It’s Holy Week and yesterday was Palm Sunday. I heard Catholics singing some Protestant hymns like “Amazing Grace” during a funeral. Some Catholic hymns really hit a message such as “Tell the World of His Love” (during World Youth Day 1995), “Sing to the Mountains”, “Here I Am Lord” and “Prayer of St. Francis” to name a few. Some may even be singing hymns like “Nothing But the Blood” and “Are You Washed in the Blood?” during Good Friday and “He Lives” on Easter Sunday. It’s amazing how one can pass by a Catholic mass and hear those hymns. It’s also depressing because they don’t fully understand what they’re singing. That’s why Isaiah 29:13 comes to mind that they honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.
Good Friday is celebrated to commemorate the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. However, Catholics still believe that they need to Purgatory for the little sins that they’ve committed. Catholic Answers gives this detailed answer on what Purgatory is:
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).
The purification is necessary because, as Scripture teaches, nothing unclean will enter the presence of God in heaven (Rev. 21:27) and, while we may die with our mortal sins forgiven, there can still be many impurities in us, specifically venial sins and the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven.
Basically, it teaches that for any venial sins, they must still have to go to Purgatory before they can enjoy Heaven. That means if a person commits lesser sins such as sinful thoughts, insulting someone, taking a wrong turn in traffic, etc. then they must go to Purgatory even if they died in God’s grace and friendship. However, when we read of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, all kinds of sins were atoned for. Jesus didn’t just die for the big sins but also the little sins. It’s because James 2:10-11 says that whoever tries to keep the whole Law, but offends even at one point, is guilty of all.
In Isaiah 53:5, we read that Jesus is pierced for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities. Jesus took on the cross not just the sins of actual murder and actual adultery but also murderous thoughts and lustful thoughts. Sure, murderous thoughts and lustful thoughts don’t land anyone in jail but they can damn any unsaved person to Hell. Jesus also died to conquer sins like jaywalking, littering, trespassing, talking during classes, or any non-criminal offenses. All these sins were taken in because they all offend God and they’re all considered sins. All sins, big or small, had to be heaped on Jesus so they could be completely paid for. No one can say that they don’t deserve Hell for jaywalking. Even jaywalking breaks the whole standard of God’s law.
Saying that a person who died in God’s grace must go to Purgatory for jaywalking the other day, is just nonsense. Christians may not be living like the rest of the world but they still sin in some way. That’s why there’s continual confession. A man may not be a womanizer but he may find himself trapped in lustful fantasies. When a person who died in God’s grace dies, it doesn’t matter if the person forgot to confess about his or her jaywalking or forgot to pick up a piece of paper that he or she littered. Sure, it’s going to diminish his or her eternal rewards. However, it doesn’t mean that the saved person has to go to Purgatory for those offenses. It’s because those in God’s grace have all their little sins accounted for too.
Reformed Baptist Christian Blogger 