The cross itself totally contradicts it. The clear teaching of Paul that to be absent from the body is to be at Home with the Lord contradicts it.
Does this mean that
nobody goes to Hell, either? If we assume that “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” is what Paul meant to say, and, further, we assume that this is intended to be taken literally, then wouldn’t that mean that
everyone who dies goes instantaneously to be with the Lord, including people like Adolf Hitler and Judas Iscariot?
How does that make any kind of sense, given all the many warnings we receive about how hard it is to get to Heaven? Jesus Himself explains in Matthew 25:31-46 that it is only those who do the Commandments and keep them in perfect love who can go to Heaven - and elsewhere, He reminds us that merely acknowledging Him as Lord is not enough to save us from our sins: we must be perfect as He is perfect.
Matthew 7:21
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Matthew 7:22
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Matthew 25:11
Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
Luke 6:46
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
Luke 13:25
When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:
Yet, we
also know that we are forgiven of our sins through the Cross and Resurrection, and that through Him, by means of the Sacraments, we can be made perfect.
How can
both be true? Unless there is a process by which we are perfected, and through which we gain the ability to be perfectly obedient to His commandments?