Common Objections: Purgatory

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“The word ‘Purgatory’ appears nowhere in the Bible.”

  Gary Hoge

There are a lot of words and phrases we Christians use that aren’t found anywhere in the Bible. For example, Trinity, incarnation, the fall, original sin, second coming, sinner’s prayer, ascension, Bible, altar call, rapture, age of accountability, personal relationship, and more. The question isn’t whether a word or phrase appears in the Bible, it’s whether the concept defined by that word or phrase does. 

In the case of Purgatory, we are told to “pursue … the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14), and we are told that “nothing impure will ever enter” Heaven (Revelation 21:27). The city of the living God is said to be the abode of “the spirits of the righteous made perfect” (Hebrews 12:22-23).

Quick show of hands: everyone who has already been made perfect and who no longer struggles with sin like the rest of us, raise your hand. Ok, if you raised your hand you’re either a liar or not very self-aware.

So, what happens when we die if we are not yet fully sanctified? According to the Evangelical, non-denominational organization Got Questions Ministries,

The third and final stage of sanctification occurs in the future. When believers die, their spirits go to be with Christ (2 Corinthians 5:6-8). Since nothing unclean can enter heaven (Revelation 21:27), we must be made perfect at that point.¹

Being “made perfect at that point,” that is, after death, is what Catholics call “Purgatory.” That’s really all it is. It is the final stage of our sanctification. 

Most people think the word “Purgatory” refers to a place, but it actually refers to the final purification of the elect by which we are cleansed of whatever impurity remains when we die. That’s a sound biblical concept, whether the word appears in the Bible or not.

For more on this, see my  paper “The Final Sanctification.”

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^1“What is Progressive Sanctification?”, Got Questions Ministries, https://www.gotquestions.org/progressive-sanctification.html