(1Corinthians 3:15)
“If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”
Roman Catholics often appeal to this passage in support of the doctrine of temporary punishment for those not good enough to go directly to Heaven. They point to the fact that it speaks of people who “suffer loss” when their works are “burned” by fire and yet they are eventually “saved.” Is the doctrine of Purgatory biblical?
The short answer is no— it’s not biblical. And to understand why it’s not, we need only to examine what Catholicism teaches and then investigate it throughly according to Scripture. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines purgatory as a “purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven,” which is experienced by those “who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified” (CCC 1030). It notes that “this final purification of the elect . . . is entirely different from the punishment of the damned” (CCC 1031).
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Purgatory is “a place or condition of temporal punishment for those who, departing this life in God’s grace, are not entirely free from venial faults, or have not fully paid the satisfaction due to their transgressions.”
Catholicism claims that there will be a personal judgment (Hebrews 9:27) and then a general judgment (Matthew 25:31-32). It is between the personal and general judgments, then, that the soul is purified of the remaining consequences of sin (Luke 12:59). They claim that Limbo is found in 1Corinthians 3:15 and 1Peter 3:19. Catholicism also claims that the “Bible” approves praying for the dead in 2Maccabees 12:43–45. Further, they claim Revelation 21:27 is more proof that a future cleansing in Purgatory will take place. They also claim that sanctification involves suffering (Romans 5:3–5), and purgatory is the final stage of sanctification that some of us need to undergo before we enter heaven. In 1999, Pope John Paul II confirmed that purgatory is a condition of existence rather than a place.
The false doctrine of Purgatory simply cannot be defended using Scripture. Purgatory is a product of medieval scholasticism. The pious lived their lives in a continuous cycle of sin, sacramental confession, priestly absolution, penance, and grace. Nowhere does the Bible teach the doctrine of purgatory. This doctrine is contrary to many facts of Scripture. Hell is a permanent place of “everlasting fire” (Matthew 25:41). It entails “everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord” (2Thessalonians 1:9). Jesus declared it is a place where the fire “shall never be quenched” and where the body “does not die” (Mark 9:45,48).
Once one goes to Hell, that person can never get out. Jesus said there is “a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass” from one side to the other cannot do so (Luke 16:26). This is true even if they regret being there (Luke 16:23,28).
The doctrine of purgatory is an insult to the all-sufficiency of the death of Christ on the cross. When Jesus died for our sins (1Corinthians 15:3) He announced, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Looking forward to the cross, He prayed to the Father, “I have finished the work which you have given Me to do” (John 17:4). Hebrews informs us that “after He [Jesus] had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, [He] sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12). “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14).
The only “purgatory” ever to be experienced was experienced by Christ on the cross when He purged our sins. Hebrews declares that “when He had by Himself purged our sins, [He] sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3).
The doctrine of purgatory is based on the apocryphal book of 2Maccabees (12:46, Douay) which says it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins. But this second century B.C. book never claimed to be inspired, nor did any of the apocryphal books. 1Maccabees even disclaims inspiration (1Maccabees 9:27). These apocryphal books were never accepted by Judaism as inspired. Neither Jesus nor the New Testament writers ever cited them as inspired. Even Jerome, the Roman Catholic translator of the great Latin Vulgate Bible, rejected 2Maccabees along with the other apocryphal books. Moreover, 2Maccabees was not officially added to the Bible by the Roman Catholic Church until A.D. 1546, some 29 years after Luther started his reformation during which he spoke out against purgatory and prayers for the dead. Furthermore, even when 2Maccabees was added by Rome to the Bible (along with other apocryphal books), it rejected another apocryphal book which spoke against prayers for the dead. This is called cherry-picking, and it was done strategically with the agenda of pushing their false doctrines. 2Esdras (called 4Esdras by Roman Catholics), speaking of the day of death, declares, “no one shall ever pray for another on that day” (2Esdras 7:105). Rejecting this book and accepting Maccabees manifests the arbitrariness of the decision to choose books to support doctrines they had added to the Bible. And this is only made even more evident by the fact that the Greek and Latin churches clarified the concept during the Council of Florence in A.D. 1438 yet the Council of Florence was not decisive regarding purgatory, and ultimately the Greek church rejected the doctrine. And the Latin church only affirmed purgatory at the Council of Trent in 1563 and included the obligation of the faithful to intercede for the souls in purgatory through prayers, eucharistic celebration, almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance. An examination of history reveals that the Council of Trent was a reaction to the reformation in order to push a false agenda.
In 1Corinthians, Paul is not speaking of purgatory, but of the “judgment seat of Christ,” before which all believers must come to receive their rewards “for the things done in the body” (2Corinthians 5:10). All our “work” will be “revealed by fire.” And “if anyone’s work… endures, he will receive a reward (1Corinthians 3:13-14). And “if anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss [of reward]; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through the fire (1Corinthians 3:14-15). Since salvation from Hell is by grace, not by works (Romans 4:5; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7), it is clear that this passage is speaking about the “work” and “reward” of the believer for serving Christ, not about any alleged purgatory where they (instead of Christ) suffer for their sins.
1Peter 3:19 does not mean that a person can be saved after he/she dies. Hebrews 9:27 is clear that there is no second chance after death: “it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.” The book of Revelation records the Great White Throne Judgment in which those who are not found in the book of life are sent to the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15). And again, Luke informs us that, once a person dies, he goes either to Heaven (Abraham’s bosom) or to Hell and that there is a great gulf fixed “so that those who want to pass” from one to the other cannot (Luke 16:26). The whole urgency of responding to GOD in this life before we die gives further support to the fact that there is no hope beyond the grave (John 3:36; 5:24).
There are other ways to understand 1Peter 3:19 without involving a second-chance at salvation after death. In fact, the previous verse says, “For Christ also died for sins once for all” (1Peter 3:18). Some claim that it is not clear that the phrase “spirits in prison” even refers to human beings, arguing that nowhere else is such a phrase used of human beings in Hell. They claim these spirits are fallen angels, since the “Sons of God” (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7) were “disobedient… in the days of Noah” (Genesis 6:1-4; 1Peter 3:20). Peter may be referring to this in 2Peter 2:4, where he mentions the angels sinning immediately before he refers to the Flood (2Peter 2:5). In response, it is argued that angels cannot marry (Matthew 22:30), and they certainly could not intermarry with human beings, since angels, being spirits, have no reproductive organs. However, it is clear that the angels are spirits (Hebrews 1:14).
Another interpretation of 1Peter 3:19 is that this refers to Christ’s announcement to departed spirits of the triumph of His resurrection, declaring to them the victory He had achieved by His death and resurrection, as pointed out in the previous verse (1Peter 3:18). Some suggest that Jesus offered no hope of salvation to these “spirits in prison.” They point to the fact that the text does not say Christ evangelized them, but simply that He proclaimed the victory of His resurrection to them. They insist that there is nothing stated in this passage about preaching the Gospel to people in Hell. In response to this view, others note that in the very next chapter, Peter, apparently extending this subject, does say “the Gospel was preached also to those who are dead” (1Peter 4:6). This view fits the context here, is in accord with the teaching of other verses (Ephesians 4:8; Colossians 2:15), and avoids the major problems of the other view.
But is the Gospel preached to people after they die? In response it should be noted, first, that there is no hope held out anywhere in Scripture for salvation after death. Death is final, and there are only two destinies— Heaven or Hell, between which there is a great gulf that no one can pass over. So, whatever preaching to the “dead” may mean, it does not imply that one can be saved after he/she dies. Also, this is an unclear passage, subject to many interpretations, and no doctrine should be based on an ambiguous passage like this. The difficult texts should be interpreted in the light of the clear ones and not the reverse. Further, there are other possible interpretations of this passage that do not conflict with the teaching of the rest of Scripture. (1) For example, it is possible that it refers to those who are now dead who heard the Gospel while they were alive. In favor of this is cited the fact that the Gospel “was preached” (in the past) to those who “are dead” (now, in the present). (2) Or, some believe this might not be a reference to human beings, but to the “spirits in prison (angels) of 1Peter 3:19. (3) Still others claim that, although the dead suffer the destruction of their flesh (1Peter 4:6), yet they still live with GOD by virtue of what Christ did through the Gospel (namely, His death and resurrection). This victorious message was announced by Christ Himself to the spirit world after His resurrection (1Peter 3:18).
Revelation 21:27 states that “nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” But this is an either/or scenario. Because judgment comes immediately after death, you are either in the book of life or you are not. There is no cleansing period before judgment.
What does (Romans 5:3–5) actually mean and what is sanctification? In the biblical sense, the word “sanctification” relates directly to the Hebrew and Greek words for “holy” (qadosh and hagios respectively). Essentially, “to be holy” (sanctified) means “to belong to GOD.” GOD’s character defines the meaning of Holy. Only GOD is Holy. The description of “Holy” has no meaning apart from GOD. Humans (and things) become holy only as they belong to GOD. GOD opens the door into His presence, enabling sanctification (John 17:18; 1Corinthians 1:2; Hebrews 10:10), and He calls for His people not to violate His relational presence (2Corinthians 7:1; 2Timothy 2:21; Hebrews 12:14). Only the Holy Spirit within us sanctifies us. Paul says in Romans 8:9-10, “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.” But because our entire lifespan here on this earth is a progressive sanctification, it is possible in this life that the Spirit can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30) as well as quenched (1Thessalonians 5:19)— this is a devastating situation to the Christian’s power and sanctity. It is only after we receive our new resurrected bodies (Philippians 3:21; 1Corinthians 15:23,49) and dwell in the presence of the Lord (Revelation 21-22) that the ultimate sanctification occurs enabling us to live holy lives. Therefore, if a “purgatory” exists, it is this life here on this earth because we’re all being cleansed as we’re becoming progressively sanctified until glorification.
Expiation refers to the atonement of sin and the removal of guilt, while propitiation refers to the appeasement or satisfaction of wrath. Both ideas are present in the one Greek word hilasmos [hil-as-mos’] (and its cognates). Both expiation and propitiation are combined in the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. And if Jesus’s sacrifice was both the satisfaction of GOD’s wrath (Romans 3:25) and the atonement of sin and removal of guilt (Hebrews 7:27; 9:5,11-14,28; 10:10-18), then there would not be a purgatory after death. You are either in Christ or you are not.
Jesus died to pay the penalty for all of our sins (Romans 5:8). Isaiah 53:5 declares, “But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.” Jesus suffered for our sins so that we could be delivered from suffering. To say that we must also suffer for our sins is to say that Jesus’ suffering was insufficient. To say that we must atone for our sins by cleansing in Purgatory is to deny the sufficiency of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus (1John 2:2). The idea that those who are saved by grace through faith have to suffer for their sins after death is contrary to everything the Bible says about salvation.
The primary Scriptural passage Catholics point to for evidence of Purgatory is 1Corinthians 3:15, which says, “If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” In proper context (3:1-4:21), the specific verse under examination does not say that believers pass through the fire; rather, a believer’s works will pass through the fire. The works are tested in the fire, not the believer. And 3:11 specifically states that the foundation is Christ Jesus and all we do should be built on the Foundation. The person only suffers loss because he/she would have realized that his/her works was worthless if done with the wrong motives of boasting (3:21). The point Paul was making was that no human is better than any other human and we’re all doing works for the Kingdom, not to glorify ourselves. The Corinthians needed to learn that they ultimately belong to GOD, not to the leader who baptized them (1:13-17), who was himself only fulfilling GOD’s purposes (3:7,11; 4:1). They should, therefore, boast only in GOD (1:29,31). Just as Paul and Apollos work together for the advancement of the Gospel, so the Corinthians should stop boasting about their favorite Christian leader and build a united church. Even such items as gold, silver, and precious stones which were used to build Solomon’s great temple (1Chronicles 29:2) are subject to ruin just as Solomon’s temple was destroyed (2Kings 25:9). Work that Christians do in Christlike faith and obedience will survive and be rewarded; work done in the power of the flesh or in disobedience to Scripture will be burned up. Although those who have believed in Jesus have already been justified by faith (Romans 5:1) and will not face condemnation on the final day (John 5:24; Romans 8:1,33), GOD will still judge their works (Romans 14:10-12; 2Corinthians 5:10) and reward them accordingly (Matthew 6:1-6,16,18; 10:41-42). Paul’s point applies not just to church leaders but to anyone who contributes in any way to building up the church (1Corinthians 12:7,12-31; 14:12).
Purgatory, like many other Catholic dogmas, is based on a misunderstanding of the nature of Christ’s sacrifice. Catholics view the Mass / Eucharist as a re-presentation of Christ’s sacrifice because they fail to understand that Jesus’s once-for-all sacrifice was absolutely and perfectly sufficient (Hebrews 7:27). Catholics view meritorious works as contributing to salvation due to a failure to recognize that Jesus’s sacrificial payment has no need of additional “contribution” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Similarly, Purgatory is understood by Catholics as a place of cleansing in preparation for heaven because they do not recognize that because of Jesus’s sacrifice, we are already cleansed, declared righteous, forgiven, redeemed, reconciled, and sanctified.
The very idea of Purgatory and the doctrines that are often attached to it (prayer for the dead, indulgences, meritorious works on behalf of the dead, etc.) fail to recognize that Jesus’s death was sufficient to pay the penalty for all of our sins for all time. Jesus, who was GOD incarnate (John 1:1,14), paid an infinite price for our sins. Jesus died for our sins (1Corinthians 15:3). Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins (1John 2:2). To limit Jesus’s sacrifice to atoning for original sin or sins committed before salvation is an attack on the Person and Work of Christ Jesus. If we must, in order to be saved, pay for, atone for, or suffer because of our sins, then Jesus’s death was not a perfect, complete, and sufficient sacrifice.
For believers, after death is to be “away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:23). Take notice that Scripture does not say “away from the body, in Purgatory with the cleansing fire.” No— because of the perfection, completion, and sufficiency of Jesus’s sacrifice, we are immediately in the Lord’s presence after death, fully cleansed, free from sin, glorified, perfected, and ultimately sanctified.
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