“For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.” Ecclesiastics 9:5

I recently heard a debate over the radio, which was so compelling; I stayed in the car after my journeys end so that I could hear the conclusion. It was on the subject of Purgatory.

This is a Catholic and Buddhists belief system whereby they believe that when a person dies they are held in a state or place between heaven and hell where they can buy their way to heaven through the money or good deeds of others.

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.”

 However Seventh-day Adventists believe that Jesus paid the price for all sins, Romans 5:8

“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Isaiah 53:5 furthers re-enforces this theology,

“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”

There is nothing in the bible that says we have to suffer for our sins after death as this is in direct opposition to the notion of salvation. 1 John 2:2 confirms,

“He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

The thinking that the dead are conscious somehow in a state of limbo, waiting to be paid forward has no rigor and cannot stand up to a biblical challenge. The bible interchanges the word death with sleep. In Matthew 9:24,

he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him.

Jesus speaking about his friend Lazarus in John 11:13-15 said,

Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

Of the dead Ecclesiastics 9:5 says

“For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.”

The only Purgatory that exists is in the mind of the scholar or the misinformed. It is important that when it comes to things of God that we speak in a loud voice with clarity. Let us read each verse in the context of the chapter and share it with those who need guidance lest we be challenged with what we believe also.

David Phelps sing 'No more night' as our song for today. Click on the picture to listen.