You are wrong actually. Luther included them in exactly the same location as the scholarly and wise St. Jerome wanted to put them (but was vetoed by a less than know-it-all Pope, which resulted in them being placed out of context with the rest of Scripture.
Likewise, the English translators followed both Jerome and Luther's lead and put them in the same place; between the old and new testament. These books were later removed by an act of British Parliament and by Anglicans in response to a very high paper tax.
Nope. Not Martin Luther.
So the argument against purgatory being tied to the removal of Maccabees (with the reference to praying for the dead) is invalid. Ever been to a Confessional Lutheran Funeral; from the commendation at the beginning of the service, until the end of the committal service, we do "Pray for the dead", but not to deliver them from purgatory, but to commend their eternal care, body and soul, to almighty God!
However, we do accept that the stain of original sin must be removed before we can enter heaven. This is not a process that takes a finite time, not years, not thousands of years as was once taught wrongly by the Catholic Church, but a mere instant.
On Friday we heard the Passion Gospel; the Good Thief crucified beside our Lord was given the assurance that "today, you will be with me in Paradise"; our Lord did not say 'once we take a few hundred years and roast the sin out of you, you will be with me in paradise'. Such was the result of misinformation; later, unscrupulous clergy, bishops and popes, saw it as a meas of generating income through the sale of indulgences and masses for the dead. Likewise, the whole practice of indulgences was gravely misused because some sold them as forgiveness for sins committed in the future; they then became a licence to sin for those wealthy enough to buy them.
To paraphrase Luther; 'if the Pope were truly Christian, out of charity, would he not spring the faithful from purgatory without charge or fees?'.
Seems like the bible says that "nothing impure shall enter the city [of God]" (Revelation 21:27) so there must be something that changes a person between death and going into the city. And Ephesians 5:5 says "For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person--such a man is an idolater--has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." so something has to happen to a person between death and inheriting in the kingdom of God, right?
So a purging of some sort must happen; some might argue that our sinful nature remains with our mortal body, while through the shedding of mortal flesh our souls become pure; yet Scripture tells us that our mortal bodies will be raised immortal on the last day; so they too must be free of the stain of sin.
The purpose of Christ's salvation was to restore in us the divine nature and to bring us back to the journey into theosis (becoming God-like beings, or little gods). To achieve this, our natures must be changed. Upon death, we meet the God who is love. The Scriptures describe Him as a "burning fire," and that fire is His love.
Like any fire, it consumes, and in this case, it consumes all that is not like it. Thus, any soul that comes into contact with the fire of God's love will be affected by it. All that is not like Christ shall be burned away and we shall be like Him.
There is no such place as Purgatory, but there is purgation by the fiery love of God which burns away all the dross in our lives. And you are reading that verse wrong. It says that he who is in Christ purifies himself...which is a lifelong process. It doesn't say we become pure like Christ. We must be changed, and this takes time and effort. To be instantly changed into what we are to become in Christ would kill us. We couldn't take it. Our salvation is a process, a journey, and purgation at the end of the journey is the finishing touches to our salvation and our journey into theosis.
Well stated.
