Purgatory is Biblical

[WarriorofJesus]

If I am correct, I found some really interesting Biblical passages that talk about purgatory that I would like to share with all of you.

25Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

26Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing./

Mathew 5:25-26

58When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee ***into prison. ***

59I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite.

Luke 12:59

10 Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.
12 Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. 13 But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The firewill show if a person’s work has any value. 14 If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. 15 But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping*** through a wall of flames***

1 Corinthians 3:10-14

32 Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.

Mathew 5:32

 

[WarriorofJesus]

Explaining the biblical passages

25Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

26Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing./

Mathew 5:25-26

Purgatory is a place where the souls of those on earth who still had a couple of sins and didn’t get rid of them when reaching death go in order to purify themselves. That Bible passage was describing and giving an example of how purgatory is. You do not come out of purgatory until you have eliminated every single sin and become sin free. In other words, not until you are sin free and without a single sin in your soul are you finally permitted to have entrance in heaven. For it is said that nothing impure or with sin will enter heaven. The only way souls purify themselves in that place is with the flames of purgatory or the prayers that people down on earth make to them.

58When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee ***into prison. ***

59I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite.

Luke 12:59

You will not come out of there until you have purified yourself completely.

10 Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.
12 Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. 13 But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The firewill show if a person’s work has any value. 14 If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. 15 But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping*** through a wall of flames***

1 Corinthians 3:10-14

When you reached death and left earth with just some, a couple, or even very little sins, then you will be saved and enter into heaven but first will have to go through the flames of purgatory in order to achieve a perfect state of purity and actually enter.

32 Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.

Mathew 5:32

‘The world to come’ is the spiritual world. Jesus said that no one was going to be forgiven in that world if thou have spoken against the Holy Spirit. In conclusion, that leads for there to be a place in the spiritual world where the souls of sinners can still be forgiven. In other words, one can still be forgiven even when they have left their body and entered into the spiritual world if they want to gain entrance in heaven. That place where those souls can still be forgiven is Purgatory. That is where they will either purify themselves with the prayers of people or the flames of Purgatory.

 

[HisWill777]

Interesting. Coming from a Lutheran’s perspective, having read these passages many times, I would not interpret them to talk of Purgatory. However the 1 Cor. passage is somewhat compelling. I appreciate your perspective though, and will consider them again. Thanks for sharing.

 

[sinnerdexter]

As a Catholic I believe in Purgatory even without evidence of its existence if factual approach is concerned but can respect diverging opinions.

However, I also ask myself “what if there is no….” Can’t imagine a scenario where someone believes there is a purgatory and at the end he or she finds out that there is not such a thing? From a simply human analytical perspective, Is it worth the risk?

 

[Jennifer_G]

Interesting. Coming from a Lutheran’s perspective, having read these passages many times, I would not interpret them to talk of Purgatory. However the 1 Cor. passage is somewhat compelling. I appreciate your perspective though, and will consider them again. Thanks for sharing.

I came from the same boat (former ELCA). The passage in Matthew is still tricky for me to understand, but I think I kind of see it now. I remember at first, I had thought the passage in Matthew meant either a literal prison, or Jesus talking about what to do during the persecutions. The 1 Corinthians passage is one of those passages that was compelling to me, too.

 

[Cristian_B]

You’ve made a mistake: Matthew 5:32 doesn’t say: “anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come” but it says: “but I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery”. You’ve got the wrong passage.

By the way, the Bible does not support purgatory. I will try to explain myself:

In the Old Testament, God gave the order that everything they have to be cleaned through fire. Whatever could not be cleaned through fire, was cleaned with water. For example if you had an object of wood, you could not clean it trough fire, but you had to wash it.

If we were able to be cleaned through fire, God wouldn’t have sacrificed His only Son for us, but He would have thrown us in Hell, and after a certain amount of time, we would enter Heaven. But because we can’t be cleaned through fire, we are cleaned with water… and blood: Jesus’ Blood. Since fire cannot clean us, how can you say that at the end we will be thrown in fire to be cleaned of remaining sins? If you ask for forgiveness, God will forgive you every sin. If you died before confessing, I’m sure that God is merciful enough to forgive you.

 

[Stylteralmaldo]

You’ve made a mistake: Matthew 5:32…You’ve got the wrong passage.

The correct passage comes from Matthew 12:32.
Cristian B:

…Since fire cannot clean us…

The New Testament supports cleaning through fire (1 Peter 1:6-7):

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

 

[Sir_Knight]

You’ve made a mistake: Matthew 5:32 doesn’t say: “anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come” but it says: “but I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery”. You’ve got the wrong passage.

By the way, the Bible does not support purgatory. I will try to explain myself:

In the Old Testament, God gave the order that everything they have to be cleaned through fire. Whatever could not be cleaned through fire, was cleaned with water. For example if you had an object of wood, you could not clean it trough fire, but you had to wash it.

If we were able to be cleaned through fire, God wouldn’t have sacrificed His only Son for us, but He would have thrown us in Hell, and after a certain amount of time, we would enter Heaven. But because we can’t be cleaned through fire, we are cleaned with water… and blood: Jesus’ Blood. Since fire cannot clean us, how can you say that at the end we will be thrown in fire to be cleaned of remaining sins? If you ask for forgiveness, God will forgive you every sin. If you died before confessing, I’m sure that God is merciful enough to forgive you.

That would be incorrect. I refer you to Hebrews 10:26-27 …

For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

… if we sin after coming to the faith, Christ’s sacrifice no longer covers it and we have to atone for those sins ourselves via fire – in purgatory. I also refer you to Luke 16:19-31 – in this story, we see that the dead rich man is suffering but still feels compassion for his brothers and wants to warn them of his place of suffering. There is no suffering in heaven nor compassion in hell because compassion is a grace from God and those in hell are deprived from God’s graces for all eternity. So where is the rich man if he isn’t in hell or in heaven? He is in purgatory!

 

[mark_a]

By the way, the Bible does not support purgatory.

But Jewish tradition does support an eleven month period of praying for a loved one after their death. Even without the new testament evidence, we may need to defer. . . . .

 

[Cristian_B]

The New Testament supports cleaning through fire (1 Peter 1:6-7):

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

No, it does not say that we are cleaned through fire and I will explain.

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:6-7)

This is a comparison. Such as the gold is tested through fire to see if it’s authentic, is our faith tested through many trials: temptations, suffering, etc. You claim that the purgatory is cleaning sins, but in that passage it is made a comparison that it says that like gold is tested through fire, so is our faith tested with trials like suffering, etc. From what I understood from you and what you think this passage means, you are saying that we are thrown into fire to see if we have authentic faith, which doesn’t make sense. Our faith is tested in this life like Job’s. He was a righteous man and God allowed Satan to test him through suffering to see if Job was indeed faithful.

Besides, from what I read on the second part of your post you already agree with my explanation. I just can’t see where does it say that we will clean our remaining sins trough fire.

 

[Sir_Knight]

I just can’t see where does it say that we will clean our remaining sins trough fire.

Hebrews 10:26-27

 

[Stylteralmaldo]

This is a comparison…

…Besides, from what I read on the second part of your post you already agree with my explanation. I just can’t see where does it say that we will clean our remaining sins trough fire.

The second part of my post was actually the Scripture quote. The goal of my posting it was not to prove Purgatory, but to demonstrate that our faith is refined like fire.

Like you indicated, it is a comparison. Something to keep in mind is that the Catholic Church has not defined Purgatory as being a place of fire. However, the Catholic Church defines Purgatory as being like a refining fire similar to how St. Peter describes in his comparison in his letter. A similar passage is found in St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 3:15). Notice that this passage comes after 1 Cor 3:10-14 which was in the OP.:

If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

 

[Cristian_B]

That would be incorrect. I refer you to Hebrews 10:26-27 …

For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

… if we sin after coming to the faith, Christ’s sacrifice no longer covers it and we have to atone for those sins ourselves via fire – in purgatory. I also refer you to Luke 16:19-31 – in this story, we see that the dead rich man is suffering but still feels compassion for his brothers and wants to warn them of his place of suffering. There is no suffering in heaven nor compassion in hell because compassion is a grace from God and those in hell are deprived from God’s graces for all eternity. So where is the rich man if he isn’t in hell or in heaven? He is in purgatory!

You are wrong. In Hebrews it says knowledge of the Truth. It means that if we have received knowledge of Jesus Christ and understand what there is to know, but we choose to sin, and keep sinning till the end of our lives, we cannot be saved. But if you are a Christian, and you sin intentionally, I’m sorry to tell you but you are not a Christian yet. Christians could still do lesser sins, but if they sin intentionally and with bad intentions, then they are hypocrites. But, even if you sin intentionally and then truly repent and try not to sin again, then there is forgiveness for you. That passage speaks against blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. A blasphemy against the Spirit is rejecting His help. If after being informed of the salvation and how to achieve it, and those people still choose to sin, then they rejected their salvation, and the rejecting of salvation is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. If later they decide to accept salvation they are forgiven their previous sins and are born again.

You are wrong: there is no compassion from God for the ones in Hell, which means that He will not save anyone from Hell. The ones in Hell are still human, thus still have feelings, therefore can still feel compassion or any other feeling. But they cannot feel love, and love is not only compassion. Compassion is a part of love. But that rich man felt compassion only for His family, like the pagans and not to the poor man called Lazarus, and that is why he went to Hell. God is calling us to love everybody. Everyone who goes to Hell can never enter Heaven. Fire cannot clean you from sin; only water mixed with Jesus’ blood can. That rich man was in Hell. I believe that the terribleness of Hell is too hard for some people to accept and invent things less terrible. The Truth is that there is no returning from Hell and such place as purgatory does not exist.

 

[BerhaneSelassie]

1 Corinthians 3:15 does not say we are purified by fire, but AS though by fire, its a simile. In purgatory we will have no physical bodies, it will be our souls being cleansed of sin, it speaks of the person “suffering loss” and the word in Greek connotates paying a fine of some sort, literally meaning “he-shall-be-being-fined”

The verse about blaspheme against the Spirit was used because Jesus said “or in the age to come”, suggesting some sins are forgivable in the age to come, as both Catholics and Jews believe

Hell is eternal those people are lost no matter what.

 

[Sir_Knight]

You are wrong. In Hebrews it says knowledge of the Truth. It means that if we have received knowledge of Jesus Christ and understand what there is to know, but we choose to sin, and keep sinning till the end of our lives, we cannot be saved. But if you are a Christian, and you sin intentionally, I’m sorry to tell you but you are not a Christian yet. Christians could still do lesser sins, but if they sin intentionally and with bad intentions, then they are hypocrites. But, even if you sin intentionally and then truly repent and try not to sin again, then there is forgiveness for you. That passage speaks against blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. A blasphemy against the Spirit is rejecting His help. If after being informed of the salvation and how to achieve it, and those people still choose to sin, then they rejected their salvation, and the rejecting of salvation is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. If later they decide to accept salvation they are forgiven their previous sins and are born again.

Scripture tells us that even the most pious of us, offends God via sin several times a day. Paul, in his letters to believers / Christians, reminds then that they are SINNERS and anyone who says that they are not, is a LIAR. Thus, we are ALL sinners EVEN Chrisitans and Hebrews clearly says that those sins are no longer atoned for by Christ on the cross – but, instead, we will have to atone for them via purgatory.

You are wrong: there is no compassion from God for the ones in Hell, which means that He will not save anyone from Hell. The ones in Hell are still human, thus still have feelings, therefore can still feel compassion or any other feeling. But they cannot feel love, and love is not only compassion. Compassion is a part of love. But that rich man felt compassion only for His family, like the pagans and not to the poor man called Lazarus, and that is why he went to Hell. God is calling us to love everybody. Everyone who goes to Hell can never enter Heaven. Fire cannot clean you from sin; only water mixed with Jesus’ blood can. That rich man was in Hell. I believe that the terribleness of Hell is too hard for some people to accept and invent things less terrible. The Truth is that there is no returning from Hell and such place as purgatory does not exist.

Try to follow along. Compassion is a grace from God. The Rich Man expressed concerns for others. He was receiving graces from God. Those in hell do not receive any graces from God. Therefore, he could not have been in hell and since there is no suffering in heaven, he wasn’t there either. If he wasn’t in hell nor in heaven, it implies that there is some third place of suffering a purification – purification by fire. The Catholic Church has referred to this third place as purgatory.

 

[Cristian_B]

Scripture tells us that even the most pious of us, offends God via sin several times a day. Paul, in his letters to believers / Christians, reminds then that they are SINNERS and anyone who says that they are not, is a LIAR. Thus, we are ALL sinners EVEN Chrisitans and Hebrews clearly says that those sins are no longer atoned for by Christ on the cross – but, instead, we will have to atone for them via purgatory.

We all sin, it is true. But if we sin and repent God forgives us. Do you deny that He forgives us?

As I said before, only those that do not want to be forgiven are not forgiven. If you want and try to get forgiveness, God will grant it to you.

Try to follow along. Compassion is a grace from God. The Rich Man expressed concerns for others. He was receiving graces from God. Those in hell do not receive any graces from God. Therefore, he could not have been in hell and since there is no suffering in heaven, he wasn’t there either. If he wasn’t in hell nor in heaven, it implies that there is some third place of suffering a purification – purification by fire. The Catholic Church has referred to this third place as purgatory.

How exactly did He receive Grace from God? He was not receiving any form of grace. He was eternally condemned.

 

[WarriorofJesus]

You’ve made a mistake: Matthew 5:32 doesn’t say: “anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come” but it says: “but I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery”. You’ve got the wrong passage.

By the way, the Bible does not support purgatory. I will try to explain myself:

In the Old Testament, God gave the order that everything they have to be cleaned through fire. Whatever could not be cleaned through fire, was cleaned with water. For example if you had an object of wood, you could not clean it trough fire, but you had to wash it.

If we were able to be cleaned through fire, God wouldn’t have sacrificed His only Son for us, but He would have thrown us in Hell, and after a certain amount of time, we would enter Heaven. But because we can’t be cleaned through fire, we are cleaned with water… and blood: Jesus’ Blood. Since fire cannot clean us, how can you say that at the end we will be thrown in fire to be cleaned of remaining sins? If you ask for forgiveness, God will forgive you every sin. If you died before confessing, I’m sure that God is merciful enough to forgive you.

 

[WarriorofJesus]

Originally posted by Cristian

You’ve made a mistake: Matthew 5:32 doesn’t say: “anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come” but it says: “but I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery”. You’ve got the wrong passage.

By the way, the Bible does not support purgatory. I will try to explain myself:

In the Old Testament, God gave the order that everything they have to be cleaned through fire. Whatever could not be cleaned through fire, was cleaned with water. For example if you had an object of wood, you could not clean it trough fire, but you had to wash it.

If we were able to be cleaned through fire, God wouldn’t have sacrificed His only Son for us, but He would have thrown us in Hell, and after a certain amount of time, we would enter Heaven.

You are wrong and incorrect. The sacrifice of the Lord Jesus was necessary in order to reconcile and bring peace between man and God. Adam and Eve made is so that humanity couldn’t have access to heaven or be considered God’s children because of the fact that they had disobeyed God and broken their relationship with him thus passing sin to all their future generations.

5 For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. 6 He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone.

With Jesus dying for us on the cross made himself the mediator between God and man. He reconciles them and brings them into harmony as they once were in the begenning when Adam and Eve had not yet commited sin and disobeyed God.

1 Timothy 2:5

• 15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when** he adopted you as his own children.*h] Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”i] 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

Passage Romans 8 :15-17

*19 For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
20 and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
**by means of Christ’s blood on the cross./**I]

Passage Colossians 1 :19-20

As to prove what I say and show the proof, Jesus death on the cross was necesarry in order to restore the relationship between man and God. Since now Jesus has died for us, we can share his glory. That means that we are now able to be considered his children and join with him in heaven through Jesus Christ. In conclusion, what you have said about God could have just thrown us into Hell is false.*

 

[WarriorofJesus]

Originally posted by Cristian

But because we can’t be cleaned through fire, we are cleaned with water… and blood: Jesus’ Blood. Since fire cannot clean us, how can you say that at the end we will be thrown in fire to be cleaned of remaining sins? If you ask for forgiveness, God will forgive you every sin. If you died before confessing, I’m sure that God is merciful enough to forgive you.

This is only possible only while living on Earth. You can only be cleaned through water and the blood of Jesus Christ only when you live down here. Once you enter the spiritual realms, you don’t have the freedom to choose if you want to obey or disobey God. There is no choice anymore. You either have to submit yourself to him for eternity or you will either go into Hell.

• 7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.*

Passage 1 John 1 : 7

That Bible passage talks about that if you are living in the light, then Jesus will clean us from all sin with the blood of Jesus. That Bible passage only applies if you are here living down on Earth and not when you have already died. After death, there is no cleansing with the blood and water of Jesus Christ because that is only available down here on Earth. How do we know what I say is true? We know that it is true because this apostol wrote it when he was living and not when he was dead.

• 22 I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light. 24 The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory. 25 Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there. 26 And all the nations will bring their glory and honor into the city. 27 Nothing evil[f] will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.*

Passage Revelation 21:22-27

Nothing impure or evil will enter into Heaven. That means that there has to be a place of purification or cleansing. For as we all know, there are individuals that believe in Jesus Christ, but don’t actually follow every single step or requirement that is necessary to have direct entrance in heaven. The proof? What saves you from Hell is simply believing in Jesus and having faith in him. Unless you have commited mortal sin, then simply believing in Jesus Christ will not do. You will have to confess that mortal sin and ask God for forgivness.

16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who* believes in him will not perish but have eternal life**. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.*

Passage John 3 :16

Having faith in Jesus makes sure that you do not perish but doesn’t guarantee that you will go directly into Heaven. That only saves you from Hell.

*14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”

19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God.[f] Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?*

Passage James 2 :17-19

In conclusion, that passage can also be related with Purgatory. Why? Simply believing in Jesus Christ will not guarantee that you will go into Heaven. If that is true, then that leaves room for a place of Purgatory. If just simply having faith in Jesus is but not having good deeds, then that means it is useless. If you maintain that action or do not change, you will end up in Purgatory and not in Heaven. Everyones goal is to go into Heaven and that is what Jesus expects and wants everyone to be there with him. In other words, the Bible passage didn’t say that if you had faith without good deeds, you will be destroyed or that you will perish, but it was only saying that it was simply useless. It’s useless because you wont go into heaven but will have to go into Purgatory and pure yourself there with its fire in order to finally go into Heaven.

 

[WarriorofJesus]

Originally posted by Cristian B

A blasphemy against the Spirit is rejecting His help. If after being informed of the salvation and how to achieve it, and those people still choose to sin, then they rejected their salvation, and the rejecting of salvation is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. If later they decide to accept salvation they are forgiven their previous sins and are born again.

This is incorrect. A blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is changing its words or intentionally changing the significance of its meaning. That would account to all those religions that change verses of the Biblie and adapt it into their own style in order to support their religious beliefs. An example would be the Bible of the Jehovah Witness where they change and add words to the Bible. That is a blashemy against the Holy Spirit and whoever does that intentionally will go into Hell without forgiveness. That includes not having the opporunity to get cleansed in Purgatory.

*18 And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: **If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, *God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.

Passage Revelation 22:18-19

Fire cannot clean you from sin; only water mixed with Jesus’ blood can. That rich man was in Hell. I believe that the terribleness of Hell is too hard for some people to accept and invent things less terrible. The Truth is that there is no returning from Hell and such place as purgatory does not exist.

I have already shown proof to you that purgatory exists. Please read my posts.