...Continued from last post ...
Since it is a fact that we continue sinning on earth but will not be sinning in heaven because we will no longer have a corrupt human nature in heaven, between death and glory there must be a change (1 Cor. 15: 42-43). There must be a purification, a final sanctification--a perfecting--of our very nature (Heb. 12: 23). It cannot be otherwise.
For a person to be fully united to God in heavenly glory every attachment to sin, no matter how minuscule, must be eliminated (Rev. 21: 27). The purification must be perfect, total, and complete. This is, precisely, the Churchs teaching on Purgatory, which is in perfect harmony with Scripture.
There can be no selfish desires in heaven. All desire for self-gain is non-existent in heaven. We must exist totally for God. Not 90% or even 99.9%--we must have complete, total 100% singleness of purpose--100% devotion to and existence for God. We must love others as Jesus loves us--completely and selflessly. We must be totally selfless servants of others. A love mixed with no self interest.
Yet in our fallen human nature, even after being saved, we are still disordered in our selfishness. We remain inordinately preoccupied with our selves. We all succumb, to some degree, to the worldly concept of looking out for number one. But we cannot bring this kind of self-centered attitude, in any degree, into heaven. Yet who among us is completely without self-centeredness, pride and ego while on earth Who among us is perfect, completely undefiled by sin, sinful tendencies, thoughts and desires?
Even the Apostles fell victim to their own self-centeredness, pride and ego, at least on occasions. One example is when they were arguing amongst themselves about which of them is the greatest. Jesus, in rebuking them, explains that it is the one who is least that is the greatest (Lk. 9: 46-48). Jesus explains to them (and to us) that whoever wishes to be great should become the servant of all, just as He Himself came not to be served but to serve and to give His life for others (Matt. 20: 26-28; Lk. 22: 24-30). What Jesus is telling His Apostles, in ordinary everyday language, is something like this Look you lunkheads, dont you understand!? There can be no jealousies or rivalries in heaven. Its not about self. Its about God and others. Its about total self-less-ness!!
Could the Apostles bring this Im the greatest attitude and mentality into heaven? No. Can we bring the same or similar self-centered attitudes or desires with us into heaven? Of course not. All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. (Eph. 4: 31; see again Rev. 21: 27).
Only the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory harmonizes and makes sense of all of Scripture and all of Christs teachings about the afterlife. It is only through the final sanctification of Purgatory that our self-centered, sinful nature is cleansed and purified by Jesus, making us fit for heavenly glory.
It is only through the thoroughly biblical teaching of the Catholic Church on purgatorial sanctification that two seemingly paradoxical and apparently contradictory truths can be harmonized and reconciled with each other into one cohesive and homogeneous whole. Namely that we continue sinning (to some degree at least) our entire earthly lives. Thats truth number one. Truth number two is that we do not continue sinning (in any degree) in heaven, not even our thoughts: sinning of earth, no sinning in heaven. The only way to reconcile and harmonize these two truths is that we must undergo a change in our very nature. The fact is that between physical death and eternal heavenly glory must come purification. We must experience jour final sanctification through Jesus Christ before entering into heavenly glory because we cant bring anything unclean in heaven (Rev. 21: 27; Heb. 12: 14 & 23; Eph. 4: 31;
1 Cor. 15: 42-43). And this final purification, this final sanctification, this final application of Christs righteousness is, by definition, Purgatory.
A common misconception is that the Catholic teaching on Purgatory somehow infringes upon the sufficiency of Christs completed work on the cross. Wrong! Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Catholic Church gives the name Purgatory to the final purification of the elect (See The Catechism Of The Catholic Church, 1031). All who experience this final purification enter the joy of heaven (See CCC, 1030). What this means is that Purgatory is simply the final stage in the process of sanctification, it in no way infringes upon Christs work on the cross any more than any preceding stage(s) of sanctification infringe upon Christs work.
Indeed, it is because of the sacrifice of Jesus that we even have the privilege of being sanctified. The fact that we experience this at all is because Jesus Christ paid the price for us to be permitted to be sanctified in this way. Purgatorial sanctification is, then, a consequence of Christs sacrifice on the cross. It is a fruit of Christs work, not competition with or denigration of it.
No one says that the earlier steps in the sanctification process in any way infringe upon the sufficiency of Christs work. In the same way, our final sanctification of Purgatory in no way infringes upon Christs work or implies in any way that it were insufficient. Quite the contrary. Rather than imply insufficiency, it is precisely because of Christs sacrifice that we are permitted the final sanctification of Purgatory in the first place!
Purgatory is the final application of Christs righteousness. It is the final sanctification, made possible because of Jesus. It is the necessary removal of any remaining self-centeredness and/or disordered self-love that we are still clinging to at the end of our earthly life.
Jesus, the One Mediator, bridges the gap for us between our selfish, sinful earthly life and our selfless, sinless heavenly existence in eternity. Through purgatorial purifi-
cation, Jesus truly cleanses us in His precious blood, making us fit for heavenly glory.
There are only two points of purgatorial doctrine which the Catholic Church teaches infallibly. The first is that Purgatory involves pain or discomfort. This need not be difficult to understand. Its not as though a vengeful God is exacting His pound of flesh from poor sinners who didnt suffer enough in life. Thats not it at all. In fact, Purgatory also involves great joy. Because not only are those experiencing purgatorial sanctification literally at heavens door, but they can also rejoice in the knowledge that they are also, finally, in no danger of falling back into sin. In fact there is no teaching that says purgatorial pain outweighs purgatorial joy.
For some the pain or discomfort of Purgatory might be more easily understood as what happens when the fiery love of Jesus burns away all the impurities remaining in our souls.
For others, Scripture might be helpful for understanding. Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay or straw, the work of each will come to light, for the Day will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each ones work. If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a reward. But is someones work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire. (1 Cor. 3: 12-15) Being saved through fire is certainly a painful experience.
Theres also this: ...for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges. (Heb. 12: 11) So Scripture clearly shows that the process of sanctification can be painful. And as weve seen earlier, Purgatory is simply the final step in that process.
The last point of doctrine the Catholic Church teaches infallibly on this topic is that the souls in Purgatory are benefited by our prayers for them. This last point also not only has scriptural support, but it too was practiced from the beginning by Christians. In fact, it was practiced even before the birth of Christianity, by the Jews.
Just like the New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old Testament, so too is Christianity the fulfillment of Judaism. In Judaism prayers for the dearly departed are whats known as a kaddish. It is a prayer recited in the synagogue services by mourners for the benefit of the deceased loved ones. This practice continues even today in Judaism.
Scripturally we see prayer for the dead in both the Old as well as New Testaments. In the Old Testament we have: In doing this, [offering prayer for the dead], he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view; for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death. But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin. (2 Maccabees 12: 43-46)
Now there are those Christians, (various Protestant sects, Fundamentalists, Evangelicals, and other so-called Bible Christians), who dispute that 2 Maccabees is scriptural. They claim its not scriptural, and therefore flippantly dismiss this passage. Whether or not 2 Maccabees is inspired Scripture is another topic altogether and will not be addressed here. But those Christians who dont believe that it is miss a very important fact. Even if it werent scriptural, (though Catholics know it is), that wouldnt change the historicity of the text--the fact that ancient Jews, just like modern Jews and the vast majority of Christians (Catholic and Eastern Orthodox), offer prayer for the dead with the understanding that it benefits them.
The only way that prayers could possibly benefit the dead is in the case of Purgatory. Because prayers cant benefit souls in hell, they are ******. Conversely, prayers for souls already in heaven are superfluous.
We see prayer for the dead in the New Testament as well, a fact missed by most Protestants and even some Catholics: May the Lord grant mercy to the family of Onesiphorus because he often gave me new heart and was not ashamed of my chains...May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. (2 Tim 1: 16-18) Paul is offering prayer for his deceased friend, which only makes sense if Onesiphorus can benefit from such prayer. And once again, that makes sense only in the case of Purgatory.
Amazingly, there are some confused Christians today who mistakenly accuse the Catholic Church of making up or inventing the doctrine of Purgatory and prayers for the dead. Apparently they are unaware of the scriptural evidence, unaware of historical Christianity, and also unaware of the practices of Judaism, which is the parent or precursor of Christianity.
The truth is that it was the Reformers and their offspring who made up and invented the practice of not praying for the dead and ejecting the doctrine on Purgatory. This truth can be demonstrated by the fact that belief in the final purification and prayers for the dead was almost entirely undisputed until the advent of Protestantism in the 16th century.
This sad truth is further evidenced by the fact that even today the final purification along with prayers for the dead is believed and practiced by all of Christendom, except by most Protestant denominations and the countless independent and/or non-denominational so-called Bible Christians that have splintered off from them in the five centuries since the Reformation.
In summary then, Purgatory is the name that Catholics give to the purification of the elect--those saved by Jesus Christ. It occurs at the end of our earthly life and prior to heavenly glory. It is the final application of Christs righteousness, the final stage in the sanctification process.
Because we continue to sin in this life but will not be sinning in heaven, (a fact even non-Catholics recognize), between death and heavenly glory must come purification. It cannot be otherwise, if we are to believe all of Scripture.
Purgatory is thus the final sanctification of the believer who has been saved by Jesus Christ and whose destination is heavenly glory. It is the transition into glory, the removal of any remaining attachment to or desire for sin. When its completed all that remains in us is pure, total, perfect love of God, with complete obedience and submission to His Divine Will. It is then, and ONLY then, that we are fit for heaven (Rev. 21: 27). Praise Jesus for giving this great gift to us!!
