Is Purgatory Biblical?

Lets begin with the meaning of Purgatory:

PURGATORY: “All who die in God’s grace, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.” CCC 1030

Let's try to answer this question: How many of us will be perfectly sanctified a.k.a. in perfect grace at the time of our deaths?

I know personally that although I am saved by Grace, that the day I die, unless repenting and confessing immediately before death, there will be some things that will make me impure if I am not in a full state of Grace. For example, I repent and pray daily but let's just say that I look at someone with some sort of contempt, judge someone in a condescending way or even say a lie to get myself out of something. Now what if I die before coming before God and asking him to forgive me? As Protestants like to say "a sin is a sin" no matter how grave. Am I to be condemned to hell? Do I deserve heaven wholeheartedly? Would I be completely pure at the time of death?

Before we come to a definitive answer, let's look at the following verses in the books of Habakkuk and Revelation.

“But nothing unclean shall enter [heaven]” Revelation 21:27

“You [God]… are of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look on wrong…” Habakkuk 1:13

Wouldn't this mean that before you can enter Heaven, you must be purified or pure spiritually? This is when Purgatory comes in place. It is a purification state for those already guaranteed Heaven. Let's be clear that this is NOT a second chance to get into Heaven. 

Someone that is in grave sin and is not repentant cannot go into purgatory and be saved. Only someone who is lives their days in righteousness as much as possible but did not have the opportunity to confess or repent of something that gives them a stain before dying, will go through the purification process. 

Yes, the word Purgatory is not explicitly in the Bible. The name in itself does not make the place. The place must already exist in order to be given a name. This place is called “purgatory” because of its meaning which is “a cleansing place.” In that respect, souls are purged from the small stains of sin, which will prevent an immediate entrance into Heaven. Now, let’s understand that this is not a denial of the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice. On the contrary, it is because of Christ’s sacrifice that we get the privilege to enter heaven even if we have the stain of venial sin through the cleansing at Purgatory. Our acceptance of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross does not abdicate our responsibility to live the Gospel. Salvation is not assured. Lets's look at 2 Samuel 12:13-18,

“David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ And Nathan said to David, ‘The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you shall die.’ And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became sick…On the seventh day the child died.”

This is evidence that there is punishment for sin even after one has received forgiveness.

Salvation has never been by faith alone. The Bible itself says that we will be held accountable by our words and that much will be entrusted to us! Nowhere in the Bible does it say salvation is by faith alone. This teaching is unScriptural. Rather the Scriptures say that faith without works is dead, James 2:26. I know that Paul does mention in his letters that it is Grace that saves us and not by works so that we may not boast, however In 2 Timothy 4:7 Paul also makes a point that salvation is a one time event,

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful."

Let's look at some examples of words or phrases used in Christianity that are not in the scriptures but are used often by many Christians.

• Apple (fruit in the garden)

• Three Wise men (they were Kings)

• Whale Swallowed Noah (it was a big fish)

• "Money is the root of all evil" The verse actually says “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”

• Trinity (word used is God-head)

• Rapture (one is taken (could mean one's life can be taken or caught up in the air)

• “This too shall pass” (actual phase is “it came to pass”) 

• “Love the sinner, not the sin” Psalm 5:5 actually says He hates all that do wrong and his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence Psalm 11:5 (among many others)

• Incarnation - the correct term is "made flesh"

• The sinner's prayer 

• Altar call

• Faith Alone: except in James 2:26 "NOT by faith alone"

• And most importantly, the word BIBLE is nowhere in the scriptures as there wasn’t one at the time.

Going back a bit in time and when the Bible was compiled and canonized, let's talk about those “extra books” the Catholic Bible has. Jews had many different Scriptures which were used and accepted in ancient Judaism. There has been extensive disagreement over the canon, especially among Jews. Their sacred writings were divided into three parts: first the law, then the prophets, and lastly the writings. In Jesus’ time, Sadducees and Samaritans honored the law but rejected the prophets and writings. The Pharisees honored all three. Other Jews used The Septuagint which was a Greek version that includes the seven disputed 'additional' books. These are known as the deuterocanonicals. Other Jews used a version of the canon that is emulated the Septuagint and included versions of the seven books in question in their original Hebrew or Aramaic. In all trueness, your current Bible has some parts of Esther and Daniel that have been removed. In present times, the Ethiopian Jews still use the same Old Testament as Catholics. It is through one of these removed books, that we see what happened to the Ark of The Covenant. WIthout it we wouldn’t know what happened to it.

Martin Luther only removed books from the Bible because he didn't agree with the doctrines in them? This included Purgatory. He took the freedom to remove books from a collection canonized, agreeable by all early Christians, and accepted for over 1500 years because he just didn’t want to follow the teachings of that particular book. Under whose authority did he do this? He wanted to remove the book of James and Revelation from the New Testament as well. So in all realness, our BIble is still intact and it is the Protestants BIble that is edited and therefore, incomplete.

Now that we can move past the terminology and what Martin Luther decided was actual canon scripture and what wasn’t, let's see some scriptural examples.

“On the next day, as by that time it had become necessary, Judas and his men went to take up the bodies of the fallen and to bring them back to lie with their kinsmen in the sepulchres of their fathers. Then under the tunic of every one of the dead they found sacred tokens of the idols of Jam′nia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. And it became clear to all that this was why these men had fallen. So they all blessed the ways of the Lord, the righteous Judge, who reveals the things that are hidden; and they turned to prayer, beseeching that the sin which had been committed might be wholly blotted out. And the noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sin of those who had fallen. He also took up a collection, man by man, to the amount of two thousand drachmas of silver, and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. In doing this he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection. For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.” II Maccabees 12:39-46 

In this particular reading we discover Judas Maccabeus and members of his Jewish military forces collecting the bodies of some fallen comrades who had been killed in battle. When it was discovered that these men were carrying

“sacred tokens of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear”,

Judas and his associate discerned that they had died as castigation for sin. Therefore, Judas and his men

“turned to prayer beseeching that the sin which had been committed might be wholly blotted out… He also took up a collection… and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. In doing this he acted very well and honorably… Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.”

Rejecting the inspiration and canonicity of II Maccabees does not nullify its historical value. Maccabees helps us see, purely from an historical perspective that the Jews believed in praying and making atonement for the dead shortly before the advent of Christ. This is the belief and practice in which Jesus and the apostles were raised. Both Jews and Catholic Christians always retain hope for the salvation of the deceased on this side of heaven; consequently, we always pray for those who have died.

Matthew 5:25-26, Jesus is even more explicit about Purgatory.

“Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; truly I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny.”

Protestant logic: But the Lord is giving instructions to his followers concerning this life exclusively. This has nothing to do with Purgatory. 

This is a weak interpretation as we need to look at the whole context of what Jesus was preaching at the moment he mentioned this particular topic. The context illustrates “the Kingdom of Heaven” as the absolute goal (see verses 3-12). These verses are found in the midst of the famous “Sermon on the Mount,” where our Lord teaches about heaven, hell, and both mortal and venial sins. 

When we add to this the fact that Peter, in 1 Peter 3:19, uses the Greek word for prison, phulake to describe the “holding place” into which Jesus descended after his death to release the detained spirits of the Old Testament believers, the Catholic stand makes even more sense. Phulake is undeniably used in the New Testament to refer to a momentary holding place not solely in this life.

One undeniable and straightforward text in all of Sacred Scripture is I Corinthians 3:11-15 when it comes to Purgatory:

“For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble—each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation 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.” 

There is not one Christian sect that I know of that would attempt to deny this text speaks of the judgment of God where the works of the faithful will be tested after death. It clearly says that our works (not faith) will go through “fire” in a figure of speech. In Scripture, “fire” has been used metaphorically in two ways: one is as a purifying agent (Malachi 3:2-3; Matthew 3:11; Mark 9:49); and as fire which consumes (Matthew 3:12; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8). So it is a fitting symbol here particularly to be for God’s judgment. Some of the “works” characterized are burned up and others are purified. These works will either survive or burn according to their essential “quality” (Gr. hopoiov – of what sort).

This is obviously not heaven because what is being "burned up" here are imperfections (see again, Revelation 21:27, Habakkuk 1:13). Neither can it be hell because souls are being saved. So which is it? Protestants call this “the Judgment” and we Catholics are in full agreement. Catholics simply determine this judgment of the saved in which imperfections are purged as “Purgatory.”

The works mentioned here are sins. Which is why Catholics do not believe in “Sola Fide” also known as “Faith Alone” as faith without works is dead. For what are sins, but bad or wicked works?

This particular text specifically says:

“the works will be tested by fire, but “if the work survives… he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he shall suffer loss.” And, “he will be saved, but only as through fire” (Gr. dia puros).

The truth is both the works of the individual and the individual himself will go through the cleansing process, which is by “fire”. Paul described it this way in order that “he” might finally be saved and enter into the joy of the Lord. 

In closing, while Jesus can be the only acceptable sacrifice to God for our sins, it doesn’t give us a license to sin. Justification by the Lord does not preserve us from sin. A justified person can commit a sin. With that said, though the blood of Christ on the cross makes us right before God, God still requires much from us in return. We can agree that Jesus requires us to die to ourselves every day and to choose him in everything. It doesn’t match with God’s justice for an individual to be off the hook just because at some point in the past they became justified. We have a duty to obey God. Disobeying God will bring punishment according to His justice. Purgatory is part of God’s justice and we should feel blessed to know that even there, God shows us his unending love and mercy.