Second-chance Purgatory?

Hello, I've never been on one of these forums before but have to hear some other opinions on this. I was raised to believe that if you do not accept Jesus into your heart, you go to hell... period. Well the other night this topic somehow came up with my boyfriend and he does not feel the same way (he grew up Christian as well). He believes that people across the world who did not grow up in a Christian society and who were raised by their families to believe a different religion, will not automatically go to hell, but instead go to some sort of purgatory where God will give them a second chance. He doesn't believe that God would condemn someone to hell for believing in the religion their parents taught them to. I'm not sure of anything like this being referenced in the Bible and am feeling very conflicted now. Thoughts?

We don't need thoughts on this, we have the bible. There is no purgatory, so your husband is in error.

John 3:16 Tells us what we must do to have everlasting life, and John 3:18 teaches what happens to everyone else.

My thoughts are as follows: Jesus, when speaking to small group of believers (Christians) said that there were others that were not of this fold and that He must gather them in also.

Not entirely sure if purgatory is scripturally sound but really don't think that God gives people a second chance to accept Him but rather one chance, albeit this chance may occur in stages over an extended period of time. Because you see, God is patient and does not want anyone to be condemned but rather, His will and desire is for everyone to believe in Him and accept the salvation that is offered from confession of sin, Jesus dying on the cross for these sins and for the believe to invite the Holy Spirit to live in their hears to comfort and guide them in the lifelong repentance process leading to sanctification.

I believe that your boyfriend raised a valid point in that our environment may be a crucial factor in determining what we chose to believe. God understands the human condition quite well and takes all things into consideration.

Hopefully, you will find comfort, support and understanding from the members of this site. Glad to have you as part of our community. Welcome to CC.

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment that is why today is the day of salvation.
2 Corinthians 6:1 As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 2 For He says: “In the time of favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation!

Thank you for your input!

Hi @morgannicole555, first off, welcome to CChat

The Bible is pretty clear about the way of salvation, which certainly necessitates having saving faith in Jesus Christ, and that on this side of the grave .. click here to read: John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 John 5:11-12 and Hebrews 9:27.

That said, there are many who were not raised in a Christian home (as you pointed out in the OP), and still others who have never heard of Jesus before. The Bible tells us that those who have not come to saving faith in Jesus before they die will only be held accountable by God for the things that they know and understand of right and wrong (and, of course, what they did with that knowledge during their lives), not the things that they don't know/understand (even if that amounts to knowing nothing more than the law that God writes on the heart of every man/woman at birth, IOW, our consciences).


~Deut

No such thing as purgatory.....a Catholic invention and not found in scripture.....Heaven/God's Kingdom or HELL......no second chances and both are eternally applied based upon saving faith and or a lack thereof.....

paul deals with this issue in Romans where he talks about those not knowing the law but doing according to the law, in others words those who do not know christ but are righteous. there is no such thing as purgatory but no one will go to hell unless they truly deserve to be there, and God knows the heart and deeds of all men and those who belong to him even outside the flock of the church

Purgatory is a denial of the sufficiency of Christ's atonement.
His death paid the full penalty of our sin. To say there is still more payment needed is foolish and dangerous (as is what purgatory requires).
in the inimitable words of Walter Martin, 'Run! Don't walk, to the nearest exit'.

Purgatory is a figment of the imagination. It has no basis in Scripture.

And people can speculate all they want about the fate of others, but the only thing one should be focused on is one's eternal destiny. There are only two option -- (1) the wide gate and the broad way which lead to eternal Hell (the Lake of Fire) or (2) the narrow gate and the narrow way which leads to eternal life.

Purgatory.

I think purgatory is a fantastic idea.

The only problem is... it's not in the bible.
So you pretty much have to choose one or the other, purgatory or the bible.
You really can't have both.

...

Wait, Paul's opening discourse in Romans (1:18-3:23), which was especially concerned with Jews and Gentiles/(Greeks) who were 'outside' of Christ, culminates with these words:


Who can be "righteous" in God's eyes apart from Christ if this is the case? Or do you believe that the Apostle was somehow wrong in his assessment

Also, Paul had this to say earlier in the same Chapter.


That seems even clearer, doesn't it, especially with the qualifying phrase, "not even one", being there too? So again, who are these inherently "righteous" people that you are referring to?

Thanks!

~Deut

.

Greetings morgannicole,

First of all, your upbringing was/is correct, for scripture states the following:

"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them." (John 3:36)

The above scripture could not be true if after people die they had another opportunity to be saved. The rich man of Lazarus fame (Luke 16:19-31) would disagree with your boyfriend, seeing that when he died he was taken to Sheol/Hades where he was in torment in flame and no one could go back to warn his five brothers.

Everyone who comes into the world is already condemned because all have sinned and all fall short of God's righteous standards.

Think about this for a moment. If what your boy friend said was true, then where would the fear of God be? Everyone could just live according to the sinful nature while they're alive on this earth and then accept the opportunity of salvation after they die? Yet Jesus said the following:

"Don't fear those who after they kill the body that is all that they can do. But I'll tell you who you ought to fear. Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell (Gehenna), also known as the lake of fire.

All of these teachings come from Satan and are spread by unbelievers and even those calling themselves Christians.

In order to know the truth of every Biblical issue, we must trust in the source, which is the word of God. Regarding these false beliefs and teachings, scripture states the following:

"The time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine. But to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will abandon the truth and turn aside to myths."

Once a person dies in their sins, God's love, grace and mercy are no longer in operation for that person. The reason is that Christ paid the penalty for our sins. The believer then is free from the punishment for sin and that because Christ was held accountable on our behalf. Those who died not trusting in Christ as the One who provided salvation for them, will be held accountable for every sin that ever committed, every idle word, at the great white throne judgment. Anyone's name not found written in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire.

Though people may grow up in religious families, at some point they will be faced with their own personal decision to accept or reject Christ.

Today is the day of salvation, i.e. while we are alive in this body. For those who die in their sins, their record is sealed and there is no second chances.

This passage suggests that the concept of purgatory be not be that far-fetched. What exactly would be the point of Jesus preaching to the spirits in prison after His death but before the resurrection if these spirits were eternally damned? If they were damned then Jesus admonishing them would seem more appropriate rather than preaching.

Even if they were not damned but awaiting their heavenly reward it would still make no sense to preach to them as they had already lived their lives and made their eternal choice whether to live in the presence of God's love or have eternal separation from God by the second death mentioned in Revelation.

The key word in the passage below is 'prison'. It was certainly not a 'welcome center' that Jesus descended into after His death on the cross but rather a 'detention center'.

1 Peter 3:18-20
For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, by which a few, that is, eight souls were saved through water.

Pergatory is not in the Bible.. It is a tradition greated by men in the catholic religion..

If a person is given the message of the Gospel.. And they reject it, then they will not be given a second chance in eternity to change their minds..

There is some support for those who never heard the Message of the Gospel being given a chance.. The Bible says that Jesus when He died on the cross went to hell to preach to the souls there.. Now these people had never heard of the Gospel..

1 Peter 3: KJV
18 "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: {19} By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; {20} Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water."

The claim that Gentiles also needed to be circumcised was not that far fethched either, but it was 180 deg from God's Will bringing this 'blessing' down upon those who taught so...

Galatians 1:8-9 NASBS
[8] But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! [9] As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!

It appears those were the pre-Noahic civilization. No promise of that for today"s civilization. We have the Gospel.

The spirits in prison were in Hades and Tartarus (both in the lower parts of the earth). They consisted of (a) the righteous dead who were justified by grace, (b) the unrighteous dead who would remain in Hades, and (c) the angels that sinned before the Flood and would remain in Tartarus until they were sent to Hell (the Lake of Fire).

Since there are no second chances after death (and the Bible is quite clear on this matter) Christ did NOT preach the Gospel to these spirits. That Greek word kerux literally means proclaimed, and what He proclaimed was His victory at the cross. The righteous dead would go to Heaven after His resurrection, but the unrighteous would remain in Hades until the Great White Throne Judgment.

Purgatory was/is a cash cow for the Roman Catholic Church. But it does not exist anywhere. And all the Scriptures which they claim in support are deliberately misapplied or misinterpreted.

Circumcision served it's intended purpose for those that were instructed to do so in the OT, same as with the innocent blood of animal sacrifices for the remission of sin was actually pointing to the deeper meaning of the innocent blood of Jesus dying on the cross for the remission of sins. Still, this does not negate the fact that Jesus, after He died, preached to the spirits in prison as stated in scripture. The passage pertaining to this is not 180 degrees from the will of God because it was Jesus himself, who was fully human and fully God who did this.

While this passage ( 1 Peter 3:18-20)is not conclusive evidence of 'purgatory' it certainly gives credence to such a place, for after all, this was a prison of departed spirits and not a heavenly abode. Not sure how the verse you provided is germane to the topic of purgatory. I am not preaching anything but merely pointed out what scripture has provided, that may or may not be relevant to the actual existence of a state of purgatory.