Displaying all 9 Forum Posts for the Thread:

Is this purgatory?

2010-05-21 06:57 PM

John_O
Dallas, TX
Posts: 8

Any chance we are in purgatory right now?

2010-05-22 08:57 AM

MrWonder
Medium City, TX
Posts: 226

Hi John,

I had to smile at that, because it certainly is a way of looking at it.

Insofar as the Catholic teaching of purgatory goes, no, this isn't it. But if you choose instead to see purgatory as the place you go before one's eternal destiny is decided, well yes, this is it, because it is here and now that we make our choice to serve God or self, sin, and ultimately satan.

I would not use the word "purgatory" however. I just call it "life". But in the sense stated above, I can see where some would call it that.

MrWonder

2010-10-20 10:23 PM

Dancerman
Glendale, CA
Posts: 10

MrWonder Wrote: Hi John,

I had to smile at that, because it certainly is a way of looking at it.

Insofar as the Catholic teaching of purgatory goes, no, this isn't it. But if you choose instead to see purgatory as the place you go before one's eternal destiny is decided, well yes, this is it, because it is here and now that we make our choice to serve God or self, sin, and ultimately satan.

I would not use the word "purgatory" however. I just call it "life". But in the sense stated above, I can see where some would call it that.

MrWonder

Purgatory isn't a place to "go before one's eternal destiny is decided." If you're in Purgatory, you're going to Heaven. Purgatory is a Place?, time?, state? where/ when the soul bound for Heaven is cleansed of all impurities or stain of sin. Because the Bible says that nothing unclean can enter there.

2010-10-21 10:03 AM

ChristyR
Denton, TX
Posts: 197

Hi Dancerman,

Your response is interesting. If purgatory is the place that you go to be cleansed of all sins before heaven, does that mean that Jesus' death was insufficient?

Jesus did suffer and die in order to cleans the whole world's sins,after all. Why is purgatory needed on top of that?

Thanks!

Christy

2010-10-21 03:17 PM

Dancerman
Glendale, CA
Posts: 10

Does the death of Jesus save those who oppose him? Those who reject him? Those who say they follow him yet continue to do the convenient rather than the correct?

Jesus died to save the world but there are those who will not accept that salvation. Though we may follow Christ, we are still human. We sin. We can be cleansed if we confess our sins but we still have to make "reparations?" for the sins we have committed.

For instance, if I back out of my driveway and hit a car parked on the other side of the street (I live on a narrow street,) and apologize to the owner of that car and he forgives me, can I just go on my way as if nothing happened? No. Although I am forgiven, I still have to pay for the damages I have done.

If at one time I have a "conversion" experience and then later start to backslide, will I still go to heaven and not face any consequences?

You ask the question as if you were told that once you profess your faith in Christ, all your sins, past, present, and future are completely forgiven. Think about it, if you sin after your conversion experience, then what you have done in effect, is rejected that salvation which was/is offered to you. God cannot force you to accept Him. Your rejection (sin) could be minor or major. The minor sins can be cleansed in Purgatory. The major? Well, let's just say that the fires of "Gehenna" are going to last a long time (forever.)

2010-10-25 12:19 PM

ChristyR
Denton, TX
Posts: 197

Unless you are a death row inmate, and you accept God into your heart right before you are killed.... the chances of you sinning between when you accept jesus into your heart and the time you die are 1000 to 1. To err is human.... it's basically impossible for a person not to sin.

So, do your believe that everyone goes to purgatory? (with the possible exception of death row inmates...)

Thanks for helping me understand.

2010-10-26 07:36 PM

Dancerman
Glendale, CA
Posts: 10

Christy,

Your reply has nothing to do with my answer. I never said "everyone goes to purgatory."

Death row inmates? What?

In/With God, there is forgiveness of sin.

I do not pretend to know all about this subject and will be the first to tell you so. Neither will I say that the things I write are Church doctrine. I express my opinions and feelings, nothing more.

The death row inmate has just as much a chance of going to heaven as you or I do. Who can say when a person repents? Repentance comes from the heart and God sees into our hearts.

A person who comits a mortal sin and shows no repentance has doomed him/herself to Hell. That is not the doing of God. It is the person doing it to him/herself.

If my son disowned me and the rest of the family, would he stop being my son? No. would he be welcomed back? Yes. However, if he dies with/in this rejection, all my love and that of my family will never have done him any good.

2010-10-27 03:44 PM

ChristyR
Denton, TX
Posts: 197

I know you didn't say that everyone was going to go to purgatory... I am just trying to understand what you were saying.

Chances are that anyone who doesn't know the exact moment they are going die... will sin between the time they accept Jesus (or ask forgiveness) and their death. (I was using death row inmates as an example of someone who would becoming a Christian, or ask for forgiveness etc, right before death. )

In your opinion, do all of those people who sinned in between asking forgiveness/accepting jesus and death (probably the vast majority) go to purgatory?

2011-05-31 09:36 AM

MrWonder
Medium City, TX
Posts: 226

NO ONE is going to purgatory because there is no such place to go to.