Just curious BreadOfLife, as a Catholic, how does your view of purgatory come in to play with salvation? (CCC 1031) Is the Blood of Jesus not good enough to clean sin fully once for all? What work can any man do that is equal to or greater than the blood of God's own Son who died for you?
It appears that you
don't understand what
Purgatory is because it does
not require
"works".
Purgatory is the
final purification of the
elect.
Since
Revelation 21:27 tells us that
nothing unclean can enter heaven, a final purification or
purgation is necessary for some before entering heaven. Those in Purgatory will
indeed make it into heaven. As the great
Protestant author,
C.S. Lewis once stated,
“The mercy of God demands purgatory.”
Regardless of what
some may say, the belief in Purgatory
is scripturally-based. In
2 Macc. 42-46, we see that Judas Maccabeus prays for the men of his army, killed in battle. Verse
44 says,
“… for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death.”
Matt. 5:25-26 tells us that unless we have
settled our matters, we will be
“handed over to the prison guard and will not be released until we have paid the last penny.”
We are told in
1 Cor. 3:12-15 that the day
(judgment) will disclose the
foundation that a person builds upon and how it will be revealed:
“If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. But if someone's work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire.”
Additionally,
Matt. 12:32 states,
“whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come”, which indicates that there
is purification
after death for some.
Matt. 18:32-35 and
Luke 12:58-59 are additional verses that support this doctrine.
All of these verses point to the fact that those in Purgatory will suffer loss but will eventually be
released (purified, purged from iniquity, saved). Purgatory is for the believer who dies in God’s favor (
without the stain of
mortal sin) but is in need of final purification
before entering heaven.
The purification of Purgatory is
not something
ADDED to what Christ did on the cross. It is
BECAUSE of what He did on the cross.