Heaven, Hell and Purgatory
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Heaven, Hell and Purgatory |
Bible Truth Communion: By
Their Fruits You Heaven and Hell. |
Protestants teach that there are ONLY two destinations for the soul after death. One either passes immediately into the glories of Heaven and the presence of God, or else one is sent straight to the flames of Hell for eternal punishment, with no possibility of reprieve. Any other destination for the soul, they teach, such as the Catholic Purgatory, is merely an "invented" doctrine. Since, by this reasoning, those in heaven do not need the prayers of the living, and those in hell cannot benefit from them, Protestants forbade all prayer for departed loved ones. Catholics and other Apostolic Christians on the other hand believe that prayer for the Christian departed is a good and useful thing. Protestants will swear
that their view of the hereafter is not only a biblical
view but the only possible biblical view.
In fact the straight heaven-hell alternative is actually
a recent protestant doctrine - introduced at the time of
the Reformation. IS THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE OF HEAVEN AND HELL BORNE OUT BY THE BIBLE? If scripture tells us
anything about what happens beyond death, it is that the
Protestant view is incorrect. The Bible clearly
shows that the standard Protestant view of One Heaven,
One Hell is not borne out by scripture:
Now whilst all Christians agree that the Ultimate Fate of Mankind is to be with God in Heaven or else apart from God in Hell. Traditional Christian teaching permits that some Christians may be cleansed or punished for a while in purgatory - and then admitted to heaven. BUT DIDN'T CATHOLICS INVENT PURGATORY TO INCREASE DEPENDENCE ON THE CHURCH? No. As we shall see, belief in a purgatory, a place of cleansng and purification beyond death, is a very ancient Christian and Jewish doctrine.
The simple answer is because of the Holiness of God. Protestant objections to
Purgatory have their origins in a failure to truly
understand God's ABHORRENCE of Sin. He
can have no sin in His presence. Yet
even the finest of Redeemed Christians is not perfect. Scripture teaches that: nothing unclean shall ever enter heaven (Rev. 21:27) and, while we may die with our sins forgiven, there can still be many impurities in us, In this state very few would ever enter heaven. Jesus makes clear the type of perfection which is necessary for Heaven. "You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Matt. 5:48. Therefore a change must occur in all of us sinners after death. Before Christians can enter the presence of God in heaven, purification is necessary.
Christ's sacrifice atones for and pays for all our sins, but even though Justified Christians may be accounted as righteous, they are not truly righteous. The Apostle Paul, righteous though he was, knew that not all sin had been purified from within him "For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me." Rom 7:19-20 Although baptised, believing and justified, Paul remained a sinner. He remained liable to commit sin. Perfection and complete sanctification of Christians as individuals doesn't happen on this earth, However, since God cannot tolerate sin, perfect cleansing has to occur at some point before we can enter Heaven. Without this, humans would continue to commit sins in heaven. Since we know that most Christians are not perfectly cleansed before death, this necessary purification must take place after death, in the place, or state of existence, called Purgatory. BUT CHRISTIANS ARE COVERED BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB. Yes. Christians have had their sin, and the penalty for sin washed away by the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. But as we have seen, our propensity to sin still remains. That sin is real and must be truly eradicated, not just "covered up." A Christian may be "accounted as righteous", that is, spared Hell, through the blood of the lamb. But is that person truly righteous? As an illustration, some passenger trains used to carry bicycles on board. Since there was no ticket for bicycles, they travelled on a dog ticket, at the fare normally charged for a dog. In other words the bicycle was "accounted as a dog". Does this mean the bicycle became a dog? No. It remained a bicycle. So it is with sinners "accounted as righteous". They still remain capable of sin until purified. DOESN'T SUFFERING CONFLICT WITH CHRIST'S ATONEMENT? If the suffering of Christians on Earth does not conflict with Christ's atonement, why should anything that is suffered in Purgatory conflict with that atonement? WASN'T THE IDEA OF PURGATORY INVENTED BY CATHOLICS IN THE MIDDLE AGES? Not at all. The doctrine of purgatory, and the usefulness of prayer for the dead have been part of Christian belief since the earliest times. Christians during the persecutions of the first three centuries recorded prayers for the dead in the catacombs. Indeed, some of the earliest Christian writings outside the New Testament refer to the Christian practice of praying for the dead. Such prayers would have been offered only if Christians believed in purgatory. "A
woman, after the death of her husband, is bound not less
firmly but even more so, not to marry another husband....Indeed,
she PRAYS FOR HIS SOUL and asks that he may, while
waiting, find rest; and that he may share in the first
resurrection. And each year, on the anniversary of his
death, she offers the sacrifice." Tertullian,
MONOGAMY 10:1,4 (A.D. 213) 2 Maccabees 12:39-46, attests to Jewish belief 150 years before Christ: 40:But when they found on each of the dead men under their tunics, objects dedicated to the idols of Jamnia, which the Law prohibits to Jews, it became clear to everyone that this was why these men had lost their lives. 41. All then blessed the ways of the Lord, the upright Judge who brings hidden things to light, 42. and gave themselves in prayer, begging that the sin committed might be completely forgiven. Next, the valiant Judas urged the soldiers to keep themselves free from all sin, having seen with their own eyes the effects of the sin of those who had fallen; 43. after this he took a collection from them individually amounting to nearly two thousand drachmas, and sent it to Jerusalem to have a sacrifice for sin offered, an action altogether fine and noble, prompted by his belief in the resurrection. 44. For had he not expected the fallen to rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to PRAY FOR THE DEAD, 45. whereas if he had in view the splendid recompense reserved for those who make a pious end, the thought was holy and devout. Hence he had the expiatory sacrifice offered for the dead, so that they might be released from their sin. A few other biblical passages: May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me; he was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me eagerly and found me -- may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day -- and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus." ST PAUL, c. 67 A.D. (2 Tim 1:16-18 ) Paul appears here to be praying for the Soul of Onesiphorus. 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you besought me; 33 and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?' 34 And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailers, TILL HE SHOULD PAY ALL HIS DEBT. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." (Matt. 18:33-35) In this passage Jesus is telling a parable to illustrate the Kingdom of Heaven, comparing God's treatment of us in heaven, to the master's treatment of his servant on earth. So in this passage Jesus is talking about a punishment beyond death, that is a TEMPORARY PUNISHMENT, not a permanent and eternal punishment, as in Hell. "For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw-- 13* 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. 14 If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15* If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire." (1 Cor. 3: 11-13) We know that if someone goes to hell, he will not be saved, so 1 Corinthians cannot be talking about Hell. We also know that if someone goes to Heaven, he will not suffer, so this passage is not talking about heaven. It is talking about the purification or purging away of sins in purgatory. Christ refers to the
sinner who "will not be forgiven, either in this
So, Purgatory is actually very simple: 1. God will not have sin in his presence. (Revelation 21:27) 2. If we say we have no sin in us, we are liars. (1 John 1.8) 3. Even
though we are Justified, we must still be Purified before
we can enter God's presence. Some further quotations:
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BUT ISN'T CHRIST'S
SACRIFICE SUFFICIENT TO PAY FOR OUR SINS?