Purgatory: Effecting Christ's Work on the Cross

Non-Catholic Christians often raise this objection to the doctrine of purgatory:

It insults the saving power of Christ's work on the cross, because only the cross saves -- not the cross PLUS purgatory or plus anything else.

The response is simple:

It is only through the blood of Christ on the cross that a sinner is saved in purgatory.

We face all kinds of trials and sufferings today, and these sufferings have a purifying effect on our souls (if we join them with Christ's sufferings).

The Apostle Peter speaks of the faithful who suffer through all kinds of trials, which

. . . have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:7)

Many scriptural passages speak to this idea of suffering as a purifying agent, bringing us to a more perfect union with God. That's not to say our suffering takes the place of Christ's suffering, or somehow insults the efficacy of His saving work, but rather is used by Jesus -- it becomes an extension of His own suffering.

We know that "without holiness no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14) and that "[N]othing impure will ever enter" the glorified kingdom (Revelation 21:27). Yet most of us will die with some impurity, and without perfect holiness.

Therefore it stands to reason: Just as Christ uses our present sufferings to bring us closer to Him, so Christ can complete our conversion to holiness after we die through purgatorial (purging) sufferings.

Jesus loves us so much that He won't refuse us entrance to heaven even if we die as well-intentioned sinners. He provides a way to clean us up, to purify our souls, so that we, as true sons and daughters, can see God face to face, as it were, and live with Him forever.

Don't confuse Purgatory with a "second chance." It is all part of the first and only. If you die as an enemy of God, then you are "frozen" in that spiritual state for eternity. But if you die in communion with God, even an imperfect one, that communion is locked in as well; it is only the imperfections, stains, and "spiritual dingleberries" that are burned away like chaff, leaving behind a soul that is pure and holy.

We can't know the exact nature of the "sufferings" of purgatory, for the Church doesn't define it. But I would guess that it "hurts good," since we know that all souls who enter purgatory are guaranteed entrance into heaven. Purgatory is God's gift to poor sinners, while hell is God's gift to those who ultimately reject Him.

Whether our conversion to holiness is completed before or after our death, it is singularly Jesus' work on the cross that makes our salvation possible. It is all grace. We just need to accept -- and not reject -- His grace by believing and acting on His Word, trusting in His perfect mercy and perfect justice.