A cemetery can be scary place. This view can’t help but take us to the ultimate belief for Christians, and everyone else who thinks about it—what happens after we die? What is our eternal destiny after this life? If we ceased to exist after death, as some believe, there would be no need for religion of any kind. The Word of God tells us otherwise. 

Since death is a reality, the basic question is “Where do we go after death?" The thought of death scares most people, even some Christians. They see it as cutting life short. Also, because they’re not 100% certain what it will be like. Protestants who believe in the Bible as the Word of God, believe it’s heaven because of God’s saving grace received through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. Catholics believe it may be a place called Purgatory or Limbo for unbaptized infants. Atheists believe it’s nothing or nowhere. Since so many Christians (over 1 billion) believe in Purgatory and Limbo, what are they and where are they? From the Protestant point of view, there is only heaven and hell. 

As God’s children, we know He has a plan for us. In the scheme of things, we are His sheep, He is our Shepherd. Which means, there is no need to fret for those who profess Christ as their Savior. 

Jesus is the reason why Christians should not fear death. Or even be apprehensive about it. 

In the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus, Jesus tells us that not everyone goes to the same place after death. He gives an example in Luke 16:19-31 when He tells the story of a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. And at his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. 

In that parable, Jesus describes each one’s destiny after death. There has always been a place for those who professed the one true God, and those who rejected Him. Jesus tells us of the separation between Hades and Paradise, i.e., what we would call a version of Hell and Heaven—not the final destination, which came after His crucifixion and resurrection. 

Hades, like its Old Testament counterpart Sheol, refers to a number of different things. Sometimes it refers to the grave, the place where the dead reside. It also refers to the place where the wicked suffer after death, which is how it was used by Jesus in Luke 16.

Each time we recite the Apostles’ Creed, it is telling us that Jesus descended into hell and on the third day, He rose from the dead. What exactly does it mean that He descended into hell (or Hades)? But what about paradise as Jesus told the thief on the other cross? 

A Further explanation is on the slide. There are a number of theological explanations as where Jesus went after He died on the cross. Nevertheless, He told the thief that they would be in paradise that very day (i.e., “today”), not hades, as noted on the next slide. 

In the Gospel of Luke, when hanging on the cross, Jesus responds to the thief being crucified alongside of Him, telling him, that on that very day, he, the thief, would be with Jesus in paradise. Even then, there was a place that Jesus referred to as paradise, sometimes called Abraham's Bosom, associated with the realm of the righteous dead awaiting the resurrection of the body. Those souls would be taken to heaven by Jesus as a result of His atonement for their sins. 

When Jesus died, He entered the realm of the dead, what’s describes in the Apostle’s Creed as hell. What hell is it referring to? The equivalent is Abraham’s bosom that Jesus refers to in Luke 16:19-31, the parable of the rich man and the beggar, Lazarus. Also in Acts 2:31 Peter tells us, that Christ was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. Just as a resurrected body awaits those who profess Jesus as Lord and Savior. Our resurrection bodies will be patterned after that genuine resurrected body of Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20, 21; 1 Corinthians 15:47-49; 1 John 3:2; Luke 24:36-43). 

The Roman Catholic Church professes a place called Purgatory and a place called Limbo. Where exactly does Purgatory and Limbo come from? What are they, where are they? 

In Roman Catholicism, there is a process or place of purification or temporary punishment as noted on the slide, in which souls with a remnant of sin remaining on their soul, are prepared for heaven by paying their sin debt due to unconfessed sins, or sins not fully repented of. 

The Catholic Church points to early church tradition. Yet, Scripture teaches that Christ paid our sin debt, meaning that there is nothing left for us to pay. Paul’s letter to the Galatians focused almost exclusively on this issue, in that the Judaizers insisted we needed to do our part to compensate for our sins by religious works. Whereas Paul emphasized over and over, there is nothing left to pay, since Christ paid it all in full. Bottom line is we can’t earn salvation. It is by grace alone and not by works that we are saved. What could we possibly add to Jesus’ crucifixion and death to compensate for our sin debt? Absolutely Nothing!  

This is just one of many images of what is perceived as Purgatory. How Catholics see it: Note the Virgin Mary in the center surrounded by angels available to lift people out of Purgatory and bring them to heaven, once their sin debt is paid in full. This is why praying the rosary is important for many Catholics, it is the means of earning indulgences to be applied to those in Purgatory to shorten their time there. It forces one to ask, "how does time apply to our spiritual life after death?" 

The Catholic Church denies this was or is a common practice and renounces the practice of selling indulgences. Nevertheless, it was one of the triggers for Martin Luther’s posting of his 95 theses (grievances) for debate that led to the Protestant Reformation. Money collected for those indulgences, encouraged and used by Pope Leo X, went toward construction of St. Peter’s basilica.  

Martin Luther posted his 95 theses (grievances) to the door of the Wittenberg Church, a common practice for items of concern and debate. Paying for indulgences was one Church practice objected to by Martin Luther, and subsequently other church leaders followed with grievances and objections to Church teachings, including Purgatory, which led to the 16th century Protestant Reformation. The whole basis of the Reformation was Scripture alone for doctrine. If tradition contradicts Scripture, it is to be cast aside. 

The End of "Purgatory" posting