DAY 173
CHALLENGE
“The word ‘purgatory’ doesn’t appear in Scripture, which tells of only two destinies for man—heaven and hell. It doesn’t say anything about a third destiny or a second chance after death.”
DEFENSE
Something can be biblical even if the word isn’t used. Purgatory is not a third destiny or a second chance.
Many terms—like Trinity, original sin, and even Bible—were coined after the Bible was written but still express biblical realities.
Purgatory is the final purification God performs for those who died in his friendship but who are still impure. Thus it is not a third des- tiny besides heaven and hell. Everyone who goes to purgatory goes to heaven. It’s simply a stage preparing people so that they have the purity needed for heaven (cf. Heb. 12:14).
Neither is purgatory a “second chance” after death. “It is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Heb. 9:27). There are no second chances. You either die in God’s friendship or you don’t.
One biblical passage that alludes to purgatory is 2 Maccabees 12:38–46, in which Judah Maccabee discovers the bodies of men who fell in battle while fighting for the Lord, yet while also wearing pagan amulets. He then turns to prayer, asking that this sin might be blotted out, and he takes up a collection so that a sacrifice may be offered for them in Jerusalem. This reflects an awareness that by prayer the living can help those in need of purification after death.
This passage is not found in the Protestant Bible, but 1 Corinthians 3:11–15 is. In the latter passage, Paul speaks of how our works will be tested “with fire.” He says that if a person’s work survives, he will receive a reward, but “if any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” The person’s salvation is not in question, but Paul compares his experience to escaping through flames as he is purified from the impure works he performed in life.
TIP
Though the term “purgatory” is not always used, prayer for the dead so that they might be freed from the consequences of their sins is found in both Judaism and the different branches of Christianity. It is only in the Protestant community that the practice has been rejected.