Giselle

Is Purgatory Hell? Is it Even in the Bible?

Growing up Catholic, I was led to believe that if you didn’t go to confession each week or even go to mass on Sundays, you’d go to hell. But if you were good, and you observed all the rules and rituals of the Catholic Church, then you’d go to Heaven — eventually. You first needed to spend some time in Purgatory. How do you get out of Purgatory? You supposedly rack up “grace points” by going to confession, mass, saying your “Our Fathers” and “Hail Marys”, and relatives can pray and even buy you out of Purgatory with Indulgences.

Does Purgatory Exist?

In one word — NO. Purgatory was invented by the Catholic Church leaders in the Middle Ages after Jesus died for our sins — at the Council of Trent.

Then there was the period of the Renaissance in Europe and the start of global exploration. Church building was at its height and the church needed money to build and fund explorations. That’s why they invented Purgatory. Yes, men invented it. It doesn’t exist.

Basically, Purgatory is not “better than hell and worse than Heaven.” The church based it all on the fact that humans are not perfect — we sin. And no matter how many good works we did, we still were not good enough to get into Heaven — no one is. So, when you die, you go to Purgatory.

The only problem is that it doesn’t exist. It’s not anywhere in the New Testament which tells us clearly how to get into Heaven — by the Grace of God and belief in Jesus Christ.

Purgatory: The Biggest Ponzi Scheme Ever

How do you shorten your time in Purgatory? The church issued indulgences: parishioners bought them to guarantee a shorter stay in Purgatory. People could even purchase them for family members — even after they were dead. The problem with all this was it was all lies fabricated by a hierarchy of powerful men who wanted to live richly and build beautiful cathedrals.

“When a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from Purgatory springs!

What collectors said in churches when selling indulgences

Martin Luther, the Great Reformer, saw the whole indulgence scheme for what it was and that started the Protestant Reformation. Luther discovered the Gospel truth simply by reading the Gospels.

Indulgences still exist in the form of Catholic masses for the dead. A former priest tells the story of a woman who asked him after her father’s funeral, “How many masses do I have to buy to get him out of Purgatory?” The priest then did some research and discovered the truth and eventually quit the Catholic Church.

When the Pope first got on Twitter, he promised if you followed him, you’d spend less time in purgatory. You don’t believe me? Google it.

Proof that Purgatory Doesn’t Exist

You won’t find the word “Purgatory” or any concept like it mentioned at all in the New Testament. What you do find is proof that if you believe that Jesus is Christ and that He died once and for all for the forgiveness of your sins and if you repent of your sins, you will have a 1-way, non-stop ticket to Heaven. You don’t layover in a place that don’t exist. Here is the Gospel Truth…

Just Before He Raised Lazarus from the Dead

Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”

John 11:25-26

Jesus said, “…live, even after dying…” Not suffer, then live. Jesus suffered on the cross for us — in our place. He was our Redeemer.

At the Last Supper

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.

John 14:1-3 NLT

Jesus said, “In my Father’s house (or home)”. I hate to burst your bubble, but God is not in Purgatory. He is in Heaven and Jesus was resurrected to defeat sin and death and He is preparing a place for His believers. Are you good enough to have a seat at God’s table? Not without Jesus! Not convinced yet?

At the Cross

When Jesus was crucified, there were two criminals hanging on crosses on either side of Him.

One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”

But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Luke 23:39-43 NLT

Notice Jesus didn’t say, “But first, since you were a criminal, you have to spend some time in Purgatory and your family can buy your way into Heaven.” Are you starting to see the light?

The Roman Catholic Church is Wrong

When it comes to salvation, the Catholic Church is just plain wrong. You don’t have to come under Rome to come under Jesus. Requiring you to go to confession each week just to be able to receive communion in mass is wrong.

It’s not where you go to church, it’s whether or not you’ve accepted the free gift of salvation. That’s what’s important. Without accepting Jesus as your personal savior, you will end up in only one place — hell. And no amount of money, no amount of prayers can get you from hell to heaven once you’re dead. That’s the hard truth…

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

Colossians 2:13-14

Is Purgatory Hell?

Considering that it doesn’t exist and there are only 2 options after your life here on earth is over — Heaven or Hell — then, yes, Purgatory is Hell. If you’re not going to Heaven, you’re going to Hell.

If Purgatory exists, then Jesus suffered and sacrificed His life for nothing.

More on the Truth About Purgatory….

If you want the assurance of a 1-way, non-stop ticket to Heaven and that you won’t be left behind, this is what you have to do…

Believe. Repent. Be Baptized. Receive the Holy Spirit.

  • Believe — have Faith — that Jesus is the Christ and He died taking your sins away forever and that He rose from the dead 3 days later.
  • Repent of your sins — stop sinning! Do a complete 180 in your life and surrender your life to Him.
  • Be Baptized — show the world and yourself that you have died to your old life and are born again in Christ.
  • Receive the Holy Spirit in your heart.

Invite Jesus into Your Heart and Receive the Gift and Confident Hope of Eternal Life…

Pray this prayer humbly and wholeheartedly…

“Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I believe You died for my sins. Please forgive me. Right now, I turn from my sins and open the door of my heart and life to you. I confess You as my personal Lord and Savior. I will follow you for the rest of my life. Thank You for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart -- let Him in!

I’m a Survivor! Are you?

Soli Deo Gloria — to God Alone be the Glory!

Disclaimer: Neither I, Giselle Aguiar, nor Seek the Truth, have any control over any advertising that may appear and I do not receive any payment or consideration for it. Ads and “related” links come from WordPress, not from Seek the Truth.

Published by Giselle

I grew up Catholic, then became a prodigal -- as lost and anyone could be. After finding myself in an impossible situation, I prayed to God for help. That led me on a quest for the truth about God. Unknowingly, I ended up in a Progressive Church -- United Church of Christ. They were very friendly, took my in and they became my church family. Not teaching salvation directly, they indirectly got me to start reading the Bible. Fast forward to the late 90s. The whole world was worried about Y2K. The world was supposedly going to end when the clocks on every computer turned to 2000. Consequently, that got me interested in Bible Prophecy. If this was the end of the world, certainly the Bible, the Word of God, would have answers to my questions. Then, in a catalog, I saw the book, "Left Behind". I was intrigued. I read it. There was a pastor who was left behind after the Rapture of the Christian born-again believers. Huh?! A pastor?! He said he had book knowledge of Jesus. But he didn't know Jesus in his heart. Wise authors put the sinners prayer at the end of that chapter. I though to myself, "Am I going to get left behind?" I didn't know. I wasn't sure. I prayed the prayer. At that moment, I was saved. I had my heavenly passport stamped. My transformation started. The problem was that I was still attending the Progressive church where they did not teach the true way to be saved. It took me 11 years for me to truly listen to God and follow HIM only. I was finally baptized AGAIN in 2006. In 2019, I heard the Holy Spirit prompting me to become a Voice Crying in the Wilderness preparing the way of the Lord. So I started this blog and podcast. Listen/watch my full testimony.

54 comments

  1. I am a Roman Catholic who has lately discovered what that means.I happened to read this passage from Matthew’s Gospel.
    “Matthew 5:25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.”
    (NRSV, Catholic Edition Bible, eBook Kindle Edition. )
    Verse 26 somehow struck me as referring to Purgatory.Believe me, I had not read anything on purgatory before. The Good thief on the cross didn’t have to go through purgatory, I guess, because he had already expiated for his sins by his suffering on the cross. Don’t forget, he was crucified and his bones were broken to expedite his death.
    And later I did some research on the internet to find Biblical references on purgatory and this is what I came across:
    2Maccabeees 12: 39 On the next day, as had now become necessary, Judas and his men went to take up the bodies of the fallen and to bring them back to lie with their kindred in the sepulchres of their ancestors. 40 Then under the tunic of each one of the dead they found sacred tokens of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. And it became clear to all that this was the reason these men had fallen. 41 So they all blessed the ways of the Lord, the righteous judge, who reveals the things that are hidden; 42 and they turned to supplication, praying that the sin that had been committed might be wholly blotted out. The noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened as the result of the sin of those who had fallen. 43 He also took up a collection, man by man, to the amount of two thousand drachmas of silver, and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. In doing this he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection. 44 For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. 45 But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, so that they might be delivered from their sin. NRSV, Catholic Edition BibleKindle Edition.
    I guess this book is there only in the Catholic canon.
    One should remember that the New Testament books were compiled by the Catholic church. It is more like its publication, as St .John mentions in his Gospel at the end: John 20: 31, But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. Personally, I believe in the dogma of purgatory, I belive in the true presence in the Eucharist, and I believe in the cleansing effect of the sacrament of confession. I will not exchange these for anything the world has to offer.

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    • Hi, Neofito, thank you for your comments. One of the problems we have with all the denominations stems from trying to interpret the Bible.
      1. Matthew 5:25: you’re reading too much into it. Everywhere else that Jesus speaks about Heaven he calls it “paradise”, ‘My Father’s House”, etc.
      2. Maccabees is the Old Testament and the old Jewish law which Jesus came to fulfill. He said, “It is finished,” on the cross and when He did that, the curtain that separate the people from God in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
      Purgatory simply does not exist. It was created by the church leaders in the Middle Ages to sell “indulgences” so that they could build bigger cathedrals. That’s all. If it sounds like bilking people, yes, it is.
      Check out: The 7 Last Words of Christ – A Walk Through Holy Week: https://giselleaguiar.wordpress.com/2020/04/10/good-friday-the-7-last-words-of-jesus-christ/
      Why did Jesus have to Die?
      https://giselleaguiar.com/2020/01/15/why-did-jesus-have-to-die/
      I’m praying for you,
      Giselle

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      • Hi Giselle, thank your for your dedication to Scripture and for taking an active role in engaging in Christian dialogue.

        I find it interesting that you’ve said here that one of the problems we have with all the denominations stems from trying to interpret the Bible.

        Why do you find that to be problematic and yet you proceed to do exactly that and interpret the Bible for us?
        Why is it okay for you to interpret the Bible but the other 40,000 different Christian denominations are “problematic”?

        Why is your interpretation correct and by what authority? If you say by the authority of Scripture, so will all the other 40,000 different denominations and yet they can’t all have it right.

        In fact, there can only be two possibilities here; either everyone has it wrong or possibly one of them can have it right and all the others are wrong somewhere.

        One thing is certain, they can’t all be right but yet they all think they are.

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      • You have to depend on the Holy Spirit as your key to discern whose teaching is the correct interpretation of the Bible. I study and research deeply before I write each article. I trust the Holy Spirit to warn me if what I’m hearing is false. I’m just a voice crying in the wilderness of the Internet, by the authority of the Holy Spirit — seek the truth. I encourage everyone to study the Bible for themselves and to repent and invite Jesus into their hearts. With the Holy Spirit, they too will discern the truth. Only Jesus through the Holy Spirit is right.

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  9. […] When someone asks if you’re “born again”, how do you answer? Yes? How do you know? If you say, “Well, I’m Catholic, so I was born again when I was baptized as a baby.” Sorry, that’s wrong. That is a false teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. If you were baptized as a baby, that does not mean you are saved and are going to Heaven when you die. (By the way, you’re not going to Purgatory because it doesn’t exist!) […]

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  15. Perhaps the word was coined in the fifteenth century, but purgatory were invented in the fifteenth century, why would the Orthodox believe in atonement for the dead, when the Great Schism occurred in 1054? In 419, St. Augustine wrote: “Temporal punishments are suffered by some in this life only, by some after death, by some both here and hereafter, but all of them before that last and strictest judgment. But not all who suffer temporal punishments after death will come to eternal punishments, which are to follow after that judgment”

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  20. Nope. I’ll be address purgatory in a few days. I started my series on where the Roman Catholic Church went wrong and strayed from the truth of the salvation of Jesus Christ. Yesterday – infant baptism, today, paganism, tomorrow when Purgatory was invented and why. I’ll show you proof.

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