Time is congruent not in form but in fashion. Events change the substance of time, but they don't change the nature of time. Time will come to an end at the Second Coming of Jesus in time, but time will continue in it's same nature, nothing can change the nature of time. Why is this important you ask, because everything in time is constantly changing, but the one thing that doesn't change is time itself. If time doesn't change, then it remains linear, and although events change our place in time, the nature of our true Selves remains unchanged. We can change our appearance, or our physical features, but the essence of our souls remains the same, even when time ends.
There are things in our essence as souls that can change like our preferences and desires, and because our circumstances can change, naturally we adapt to them. However this cannot change our essence, God created our souls, and when we find God our souls begin a journey in uniting ourselves to God. This is the highest thing a person can experience, for in finding God and being united to Him, we have found the meaning of life. A person who doesn't want to be a saint, settles for tastes for God, but God calls us to make it our life's goal to seek Him and to be eventually found and united to Him in Heaven.
To a certain degree, we are already united to Jesus Christ through the holy spirit that lives in us, but the bible promises us that we will experience the fullness of God in Heaven, we should never settle for anything less. This is what the bible means when it says we are to be holy. We have a taste of it on earth, but in our sanctification here, we should be desiring more and more of holiness. This doesn't come into conflict with the doctrine of Justification, because we have to practise our standing with God if we are going to be comfortable seeing him in Heaven.
When we believe in this way, we are yielding to the holy spirit's work in our life, and participate or work out our own salvation. The reason isn't just so that we miss purgatory, this life is a form of purgatory when we suffer. However, sanctification is voluntary.
God will not force it upon us, so if we fail at that, we fail in living out our lives as holy people. Yes, Christians are sanctified, but we are called to be good after we are saved. To fail at this is to miss a truly happy and holy life, and ultimately to lose our rewards in Heaven. Imagine for all eternity being 100% happy, 100% all the time! God promises us the greatest joys, not in this life but in the eternal Heaven, but you won't be happy there if you are not trying to be holy now. This is Mike.
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