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JehuandGod
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How can we be cleansed so that we will be fit to enter into Heaven? To become a child of God we must repent of our sins and believe on Jesus. If we have sinned as a child of God, then we must confess our sin, repent of it, and pray to God for forgiveness. When we repent of our sins, God will cleanse us and we will be fit to enter into Heaven. 1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Hence our sins, all of them, are forgiven through the sacrifice of Christ, and none are left to be purged away by human merit. 1 John 1:7 states “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” The verb ‘cleanseth’ is in present tense in the Greek manuscripts, meaning that the blood of Christ continues to cleanse us from all sin. If we continue to walk in the light, when we die, we will be pure and free from all sin. We will not need any purifying fires of Purgatory, but we will be totally exempt from all sin or spots, and we will be fit for Heaven. The one walking in the light will be cleansed from his sin by the blood of Christ. He will have no debts carried with him out of this world. Titus 2:14 “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” If He redeems us from all iniquity then we are pure and fit to enter into Heaven. There is no need for us to pass through Purgatory. Isaiah 1:18 says “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” God will cleanse us from all our sins, no matter how great they are.
Catholics use certain passages to support the doctrine of Purgatory. 2 Maccabees 12:39-45 “And upon the day following, as the use had been, Judas [Maccabeus–mh] and his company came to take up the bodies of them that were slain, and to bury them with their kinsmen in their fathers graves. Now under the coats of every one that was slain they found things consecrated to the idols of the Jamnites, which is forbidden the Jews by the law. Then every man saw that this was the cause wherefore they were slain. All men therefore praising the Lord, the righteous Judge, who had opened the things that were hid, Betook themselves unto prayer, and besought him that the sin committed might wholly be put out of remembrance. Besides, that noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves from sin, for so much as they saw before their eyes the things that came to pass for the sins of those that were slain. And when he had made a gathering throughout the company to the sum of two thousand drachmas of silver, he sent it to Jerusalem to offer a sin offering, doing therein very well and honestly, in that he was mindful of the resurrection: For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should have risen again, it had been superfluous and vain to pray for the dead. And also in that he perceived that there was great favor laid up for those that died godly, it was an holy and good thought. Whereupon he made a reconciliation for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin.” This is from the Apocrypha, and is not recognized by Protestants to be the word of God. It does give valuable historic information, but nothing it teaches can be held authoritatively. One important thing to notice is that Purgatory is not found in these verses. Nowhere in this passage is there any mention of fire in which souls are tormented. All that is mentioned is prayers for the dead, from which the Roman Catholic theologians infer, first, that such prayers are proper, and secondly, that such prayers can be effective for the salvation of the dead. Furthermore, from the Roman Catholic viewpoint, these verses prove too much, for they teach the possible salvation of soldiers who had died in mortal sin, that of idolatry. That contradicts Roman Catholic doctrine, which says that those dying in mortal sin go straight to Hell and are permanently lost. Surely one who had never heard of Purgatory would not learn about it from this passage.
Catholics use certain passages to support the doctrine of Purgatory. 2 Maccabees 12:39-45 “And upon the day following, as the use had been, Judas [Maccabeus–mh] and his company came to take up the bodies of them that were slain, and to bury them with their kinsmen in their fathers graves. Now under the coats of every one that was slain they found things consecrated to the idols of the Jamnites, which is forbidden the Jews by the law. Then every man saw that this was the cause wherefore they were slain. All men therefore praising the Lord, the righteous Judge, who had opened the things that were hid, Betook themselves unto prayer, and besought him that the sin committed might wholly be put out of remembrance. Besides, that noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves from sin, for so much as they saw before their eyes the things that came to pass for the sins of those that were slain. And when he had made a gathering throughout the company to the sum of two thousand drachmas of silver, he sent it to Jerusalem to offer a sin offering, doing therein very well and honestly, in that he was mindful of the resurrection: For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should have risen again, it had been superfluous and vain to pray for the dead. And also in that he perceived that there was great favor laid up for those that died godly, it was an holy and good thought. Whereupon he made a reconciliation for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin.” This is from the Apocrypha, and is not recognized by Protestants to be the word of God. It does give valuable historic information, but nothing it teaches can be held authoritatively. One important thing to notice is that Purgatory is not found in these verses. Nowhere in this passage is there any mention of fire in which souls are tormented. All that is mentioned is prayers for the dead, from which the Roman Catholic theologians infer, first, that such prayers are proper, and secondly, that such prayers can be effective for the salvation of the dead. Furthermore, from the Roman Catholic viewpoint, these verses prove too much, for they teach the possible salvation of soldiers who had died in mortal sin, that of idolatry. That contradicts Roman Catholic doctrine, which says that those dying in mortal sin go straight to Hell and are permanently lost. Surely one who had never heard of Purgatory would not learn about it from this passage.
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” When in this life, we are absent from the Lord. When we die, we are at home with God. If we had to spend time in Purgatory, then we would not be present with the Lord at death. Paul’s statements would be totally incorrect if Purgatory exists. Proverbs 10:12 reads “Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.” God’s love covers all our sins, so there is no need for us to suffer for them in Purgatory.
