February 7, 2008...8:09 pm
Purgatory: “The doctrine upon which the Roman Catholic church stands or falls”- Part I
Martin Luther once said that the doctrine of salvation by faith alone (sole fide) was the point upon which the church stands or falls. How true it is. To deny salvation by God’s grace alone and introduce a formula of faith + works that determines whether we are justified and righteous before God completely sullies the cross of Christ.
What I would like to focus on briefly is the doctrine upon which the Roman Catholic church stands or falls: Purgatory. Why focus on what many deem a “secondary issue?” The reason why is that the doctrine of Purgatory is what makes the whole Roman Catholic system work. Take away Purgatory as a safety net and Roman Catholicism now becomes a very tough and discouraging religion. Either you make it or you don’t. Either you go to heaven or you go to hell. There isn’t an intermediate stop where you need to spend time in the cosmic car wash of God’s holy cleansing before you can stand in God’s presence. No longer can you claim the false promise, “As long as I am better than him or her, I will at worst spend time in purgatory and then be ushered into heaven.” The question that you must then honestly ask yourself, “How good is good enough? And by what rule or standard will I be judged? Will I be judged by a standard that is worse than me or a standard that is greater than me?” Take away Purgatory and you take away Rome’s “cash cow”. Imagine how filthy rich Rome has become over their twisted concept of the “treasury of merit” and the sale of indulgences. You might say, “But that was then.” No, my friend, it still goes on today. Attend a wake and there are nice little envelopes with the glaring words “For the repose of the soul of…” waiting for you to be suckered into placing your money in them.
One Catholic theologian once said during the era of the Reformation, “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.” Maybe I could correct this statement as such: as soon as the coin in the coffer rings, those in heaven remain in heaven, those in hell remain in hell, Rome has become one coin richer and you one coin poorer.
Do you really think that God can be bribed and bought off with material possessions that will pass away (Matt. 6:19, James 5:2-3)?
Do you remember what happened to Simon the Sorcerer when he thought he could obtain spiritual things by material possessions?
Acts 8:18:23
18When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money
19and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.
22Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”
If that was the response for trying to buy spiritual gifts with money, how much more will one perish with their money who think they can “spring souls” from Purgatory with a $20 bill.
So the question is, where does Rome even get this ridiculous concept of Purgatory? One passage that they contort and twist (which they do so often with the rest of Scripture) is from 1 Corinthians 3:10-15:
10By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.
11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,
13his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.
14If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.
15If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
They use this passage to say that a person will be purified by God’s refining fire for a period of time in a place called Purgatory. Any 5 year old who reads the passage once would see that the thing that is being burned and tried by fire is the WORK and NOT the WORKER, the LABOR, not the LABORER himself. It has no mention to the person at all.
Another verse that the papists use is Hebrews 12:29:
…for our “God is a consuming fire.”
They take this passage to say that God radiates with a consuming fire of “love” that lovingly purges away a person in Purgatory. One glance at the context shows that the writer of Hebrews is not talking about a loving fire of consumption. It is talking about how God radiates with awefulness of pure holiness. The passage itself is a quote from Deuteronomy 4:23-24:
23 Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden.
24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
Notice the linking word “For.” The whole point is to show that God radiates with holiness and is a jealous God who refuses to share His glory with another.
So what does the Bible say about Purgatory?
1) That there is no intermediate state. The moment your physical life ends is the moment you stand before the throne of a holy and righteous judge who judges according to no other standard than the perfect standard of Himself.
- Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment (Hebrews 9:27).
- Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin (Romans 3:19-20).
2) There is no concept of Purgatory where we need to be punished for our sins, though the guilt has been forgiven in Christ. Christ was “despised and forsaken of men”, “acquainted with grief”, “bore our griefs”, “carried our sorrows”, “stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted”, “pierced, crushed, chastened, scourged”, “oppressed and afflicted”, “cut off”, “crushed by God the Father and put to grief” (Isaiah 53:3-11). Christ not only forgave the sin of those who will believe, but He also satisfied the punishment and justice of God for their sin.
In closing, a great transfer occurred on the Cross. The only thing a believer contributed to their salvation was their sin. On the Cross, my sin was transferred onto Christ and His perfect righteousness was transferred to me. He bore my sin and the punishment that I deserved and I bear His righteousness that I do not deserve.
Paul writes this in 2 Corinthians 5:21 saying:
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
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