What Happens After You Die?Sýnishorn

Is There Such a Thing as Purgatory?

This is a concept taught primarily by the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. Today, when someone says he is in “limbo,” he means that he is stuck between where he is and where he wants to be. This is the idea behind the Catholic notion of purgatory. There, people who are already saved and at peace with the Church go to pay penance or express sorrow over their sins for the purpose of purifying and perfecting themselves to be in God’s presence. The length of stay in purgatory can last for a few hours under mild circumstances or for thousands of years in “hell-like” conditions.

Catholic leaders don’t see this place as punishment from God but as an act of God’s mercy. They suggest that without it, it would be impossible for most believers in Christ to go to heaven in God’s actual presence. Even though Christ has forgiven all sins, believers must approach God on a continual basis to receive that forgiveness. This is why Catholics go to “confession.”

Catholics believe the spirits of Christians who die with sins not addressed do not go directly into the presence of God but rather go to a place or state of purgatory—basically an in-between place for believers—where they are given the chance to make up for the sins they did not confess during Life Now. Once sufficient penance has been offered, the believer is taken into the presence of God to join up with the other saints. Believers who are alive can pray and invite a priest to pray on their behalf to shorten their loved one’s stay in purgatory.

As for me, while I have great respect for the pope and the Catholic Church on a number of issues, I do not put their teachings on the same authoritative level as the Bible. Therefore, I don’t find enough evidence to suggest there is such a place as purgatory or a need for such a place. I think this viewpoint underestimates all that Christ’s work on the cross did for us.

When Christians’ physical bodies die, our spirits are presented to the presence of Christ without blemish and free from accusation. I certainly deserve hell—and even purgatory, if it existed—but thanks to the grace of God, the righteousness of Christ is charged to my account.