Chapter 4 -
Purgatory
The fact that Jesus has been pushed
aside into a dark corner in the Roman Catholic Church becomes apparent from the
doctrine of purgatory. The sufficiency of Jesus' atoning work has not been
taught, but instead the Church has relied on other things when attempting to
replace Jesus and earn salvation. These other things include, for example, the
mass, the works of the flesh, penance, and the doctrine of purgatory.
As regards
purgatory, the Catholic Church also teaches that even though the death of Jesus
made it possible for us to be freed from guilt and receive forgiveness of sins,
it does not annul all punishment for sins. So, a sinner will not go straight to
Heaven when he dies but he must first suffer a certain amount of punishment in
the purgatory before he can step into the eternity. However, some few souls,
like the "saints", can go straight into Heaven. The most devoted
Catholics think that they must spend at least some time in purgatory in order
to be cleansed from their sins and finally arrive in Heaven.
This doctrine of purgatory can be seen in
the Catholic catechism, which teaches the following points, for
example. One of them also mentions the typical activity of the Catholic
Church, i.e., prayers and masses for those in purgatory.
(Finnish
catechism 1953)
Where
does the soul go straight after the personal judgment ?
The
soul will go either to Heaven, Hell, or the purgatory. (p. 57)
Which
souls go to the purgatory?
Those
devout souls go to the purgatory who have either departed from life in
forgivable sins or who have to suffer timely punishment for their sins.
(p. 57, 58)
How
long will the souls remain in the purgatory?
The
souls will remain in the purgatory until they are perfectly clean and worthy to
behold God. (p. 58)
What
is our connection to those in the purgatory?
We
help them with prayers, alms and other good works, especially with the offering
of the Holy Mass (the day of all souls). (p. 55)
Purgatory was also mentioned in the
Synod of Trento. They also deemed impossible the comforting teaching of
the Bible concerning man’s everlasting punishment being wiped off already here
on Earth:
If
someone is to say that after receiving the gift of justification, every
penitent sinner is forgiven, and the well-earned everlasting punishment is
wiped away so that the debt to temporal punishment is not to be paid in this
world or in purgatory before entry to the kingdom of the heavens: let him be
banned." (Synod of Trento, ruling Tridentinum 22, C, 2)
What does the Bible say?
Looking at the Bible, we can find no
clear evidence supporting the purgatory. This teaching cannot be found in the
Bible and the word is never mentioned there. At least the following go against
it:
The thief went directly to paradise. An indication that the doctrine of purgatory is not true is the
thief who died at the same times as Jesus. This thief, who is mentioned in the
Gospel of Luke, by no means ended up in purgatory but in paradise on the very
same day. Therefore, it can be asked that if the purgatory is true, why did not
this thief end up there because of the sins on his conscience. Why is this
not mentioned in the Bible?
- (Luke 23:43) And Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you, To day
shall you be with me in paradise.
Directly home to the Lord. Paul referred to the very same issue as the fact that the thief
who got into paradise. He says that if we are children of God, we will go
directly to the Lord after we die; we will leave this body and enter his presence.
Paul speaks nothing of purgatory or some kind of an interstice in this context:
-
(2 Cor 5:8) We are confident, I say,
and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the
Lord.
- (Phil 1:23) For I am in a strait between two, having a desire
to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
1 Cor 3:8-15. Verses that have been used to try and justify the doctrine of purgatory
include 1 Corinthians: "If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he
himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames."
However, one must note that these verses do not refer to the purgatory;
they just refer to our works, i.e., the reward that a believer can lose once
before the judgment seat of God. So if we have built on the foundation of
Christ "from gold, silver and jewel", we will get our reward; but if
our building is indeed only "tree, grass or straw", we cannot receive
that reward but we will be saved nevertheless. This is Paul's teaching regarding
the matter in brief and it says nothing of the purgatory.
After death there will be the
judgment, no purgatory. The doctrine of
purgatory also includes the idea that one can atone one’s sins even after
death, and have an impact on his salvation, but this thought is impossible.
According to the Bible, there is only judgment after death. So if our name is
not in the Book of Life now, we will by no means go to purgatory after death
but to eternal damnation:
-
(Hebr 9:27) And as it is appointed
to men once to die, but after this the judgment:
- (Rev 20:12-15) And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God;
and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of
life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the
books, according to their works.
13 And the sea
gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead
which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and
hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And
whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of
fire.
Another matter worthy of
consideration is the fact that if we have not made the decision to turn to
Jesus and God in our lifetime, we cannot be helped by the prayers of other
people, such as our relatives, once we cross the border. It is usual in
the Catholic Church to arrange masses and prayers – generally subject to a fee
– on behalf of the dead, but we must see that these masses and prayers can no
longer help us beyond the border. Only if we turn to Jesus during this
lifetime can we be spared the judgment because it is eliminated by Him:
-
(Rom 8:1) There is therefore now
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
- (John 3:17,18) For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the
world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that
believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned
already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of
God.
-
(John 5:24) Truly, truly, I say to
you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting
life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from
death to life.
Everything is already fulfilled. A problem with the doctrine of purgatory is that it annuls the
atoning work of Christ. It claims that the redemptive work of Jesus is not
sufficient, and that in addition we need redemption after death, i.e., in
purgatory.
But if we will
look at the Bible, we see that it indicates that we enter into relationship
with God through the atonement of Jesus, and that “he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him." So if God has already prepared everything, why do we need these
doctrines of purgatory and other special teachings? They are just futile
traditions of men, which benefit no-one; they only confuse people or lead them
to support a vain idea that they can atone their sins later on. If everything
has already been paid for us, why should we mix things up by adding something
new?
- (Rom 5:10,11) For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to
God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we
shall be saved by his life.
11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
- (2 Cor 5:19,20) To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the
world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them; and has committed
to us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we
are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in
Christ’s stead, be you reconciled to God.
- (Col 1:19-21) For it pleased the Father that in him should all
fullness dwell;
20 And, having
made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things
to himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things
in heaven.
21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by
wicked works, yet now has he reconciled
-
(1 John 2:2) And he is the
propitiation for our sins: and not for
our’s only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
- (John 19:30) When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he
said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the
ghost.
- (Hebr 7:25) Why he is able also to save them to the uttermost
that come to God by him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for
them.
- (Luke 14:17) And sent his servant at supper time to say to them
that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.
All sins forgiven. The Bible says that our redemption through Jesus is perfect, and
it also says that if we turn to Him, we will be forgiven all our sins, and not
only some of them.
So if all our sins
– the whole package – are forgiven and we are also cleansed of them, as the
Bible says, we do not need any other cleansing processes after death. They
are futile and useless, and not even mentioned in the Bible:
- (Col 2:13) And you, being dead in your sins and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, has he quickened together with him, having
forgiven you all trespasses;
- (Hebr 10:17,18) And their sins and iniquities will I remember no
more.
18 Now where remission of these is, there is
no more offering for sin.
- (1 John 1:7,9) 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 cleans
us from all sin.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
