Once a person is clear about the biblical truth, he will see the heresy in Roman Catholicism. The Roman Catholic Church takes a few verses and utilizes them for her own purpose. But if we know the biblical truth, we will realize that the doctrine of purgatory annuls grace. Thank God that, although I am a filthy sinner, through the Lord Jesus I am now saved. When I die, I do not have to be purged any further, because salvation is not of me, but of the Lord Jesus. Surely I am saved. Now we know what discipline is. Discipline is God's means to make us perfect as He is perfect. He chastises us so that we will be like Him, even the same as He is. This has nothing to do with our salvation. It is a matter within His family.

Finally, only after we know this will we be able to deal with the heresy in Protestantism. Today among the Protestants, two kinds of errors are being promulgated. First, one group of Protestant theologians proposes that since a man is "once saved, always saved," he can get away with anything in his conduct. Since a Christian is saved eternally, they say, he could be evil until the day he dies and still be in the kingdom. He would, however, occupy a lower position in the kingdom. His greatest loss is confined to occupying a lower position in the kingdom. This kind of teaching will make a man loose and irresponsible. What then is grace to them? To them grace is an excuse for looseness and licentiousness.

There is another group of Protestants who say that after a man believes, there is still the possibility that he will not be saved. Perhaps he can be saved and unsaved again three or four times within a day. If that were the case, the book of life would get very messy indeed. A brother once said that if we are not eternally saved once we have believed, then the book of life will be extremely thick. My name alone would be deleted and inserted many, many times. If a man is condemned as soon as he sins and if he is bound for hell as soon as he transgresses, we must wonder whether salvation is by grace or by works.

Both of these groups are too extreme, even though both have their scriptural basis. The Bible shows us clearly that when a man is saved, he is eternally saved. The Bible also shows us clearly that it is possible for a Christian to be "cast into Gehenna" temporarily. But the problem is that some brothers hold onto one side, insisting that salvation is eternal and that there is no such thing as discipline in the kingdom, while other brothers hold onto the other side, insisting that if we can be "cast into Gehenna," eternal life is shaky, and therefore we can go into eternal perdition. But if we see the difference between the age of the kingdom and the eternal age and the difference between the temporary punishment of the millennium and eternal punishment, we will be clear that a Christian can receive punishment in the future, but at the same time, God has given His sheep eternal life, and they can never lose it. This knowledge gives us the boldness to say that once we are saved, we are eternally saved. After a man has been saved by grace, he will never perish again. Thus, not only have we properly settled the problem of the purgatory of Catholicism, but we have also made a clear distinction between eternal salvation and discipline. May the Lord grant us grace tonight and show us that the matter of eternal salvation is solved because of the work of Jesus of Nazareth, but as for one's situation in the kingdom, it is determined by the person himself.