Questions about Purgatory

[Todd_Easton]

So, my question is, if people can go to purgatory to work off their sin, why did Jesus need to die?

In life, all the consequences of our past sins, both the eternal consequences and the temporal consequences, are forgiven, washed away as it were, in the waters of baptism. However, it is not the minor inconvenience we experience from the cold water flowing over our heads that works off our sins but rather the waters of baptism are the sacramental means by which we participate in the death of Jesus. (See Romans 6:3-4.) It is not our work but God’s work in baptism by which our sins are forgiven. Similarly, after death, any remaining temporal consequences of our post-baptismal sins are forgiven, burned away as it were, in the fires of purgatory. However, it is not the suffering our souls experience from the fires of purgatory that works off our sins but rather the fires of purgatory are the sacramental means by which we participate in the death of Jesus. It is not our work but God’s work in purgatory by which our sins are forgiven. (See Malachi 3:2-3 and 1 Corinthians 3:12-15.)