Is purgatory real?

[Kenzie]

I go to a catholic high school, I am non denominational christian. Yet my religion class is pushing that it is real. I don’t believe it is. Yet how do I back up that claim? Any advice is needed. Thank you!

Edit:

thank you to all who took time to respond. 
For some reason I cannot reply, so thank you!

Edited January 14, 2020 by Kenzie

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Hello Kenzie

Purgatory is not real..  In the Bible we learn that the Messiah Jesus suffered death on the cross to pay the penalty for all our sins.. Once we believe Jesus and trust in the Atonement He secured for our salvation we are purged of all our sins by His perfect Atonement..

So the doctrine of purgatory ( a place where people go after death to have their sins purged ) is a doctrine that is denying the effectiveness of the Atonement of the Messiah Jesus to atone for our sins and is thus blasphemous against the Gospel..

I was born into a devout roman catholic family but a friend at work gifted me a Bible to read when i was in my early 20's.. I read it and found out how far away the catholic churches teachings are from the Gospel of the LORD Jesus.. I would encourage you to read the Gospels also and stand with the truth and reject the faulty doctrines of men that the catholic church teaches..

 

 

[appy]

The bible does not teach purgatory. The idea that one can live as they like now, without having to think about one's own personal accountability for their actions, whether good or bad in this life time, and then do the time later or pay an indulgence to get out of a spiritual jail so to speak sounds very appealing doesn't it? It doesn't work like that. And it can't work like that. If the bible is God's word and voice as catholics claim, and He is the creator and supreme authority, then His written word is also the supreme go to authority on ALL spiritual matters.

God's word supersedes, any and all extra biblical literature including the catholic catechism. The bible teaches that for all our efforts, we can not save ourselves from sin and death. God declared that for the wages of sin, death is the penalty. That is why Jesus died on the cross. Because in dying on the cross, he was able to fully pay the debt that we ourselves are not able to pay. The believers in bible times faced and endured difficulties, hardships and mistreatment.

The apostles would not have spoken of maintaining faith and perseverance in spite of it all, if believer's could wait till after death. There would be no reason to persevere in faith and trust in Jesus if we could get there by our own merits.  Purgatory denies the work of Christ on the cross. It falls short of the finished work of Christ on the cross alone. Purgatory is deceptive in that it causes people to believe that they can get to heaven by their own power instead of relying on Jesus to save them. It is saying that the work Jesus did on the cross was incomplete and insufficient. This is definitely a false teaching at its very core.

Jesus' death on the cross is the complete atonement for the sins of anyone who believes on Jesus to save them. The full redemptive work was accomplished on the cross alone. Jesus declared on the cross “it is finished” meaning he once and for all paid the cost. We are justified by faith. There are no sins left for purgatory to cleanse because it was all done by Jesus on the cross. This is why Jesus said, "It is finished!" The bible tells us that salvation is a free gift. It would not be free if we had to pay for it would it?

[AnOrangeCat]

I'd reverse the way you're looking at it. When someone makes claims about a matter of spirituality the burden of proof is on them. Catholics claim Purgatory exists so therefore it's the school's job to prove it to you. IMO as a student in a school you're not going to get a lot of headway in trying to persuade teachers, but you're certainly welcome to try. The important thing is that you sit tight through it all and hang on tightly to scripturally sound doctrine. With that out of the way...!

Look at some of the parables of Jesus. Springing to mind offhand are the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24-30), the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31–46). The language of both parables indicates that people will be in one of two conditions, saved or unsaved. Nothing indicates that there could be a third condition (purgatory). Additionally the parable of the sheep and the goats uses a very important word in describing those two states: eternal.

[Firm Foundation]

On 1/11/2020 at 8:40 PM, Kenzie said:

I go to a catholic high school, I am non denominational christian. Yet my religion class is pushing that it is real. I don’t believe it is. Yet how do I back up that claim? Any advice is needed. Thank you!

There is nothing in the Bible that mentions it.  As such, they are saying something exists with no basis for it except Catholics say it is real.

[BeauJangles]

Is purgatory real?

On 1/11/2020 at 5:40 PM, Kenzie said:

I go to a catholic high school, I am non denominational christian. Yet my religion class is pushing that it is real. I don’t believe it is. Yet how do I back up that claim? Any advice is needed. Thank you!

No kidding, your class on religion is teaching Purgatory is real? Well, tell you instructor privately that it simply cannot be found anywhere in God's word, and see what his reaction will be. I'd be interested in knowing. We'll go from there. Thanks sister, and may the Lord bless your private studies. This one is unscriptural and totally unedifying as well. 

[JohnD]

On 1/11/2020 at 7:40 PM, Kenzie said:

I go to a catholic high school, I am non denominational christian. Yet my religion class is pushing that it is real. I don’t believe it is. Yet how do I back up that claim? Any advice is needed. Thank you!

Purgatory is a human-tradition spin on sheol (the grave) which Jesus described in Luke 16:19-31. A place where one is purged of sins in order to be able to be saved.

Ephesians 2:8-10 militates against this.

The grave (sheol) was a holding pattern for all human dead. Now only for condemned human dead until judgment day.

No purging.

Also if there was another way to be purged of sin other than the shed blood of Jesus Christ, then he got a raw deal from the Father.

Jesus prayed if there be any way for this cup to pass from him... yet not as I will but as you will... 

The answer from heaven was silence.

No. There is no other way.

Catholics, religionists, cultists, even Protestants who add to or take away from the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ

all invent damnable heresies that the Apostle Paul had stern words for (Galatians 1:8-9).

[LonerAndy]

On 1/11/2020 at 8:40 PM, Kenzie said:

I go to a catholic high school, I am non denominational christian. Yet my religion class is pushing that it is real. I don’t believe it is. Yet how do I back up that claim? Any advice is needed. Thank you!

Edit:

thank you to all who took time to respond. 
For some reason I cannot reply, so thank you!

Yeah, Catholics believe in purgatory, and thus they will say it is real.

I don't see anything anywhere in the Bible about purgatory.

So until someone shows me where that is, then I am not going to buy it.

[Guest K9Buck]

I believe in purgatory. 

It's not a matter of being forgiven, it's a matter of being pure enough to enter into Heaven and to come face-to-face with God himself.  You may be forgiven when you die, but that doesn't mean that your sinful nature is automatically purged.  We have free will.  Losing our worldly desires and traits is something that we gradually embrace.  

Purgatory is like a mud room before entering a beautiful mansion.  You're welcome, but first you must remove your dirty, muddy garments and take a shower before you're permitted to run loose through the estate.

[Guest K9Buck]

Here is a Catholic argument for purgatory, with scripture to back up the argument. 

 

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/is-purgatory-in-the-bible