Sunday, July 02, 2006

Forgiveness in the World to Come

I read Matt 12:32 today
32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be aforgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
I had always read this scripture from the perspective of the unpardonable sin, which is obviously what it is all about. When I read it today I noticed the phrase "neither in the world to come." People often talk about people dying and going directly to Heaven or Hell, which goes against the idea of Christ returning and judging his people. This scripture's implication seems to support the doctrine of being able to repent to some extent after death.

This is not to imply that one should wait until the "world to come" to repent, but it made me think that this might be a biblical reference to doing work for the dead.

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