The word itself “purgatory”, is not found anywhere in the bible. Its root comes from the word purging, as if to purge oneself of sin. It is defined as a place or state of punishment after death. According to Roman Catholic doctrine the souls of those who die in God’s grace may expiate venial sins or satisfy divine justice for the temporal punishment still due to remitted mortal sins.
However, the term itself “purgatory” negates what Christ did at the cross and resurrection. According to the bible the blood sacrifice of Christ was God’s judgment for all sin and placed upon His son. All sin in all of history was placed on the cross and the resurrection proved it became an acceptable sacrifice to God, our Father. (Romans 5:8-8-9). The blood of Jesus became our atonement before a Holy God. There is nothing we can ever do that would justify us before a Holy God, except our faith in what Christ did at the cross. We cannot earn our way into heaven or make up for any past sins.
The bible does state that prior to the resurrection all saints were asleep and we are not sure what this means. But in 1Samuel 28:9-19 it is clear the spirit of Samuel ascended out of the earth, at Saul’s request through a medium. There is no mention of purgatory in this passage, but rather Samuel states, “why have you disturbed me by bringing me up”?
Fast forward to Matthew 27:51-53, at the moment of Christ’s death on the cross the veil of the temple is torn in two, the earth quakes and rocks split open and graves were opened and many bodies of the saints who had “fallen asleep” were raised and coming out of the graves, but this was after Christ’s death.
The resurrection changed everything for all time. The sacrifice was acceptable and the resurrection took place, signifying God’s grace now at work (Ephesians 2:4-10) in the believer’s life.
A release of the power of God through His Spirit at this point forward in history (2,000 years ago) is now available to all who call upon the name of the Lord (Joel 2:32). All sin in the darkness of man’s heart (venial or mortal) has been placed on the cross and permanently forever changed the relationship between God and man.
God with us, Emanuel, is not just a sweet phase in a song, but literally God has entered into the heart of man through faith. This is what being “born again” in John chapter 3 that Jesus was meaning when He was speaking to Nicodemus. Our spirit through faith in what Christ did for us allows His Spirit to indwell us, making us a new person birthed within.
As believers, the moment we die we are accepted into God’s Kingdom without hesitation or any further justification. In fact, 2 Corinthians 5:8 states to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Our justification occurred the moment we became born again. He dealt with each of our sins at the moment we first believed. This is what the resurrection proved. There is no more need of any purification or purging oneself. Jesus did it all. That is why the veil in the temple was torn in two at the time of His death. No longer were we to worship God in a temple, because now our bodies would become the temple of the Holy Spirit (1Corinthians 6:19), God within us.
It also holds true regarding our friendship with God. Before the resurrection we are all friends of God, including non-believers yet to be saved, for we are all created in His image. Abraham was called a friend of God and Jesus called us friends when He was a man. But the resurrection changed all standing and position of reference for the saint. We are no longer just friends of God, but now we have become children of God. We have become heirs and joint heirs with Christ (Romans: 8:15-17). What a magnificent thought!!!