The 1994 Catholic Catechism teaches that people are sent to a place called purgatory after death to be purified before entering heaven:

“All who die in God’s grace and friendship, 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. ” Pg. 2658, #1030

“The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect…” Pg. 268-269, #1031

Those catholics I have spoken with about purgatory state that its doctrine is found in the Bible. But the answer is found in their very own catechism:

“The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent.” Pg. 268-269, #1031

“But at the present time some of his disciples are pilgrims on earth. Others have died and are being purified, while still others are in glory…” Pg. 249, #954

My dear catholic friend, if a soul has to go to purgatory to suffer and be purified, how can salvation then be called a gift? Do you give gifts to your children and make them suffer in order to receive that gift? If so, you are asking your child to work for his gift.  That gift is no longer freely given!

The Lord would surely have used another word instead of gift, wouldn’t He? Five times the phrase “gift of God” is found in the New Testament. I find it interesting that it is found five times because the number five symbolizes the grace of God in the Scriptures. It is by God’s grace that we are saved. The definition of grace is unmerited favor! How can we be purged in purgatory and still say that we have obtained unmerited favor from God through the gift of His Son? Three times these verses refer to Christ being the gift of salvation to us from His Father.

~John 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

~Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

~Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

It does not make sense that one would have to suffer after death when Christ did all the suffering on the cross of Calvary and paid the price in full. The catholic church has taught that the verses in Scripture that define this doctrine of purgatory can be found in:

~Matthew 5:26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

and

~Luke 12:59 I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite.

However, when we take these two verses and put them in line with James 2:10, one can see that there are no sins that will go unpunished. Suffering in purgatory is not considered a gift. The gift of salvation is absolutely free and there is no cost involved, otherwise it would not be a gift. There is also nothing I must do to earn that gift or to justify receiving that gift. Furthermore, there is nothing that I must do in order to be good enough to receive a gift.  I turn back to the depiction of a parent giving a gift to his child.  Do you only gift your child gifts if they have been good enough or they have paid a price for it?

Again, it would not be considered a gift if that were true.

~Romans 5:18 …by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

Notice that this says that this free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.  It is the free gift that brings justification of life, not good works – not one’s family buying indulgences to reduce your time in purgatory.  There is absolutely nothing that will purify you, my friend.  Only Christ’s shed blood on the cross can purify us and only His blood can make us clean and justify us from eternal damnation.

This gift cannot be earned – otherwise it is not a gift. This gift is given to us by the grace of God. Again, grace is defined as unmerited favor. We do not deserve it.

~Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

All my catholic life, I never truly felt forgiven. I never had that complete peace that I was clean and right with God. Yes, I felt “cleaner” when I walked out of the confessional only because I had gotten those sins off my chest.  But there was never peace in my heart.  Never! That is because I had not accepted that free gift of Jesus Christ as my Saviour and the ONLY way to Heaven.

Who are we to believe, my friend? Would we believe the words of man at the Council of Trent? Or, instead, do we believe God’s own words?

~Romans 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

If we are saved from wrath through Christ, then why do we need to go through purification to purge our sins since He nailed them to the cross? Being born again makes us clean from sin and sanctifies us, but only through Jesus.There is no need for further purification.  To say that we must be purified in purgatory is to say that Christ’s blood was not good enough.  Furthermore, you are saying that you can only be saved from “some” wrath and not the wrath of purgatory.

~1 Corinthians 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus…

Another good verse is

~Hebrews 9:26 …but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

If the blood of Jesus was not enough to pay for our debt, then the Word would state that. However, the Word is firm and fixed on this doctrine.

~Acts 20:28 …feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

and

~1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

We have been bought – purchased by Christ.  Our salvation is purchased already – why do we need something “more” to add to it like the purging of sin in purgatory?  If you are not convinced by God’s Word that purgatory is not a doctrine taught in the Scriptures, then ask yourself why the catholic church has taught it all these years. What is involved with this man-made doctrine?

The faithful catholic gives money to have prayers said for those in purgatory. When my mother died, her catholic friends and family had masses said in her name. We had mass cards for a mass to be offered every day for years. Much money was given for this purpose alone. All for nought because her eternal destination had been decided at the very moment of her death. Praise the Lord she had been born again – but sadly her friends and family could not have that wonderful assurance.

The moment my mother was born again, she no longer condemned to wrath of any kind.

~Romans 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.

The moment she died, she was present with the Lord. There was no in between stage like purgatory. The Apostle Paul was clear on this.

~2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (emphasis mine).

Paul was confident in the belief that once he was no longer in his earthly body, he was present with the Lord. How does one argue with this?

Your church says that you must be baptized to be saved; or you must go to purgatory after you die then you can enter Heaven. In saying such things, you are despising the Word of God. You are adding to it – adding to the simple plan of salvation. The Passover of the Old Testament did not have anything added to it but the blood of a lamb shed and painted over the door posts. Christ’s blood has been painted on the door post of our hearts when we accept Him as our Saviour. It is this salvation that brings a new heart – a new life – a changed life. You can “live the religious life” all you want. But can you truly say that you “live” the following verses?

~2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

~2 Corinthians 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

~2 Corinthians 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

~2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

~2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

The new creature (the born again believer), is reconciled to God (verse 18 ) and our sins are no longer on our account but onto Christ (verse 19)! Why would purgatory be necessary if our sins are on Christ’s account? Purgatory’s doctrine can only support the theory that the sins of the sinner are on his own account and, therefore, must be purged. Yes, the unbeliever’s sins are most surely on his own account because he has not trusted in the One true way to Heaven – through Jesus Christ alone.  Once the person accepts Jesus Christ and His payment for all his sins, that person no longer has sin on his account because Jesus took it off.

My precious catholic friend, wake up! Don’t let the doctrines of man (the Council of Trent, sacred tradition and magisterium) dictate what you believe. Instead, let the Word of God speak to your heart!