Purgatory is a false Roman Catholic doctrine. It has no scriptural basis, and it contradicts the teachings of Christ and of Paul.
Its supposed "reasonableness" is overthrown once we discover that, according to Roman Catholic teachings, sinful believers aren't required to be purified by the torments of Purgatory after all, but can be completely freed from that necessity by good works and the suffering of others!
Christ by His resurrection power changes our vile bodies like unto His glorious body at the resurrection! By resurrection power, we are immediately changed into glorified, perfect, sinless, incorruptible spiritual bodies with which we shall live for all eternity in heaven!
Paul proclaimed this truth: that those who have been justified by faith in the bloody sacrifice of Jesus in our place, are truly blessed, because God refuses to impute our sins to us anymore.
God has declared His people to be without fault at all, and Christ has already suffered God's wrath in our place on the cross.
Purgatory runs rough shod over these precious truths. According to that false teaching, God continues to impute our sins to us, even to the point of overthrowing our justification and condemning us, again, to Hell.
But the truth is, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ. Once justified by faith, we cannot fear God's wrath anymore.
There can be no peace with God, if we face the torments of the flames of Purgatory when we die.
The writer of Hebrews also makes this point. The terror of Sinai and the judgment of the law, that caused Israel to tremble before the Mount, have no place with believers who have trusted in Jesus, Whose blood has set us free! |
