі всі оживуть (1 Коринфянам 15:22)
Тому він каже, Прокинься ти, що спиш, і воскреснути з мертвих, and Christ shall give thee light (Ефесян 5:14)
І вас Він оживив, які були мертві через провини та гріхи; Через що в минулі часи ви ходили згідно з ходом цього світу, за словами князя влади повітря, дух, який зараз діє в дітей непослуху: Між якими ми всі вели розмову в минулі часи в пожадливостях нашого тіла, виконання бажань плоті та розуму; і за своєю природою були дітьми гніву, навіть як інші. Але Бог, хто багатий на милосердя, за Його велику любов, якою Він полюбив нас, Навіть коли ми були мертві в гріхах, оживив нас разом з Христом, (благодаттю ви спасенні;) (Ефесян 2:1-5)
That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead (Филип'ян 3:10-11)
Я знаю діла твої, що ти маєш ім'я, що ти живеш, і мистецтво мертве (Одкровення 3:1)
When can’t you pray for the dead?
But it’s too late for people, who died and no longer live on this earth. You can’t pray for the deceased to change their final destination. Therefore the living can’t do anything for people that died and are no longer among us.
There is no turning back and no second change for the unbelievers that passed away and didn’t believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and His redemptive work, and have not repented and are not born again in Christ and have not become a new creation during their lives on earth.
They made a choice to obey and serve sin and death through their flesh and rejected Jesus Christ, Хто є Шлях, правда, і Життя.
They were not willing to die in Christ’s death and to be raised from the dead in Him. But they loved their own lives.
This truth is hard and some people can’t bear this truth. тому, in order to ease the pain of the living, who lost an unbeliever, many lies are told and false doctrines arose throughout the ages that caused them to believe that the living can still pray for the dead and change their final destination.
They believe that their prayers can ensure that the unrepented deceased person and/or the deceased person that attended church and lived in friendship with God but persevered in sin, can still inherit eternal life.
One of these false doctrines is the doctrine of purgatory that derives from the Catholic faith.
What is purgatory?
Purgatory is an intermediate state where the souls of the elect, who physically died and lived in friendship with God, but were not fully purified, will be purified by a cleansing fire. It is a place of purification until they reach the state of holiness, which is needed to enter heaven.
The prayers of the living are supposed to help the souls of the departed and shorten their time of purgatory.
The doctrine of purgatory is based on two scriptures: 1 Коринфянам 3:10-15 і 2 Maccabees 12:4-44.
When we look at 1 Коринфянам 3:10-15, we can conclude that this scripture isn’t about the purification process after death. But it’s about the Day of Judgment, when everyone will be judged according to his or her works on earth.
2 Maccabees 12:4-44 is part of the Apocrypha and is not acknowledged by protestants as the Word of God.
Can you live in friendship with God without being fully purified?
Ні, you can’t be part of the elect and live in friendship with God without being fully sanctified. The only way to God is through Jesus Christ and His blood.
Ісус Христос є Дорога, Істина і Життя. Only by Jesus Christ and His blood and through faith and regeneration in Him, you can be saved and be made righteous and reconciled with God and enter the Kingdom of Heaven and live in union with Him. (Ой. Джон 3:3-6; 3:16, 2 Коринфянам 5:21, Ефесян 2:8-9)
And if you have become a new creation and are reconciled with God and entered the Kingdom of God by faith, каяття, і відродження у Христі, you shall be fully sanctified from all your sins and iniquities and більше не бути грішником.
You shall no longer live in rebellion against God and persevere in sin.
Ти більше не будеш робити діл плоті, since your flesh died in Christ and you have been redeemed from sin and death.
тому, you are no longer a раб гріха. But you shall live in obedience to God and His Word and Truth in His will and do righteous works.
Тому ми поховані з Ним через хрещення в смерть: що подібно до того, як Христос воскрес із мертвих славою Отця, Так само й ми повинні ходити в обновленні життя. Бо якби ми були поєднані подобою Його смерті, ми також будемо подібні до Його воскресіння: Знаючи це, що наш старий з ним розп'ятий, щоб тіло гріха могло бути знищене, що відтепер ми не повинні служити гріху. Бо мертвий визволений від гріха.
Тепер, якщо ми мертві з Христом, ми віримо, що також будемо жити з Ним: Знаючи, що Христос, воскреснувши з мертвих, більше не вмирає; смерть більше не панує над Ним. Бо в цьому Він помер, Він помер для гріха одного разу: але в цьому Він живе, Він живе для Бога. Так само й ви себе вважаєте мертвими для гріха, але живі для Бога через Ісуса Христа, Господа нашого (римляни 6:4-11)
Побачивши, що ви очистили ваші душі в покорі істині через Духа до нелицемірної любові до братів, дивіться, щоб ви любили один одного чистим серцем палко: Будучи знову, не з тісного насіння, але не нетверезо, Словом Божим, що живе і перебуває вічно (1 Петро 1:22-23)
can you be saved through a church membership or your own works?
You can’t be saved and live in friendship with God through a church membership or by attending a church service on a regular basis nor to do ‘good works’.
No single work, that is done out of the flesh is considered good and can make a person righteous. That’s because every carnal work derives from the sinful nature of the старик and possesses a selfish character.
Наприклад, you may feel better by attending a church service and/or by doing ‘good works’ and become puffed up and prideful.
Бо благодаттю ви спасенні через віру; і то не від себе: це дар Божий: Не з робіт, щоб ніхто не хвалився (Ефесян 2:8-9)
Отож, нехай не панує гріх у твоєму смертному тілі, щоб ви слухалися його в його пожадливостях. І не віддавайте членів своїх як знаряддя неправди для гріха: але віддайте себе Богові, як ті, що оживають із мертвих, і ваші члени як знаряддя праведності для Бога (римляни 6:12-13)
You are either saved and cleansed and sanctified by the blood of Jesus from all your sins and iniquities and made righteous and are reconciled with the Father and shall walk after the Spirit in His will doing righteous works or you are not saved and not cleansed from your sins and iniquities and have not been made righteous and are not reconciled with the Father, but you are still the old creation, whereby you shall walk after the flesh in disobedience to God and do the works of the flesh, що є гріхом.
The righteousness and mercy of God
The people that believe in the doctrine of purgatory believe that purgatory shows God’s righteousness and mercy. But the righteousness and mercy of God are revealed in the New Covenant through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Бо так Бог полюбив світ, що Він віддав Свого Єдинородного Сина, щоб кожен, хто вірує в Нього, не загинув, але мати вічне життя (Джон 3:16)
І я буду молитися Отче, і Він дасть вам іншого Утішителя, щоб Він перебував з вами вічно; Навіть Дух істини; кого світ прийняти не може, because it sees Him not, ніхто не знає Його: але ви знаєте Його; бо Він живе з вами, і буде в тобі (Джон 14:16-17)
It is the will of God that everyone be saved and not be lost forever. Therefore God has given His Son and His Spirit. So that every person on earth has been given the ability to become a son of God (як самці, так і самки) and walk as a son of God by faith in Jesus Christ and regeneration in Him.
Кожній людині потрібен Ісус Христос! Without Jesus Christ and without His blood no man can be saved and sanctified from his or her sins and iniquities and be made righteous. (Читайте також: Життя не в тому, щоб знайти себе, Але знайти Ісуса).
Can sins be forgiven after death?
Ні, sins can’t be forgiven after death. Your sins can be forgiven during your life on earth but not after you die.
He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal (Джон 12:25)
Is there purification after death and before the judgment?
Ні, when a person dies it’s over and judgment will follow. If a person has died, there is no way for the unsaved to become saved.
There is no intermediate state. There is no purgatory, where people have the ability to be purified with or without the prayers of the living on earth.
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation (Євреїв 9:27-28)
Тут терпіння святих: ось ті, що дотримуються заповідей Божих, і віра Ісуса (Одкровення 14:12)
В Луки 16:19-31 Jesus told the parable of the poor Lazarus and the rich man, who both belonged to the house of Israel (God’s covenant people).
In this parable, the rich man was not given a second chance. The rich man was not purified, so that he still could go to heaven. Ні, this was the destination of the rich man. This destination was so terrible, that the rich man wanted Lazarus to warn his father and five brothers in order to prevent them from going to the same destination. But the rich man’s request was not granted, since they had Moses and the prophets to whom they had to listen to.
Judgment and the final destination
There is no purgatory, there is no place after death, where people can be purified and be saved. The only places mentioned in the Bible with fire are hell (Аїд) and the eternal lake of fire.
All the people that didn’t belong to Jesus Christ and have not been risen from the dead during their lives on earth and have not died in Him, but belong to the death, they shall see the death and go to hell and stay there until they will be judged. After the judgment will receive the second death and will be cast into the eternal lake of fire.
І я побачив великий білий трон, і Той, Хто сидів на ньому, від лиця якого втекла земля й небо; і не знайшлося їм місця І я бачив мертвих, малий і великий, стояти перед Богом; і книги були розгорнуті: і була відкрита інша книга, which is the Book of life: і мертві були суджені за тим, що написано в книгах, За їхніми працями.
І віддало море мертвих, що були в ньому; а смерть і пекло віддали мертвих, що були в них: і кожен був суджений за своїми вчинками. І смерть і пекло були вкинені в озеро огняне. Це вже друга смерть. And whosoever was not found written in the Book of life was cast into the lake of fire (Одкровення 20:11-15)
Той, хто переповнений, успадкує все; І я буду Його Богом, і він буде моїм сином. Але страшно, і невіруючий, і гидота, і вбивці, і гумонці, і чаклуни, і ідолопоклонники, І всі брехуни, мати свою участь у озері, яке палає вогнем та бримстоном: яка є другою смертю (Одкровення 21:7-8)
Stop praying for the people that are physically dead and pray for the people that are spiritually dead
Therefore stop believing the lie of the devil and stop praying for the departed souls. Замість цього, begin to pray for the dead who live on earth. So that they will believe, каятися, and by faith and regeneration in Christ be raised from the dead and become alive to God and be saved, so that they won’t see the death when they physically die, and burn in hell, but that they shall inherit eternal life.
І, Ось, Я швидко приходжу; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. Я Альфа і Омега, Початок і Кінець, the First and the Last (Одкровення 22:12-13)
‘Будь сіллю землі’
Джерело: KJV, Вікіпедія
