"It is appointed to man once to die and then the judgement." Hebrews 9:27
If we have to go to a place to pay for our own sins that weren't covered on this earth or to "cleanse" ourselves in preparation for heaven....
....then that means that Jesus Christ's atonement does NOT cover our sins in full and his shed blood is not cleansing.
And that is a lie
You are correct!
The teaching of Purgatory is that the shed blood of Jesus Christ was not good enough to save man.
Man then upon death must go to a place called Purgatory so that he can work out his own salvation.
The term itself, "Purgatory" which literally means to purge or cleanse, did not come into existence until around 1175 - 1225 A.D. (dictionary.com).
The Biblical short answer is that the belief in a purgatory is completely void of any serious doctrinal support and did not come from God. It is a teaching that was first clearly expressed by the RCC as early as the Council of Florence (1431 - 1449 A.D.).
Just in case those reading these posts do not understand what Purgatory is.....
Catholics believe that some people retain a "stain" on their souls for sins they have committed even if they repented of them and asked for forgiveness.
That then means.....the shed blood of Jesus Christ was not good enough to cleans the sin of that person!
When they die this stain remains on their immortal soul
. Those whose stained souls are not considered worthy of eternal torment in the lake of fire, must still have them "cleaned" before entering God's presence.
The Catholic church's doctrinal solution to the problem (which they created) of a "dirty" soul is that it must enter an intermediary state of existence known as purgatory. Once there, a person must spend a short but unknown amount of time enduring sufferings in order to be purged from all sin and made spiritually clean.
That then is the act of working for one's own salvation.
It is only after this purging, according to the church, that a person is worthy enough to enter heaven and God's presence.
Now you, those who believe in this RCC traditional teaching are free to do so and I do not argue your freedom to do so.
I would however like to point out to all of you that the Scripture, however, does not mention or even hint at the existence of a spiritual "cleaning station" called purgatory! The word Purgatory is nowhere to be found in any Bible translation.
The teaching that some who ask God for forgiveness are not quite fully forgiven, and therefore must still be punished by Him is purgatory, is a complete mockery of Jesus' sacrifice and His shed blood for the remission of ALL sins of ALL humanity.!
Our Savior's sinless sacrifice as the Lamb of God makes possible the complete and total cleansing of all sins for those who repent (1John 1:7, 9, etc.).