Purgatory
If sin still clings to Christians (Heb 12:1), but there is no sin in heaven (Rev. 21:27), there must be a purification that takes place after one’s death and before one enters heaven - even if “in the blink of an eye,”.
Paul mentions this in 1 Cor. 3:13–15: “Each man’s work… will be revealed with fire, which will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work… survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”
Paul’s thought calls to mind the image of God as the refiner’s fire and fuller’s soap mentioned in Malachi 3:2. The fuller’s soap was lye or alkaline salt that removed stains from clothing. A refiner’s fire was an oven of intense heat where precious metals were placed in order to purify them of their corrosion and dross. Similarly, purgatory is when a soul is immersed into the fire of God’s love and lifted out of the residue of its imperfections.
Prayers for the dead pre-date Christianity. In the Greek Old Testament, Judah Maccabee and his companions pray for the souls of departed soldiers: “It was a holy and pious thought. …he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin” (2 Macc. 12:45). While Protestants do not accept this as an inspired book, it is worthwhile to point out that even today Jews have a prayer called the kaddish that is offered for the purification of the deceased.
Praying for the dead is also recorded throughout ancient Christian documents, (Acts of Paul and Thecla, and in the writings of Abercius, Perpetua, Tertullian, Cyril of Jerusalem, Epiphanius of Salamis, John Chrysostom, and Augustine) All of these men wrote between A.D. 160 and 421, and so prayers for the souls in purgatory can hardly be considered a medieval invention.
Actually, refusing to pray for the dead is a relatively new idea in terms of Judaeo Christianity.
We know that we suffer stains of sin even after Baptism, such as guilt, upset, pain ect (CF Jas 5:16). We also know that seeing the Ulimate Love and Goodness is agony for us sinners (Isa 6:5.) And we also know that these are incompatible with Heaven (Rev 21:27.) Therefore we must be purified first; it is all a part of God’s promise made through Paul, “that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:6), even if it should be “as through fire” (1 Cor. 3:15).
Some Protestants make the mistake that Sanctification is a quick wipe at Baptism via Christ’s Cross but, while this is essencially true, we are still sinners and Scripture refers to sanctification as a thing of the past (1 Cor. 6:11), present (1 Thess. 4:3), and future (1 Thess. 5:23) in the Christian life.
Purgatory is not a place for those bad Catholics who didn’t finish working their way to heaven while on earth. “For by grace you have been saved by faith” (Eph. 2:8–9). The purification that takes place in purgatory is purely a work of God’s grace, since there is no chance for merit after death, and the judgment of each individual is based solely upon their earthly life. But regardless of where Christ purifies men, it is precisely because his sacrifice was sufficient that each believer can be perfected. Christ’s sacrifice is not lessened by the fact that God’s work of perfecting his children is a process that often involves suffering and even temporal punishment. While “for the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant” (Heb 12:11), it is all a part of God’s promise made through Paul, “that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:6), even if it should be “as through fire” (1 Cor. 3:15).
Some Christians maintain that all temporal punishments for sin are taken away if the person has repented. But the Bible indicates that although God takes away the eternal punishment, some temporal punishments may remain. In the Old Testament, God forgave David, but still took the life of his son (2 Sam. 12:13–14). In the New Testament, Christ reiterates this principle, “Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest… you be put in prison; truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny” (Matt. 5:25–26). It can also be mentioned that Christian women still experience the temporal punishment of birthpangs (Gen. 3:16) and we all die because of damage of Sin, even though Christ paid the infinite debt of man’s original sin (Rom. 5:12–21).
Thus the presence of suffering does not detract from Christ’s sacrifice in fact, there is only one mention in all of Scripture of something “lacking in Christ’s afflictions,” and that missing link is the suffering of his mystical body, the Church (Col. 1:24) which tells us that it is His Church that must still be purified in “afflications similar to Christ’s.”
Scripture refers to God as “Love” (1Jn 4:8 ) but also as the “Consuming Fire” (Deu 4:24, Heb 12:29) this means that we must be made into His Perfected Love “through Fire” because “he who does not Love cannot love God” (CF 1Jn 4:20.)
[Note “Fire” need not be taken literally. The Infallible Truth behind it refers to Purification (Mat 3:11, 1Pe 1:7, Rev 3:18 ) and some kind of pain (Rev 14:10, Rev 16:8 )]
Jesus said: “Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” (Mat 12:32) - what do you think He meant by “this age OR THE NEXT”? How could anyone be forgiven in the next world? Sin cannot approach Heaven (Rev 21:27) so in order to be “forgiven” in the “next world” there must be some state of concience which follows this world but precedes Heaven which involved purification (“forgiveness.”)
----- This Essay on Purgatory is largely taken and edited from
Catholic.com with some ideas of my own mixed it
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