In our spiritual journey on Earth, we begin by recognizing all the useless things in our life that need to be purged that were accumulated and learned while living in a world of false ideology. We recognize that we are self-imprisoned by our own selfishness while ignoring the truth and the life-giving power of Christ. It's difficult and impossible to realize these things because of how tightly bound and restricted we are with the useless information and the false ideologies we've accumulated throughout our life.
And so in the Purgative stage, we rid and purge ourselves of the shackles which bind us. We go through a deprogramming upon recognizing how programmed and commercialized we are as to believe we only live once... "... get the most out of it because when you die it's all over." In the Purgative state, we come to the realization that those types of false ideologies are not true!
And so you've purged. You’ve removed all of those unnecessary and useless things that were holding you back. You must now replace those things of truth, goodness, and beauty which is in line with our pursuit of virtue. All of us are called to a full life that can only be had through Jesus Christ. Holiness is wholesomeness. We become perfected when we are united with Jesus: mind, heart, soul and strength.
Finally, you begin to see the world the way Jesus Christ does. We love the way Jesus loves. We live the way Jesus lives. The whole point of the Christian message is to get our path back to the path of Jesus. We can only do that with the grace that comes from understanding who Jesus is, why he came, and the difference he has made in our lives.
With Jesus, we can clean up our act.
With Jesus, we can surge with goodness, truth and beauty.
And with Jesus, we can merge our thoughts as St. Paul once said in his letter to the Galatians (Galatians 2:20): I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me, and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
This passage is often interpreted as a statement of Paul's belief that he had been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul believed that his old self had died on the cross with Christ, and that he had been reborn into a new life in Christ. He also believed that it was Christ who lived in him, and that he was no longer capable of living for himself.
This passage is a powerful reminder of the transformative power of the gospel. It is a reminder that we are not saved by our own works, but by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. It is also a reminder that when we are saved, we are given a new life in Christ. We are no longer slaves to sin, but we are free to live for God.
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