Purgatory is NOW (Part 2)
By John Earp
In Part 1, we considered the crucial issues of justice, retribution, pardon/forgiveness, and restoration to the kingship of God over our lives as they pertain to the concept of purgatory, which is a Roman Catholic doctrine that says any residual sins of the believer must be purged or cleansed in a temporary place of punishment, a kind of refining fire that is claimed to make the imperfect believer perfected, so that he or she may eventually be granted full access to Heaven.
In this essay, we will examine one of the key texts which are often used as supposed support for the idea of a purgatorial state following death.
1 Corinthians 3:7 MEV So then neither is he who plants nor he who waters anything, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are laborers together with God: You are God’s vineyard; you are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which has been given to me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, but another builds on it. Now let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay another foundation than that which was laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble, 13 each one’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on the foundation endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss. But he himself will be saved, still going through the fire.
In the above passage, the inspired Apostle Paul speaks of his ministry and the ministries of others. The Corinthian Christians had fallen prey to what might today be called a “cult of personality.” That is, some were dividing and identifying with their favorite teacher or preacher. Some were even saying, “I am of Paul,” or, “I am of Apollos.” This is one of the first known instances of what are today known of as “sects” and “denominations.” As always, whenever one seeks to understand Scripture, CONTEXT is crucial, and must always guide our interpretation of a text. As is plain from the passage itself, Paul is refuting divisiveness within the people of God, and is speaking of the rewards that each will receive from God on the Day in which Jesus Christ will judge all his followers and ministers for the work of ministry they have done. The Day which shall reveal each one’s work is expressly stated as a singular day, and therefore the idea of a drawn-out process such as purgatory would at best have to be read into the passage and is not directly stated in the passage at all. So unless one perhaps might want to argue that purgatory will last just one day, this passage quite manifestly does not speak of purgatory.
Second, the fire that will reveal and test our works in this passage refers specifically to what kind of building of the kingdom has been accomplished by those who minister or serve in the kingdom, which of course all true Christians are called to be servants or ministers one way or another. The passage nowhere indicates a purging of sins from the believer’s life, but instead explicitly states that it our WORKS that will be revealed and tested and possibly burnt up if they are found to not be the quality necessary to endure the fire. If our works are revealed to be “wood, hay, or stubble,” (combustible, disposable, unenduring in value) they shall be burnt up, though Paul adds that even so, one’s soul shall be saved, even though his works shall all be burned up. An example of this might be, for instance, a pastor who is able to gain a large following through religious outreach, but who does not build faithfully upon the foundation of Christ. Many in our day are so focused on numbers, and are so afraid to offend people, that biblical doctrines downplayed in favor of topical lessons on “life principles,” “Success in life,” and so forth.
Some of the essential biblical doctrines which are downplayed so as not to offend people would be, repentance (wholeheartedly turning from all known sin) holiness (living a pure, set-apart, clean life by grace through faith in the LORD Jesus), and justification by faith alone through grace alone (true salvation). Of course, when the doctrine of unconditional eternal security is emphasized as well, ‘church’ then becomes essentially, “How to cope with life even though you can’t help continuing in sin until you die,” an equally unbiblical and deadly doctrine to the idea of having one’s sins taken care of in purgatory after you die.
A careful reading of 1 Cor. 3:16-17 literally deals the death blow to both the idea of purgatory being taught in this passage as well as the antinomian (live however you want and if you just have ‘faith,’ you’ll be saved no matter what you do):
1 Cor 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy. And you are His temple.
The people of God ARE the temple of God, the place where God has made His house of worship, His dwelling place, as revealed in the New Testament. The inspired apostle here says plainly, “If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him.” Many mistakenly call a physical man-made building constructed of brick or wood “the church.” This is a categorical error and is nowhere taught in the New Testament. The New Testament Church IS the people of God in whom God himself dwells. Since He is holy (pure and free from all sin), wherever He dwells is by definition holy as well. In this case, it is the people of God in whom the Spirit of God dwells that has been set apart for life and work in and for the kingdom of God. Paul doesn’t say that the one who destroys the temple will have to suffer in something like purgatory at all. Instead he says, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will DESTROY him.” How anyone can take destroy here to mean the same thing as “a loss of rewards,” or “purgatory” is just a study in making the Bible mean what one wishes it to mean. Destroy does not mean “rehabilitate,” or “purged.” It means what it means.
So three categories are given in this passage, with three differing kinds of people, all of whom will be judged. First, those whose works are said to be “gold, silver, or precious stones,” which will endure to final salvation and will receive a righteous reward from God for their works. Second are those who, while believers, will suffer loss as their works are revealed to be “wood, hay, or stubble.” Their works are not precious in God’s sight. They will have had genuine faith, but their works were not worthy of the kingdom. These shall be saved, even though they shall receive little to no rewards, and their works shall be burned up on a singular day. The third category, which is the most concerning, are those who “destroy” the temple of God, whom God says He will destroy. This is obviously not just a believer whose works had no enduring value in God’s sight. These are those who destroy the kingdom of God. An example of this might possibly be a sexual predator who charms his way into churches, even posing as a minister, but who commits sexual immorality with women (or men) or even becomes a child molester. Recent years have brought to light the terribly painful exposures of many perverts within churches of many denominations. The use and abuse of others for sexual gratification while claiming to be a minister of God is surely one of the worst forms of sin imaginable, and is of course destructive to the church (the people) who are victimized by such crimes. Surely the hottest place in Hell awaits such Satanically inspired monsters!
This passage lends no support at all for the concept of having one’s remaining sins purged out of them after death. At most, it teaches that all will be judged for their works in a Day, elsewhere referred to as our appearance before the Judgment Seat of Christ.
We will continue next week on this very important topic concerning how you and I and everyone else will some day face the perfect judgment of God for the deeds we have done, the lives we have lived, whether for good or evil. In closing, may I leave you with the following verses, which show that we are to be purified in this life and not in the next?
1 John 3:2 NIV Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. 4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
Note, the purifying of those who have the hope of Christ’s return in their hearts is expressly connected to having the hope of Christ’s return in them. At Christ’s return, when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as he is. It manifestly does NOT say that, “After you have suffered long and hard enough through purgatory, you shall be like Him, for you shall then see Him as he is.” After Christ comes back to Earth, the Scriptures reveal that He will judge all people, whether good or evil, and that judgement will be in ONE day. If the doctrine of purgatory were true, this passage would instead have to say, “He that suffers long enough after death will eventually be purified sufficiently to enter Heaven.” To the contrary, the inspired Apostle John plainly says that the one who has the hope of Christ’s RETURN in him purifies himself, even as He (the LORD) is pure. This purification can and will only happen BEFORE Christ returns, not after. Therefore, purgatory defies both the clear statements of Scripture and the basic logic implied in those Scriptures.