Purgatory

 I am not a Catholic.  I haven't ever been part of the Catholic Church.  Working to understand the spiritual, it brought me closer to a Traditional Catholic in thinking.  There has been a Tradition of Revelation.  Venturing into the spiritual, and working to understand it, someone may have had to align themselves with a Tradition of Revelation to a large degree.  Someone needed to align themselves with the Prophets, and having been aligned with the Prophets, they may end up finding things in common with certain Saints.  As Christians we should be more of "One Mind." (Philippians 2:2)  Is purgatory a real thing?  Protestants during the Reformation, they rejected a Tradition of Revelations and went Bible Only.  They really wanted to separate themselves from purgatory, and anything to do with it.  I am going to state that Purgatory is real, and I will show you.  

The afterlife may be layered like a Divine Comedy.  I don't care for all Dante's labels, but there is something to the idea of there being layers in the afterlife.  Hades, in the Old Testament, before Christ, it was layered.  On one layer was Abraham's Bosom.  Abraham's Bosom was where the righteous dead lay.  

In the Old Testament, God judged the Nations on a scale or Righteousness to Wickedness.  Given a nation was more righteous, or some form of righteous, they may have been ok.  God sent Jonah the Prophet to the city of Nineveh, where they were heading towards a threshold of wickedness, where God may have brought his judgement.  Objective wickedness may found in Ezekiel 16:48-52 where God explains why he destroyed Sodom.  

Prior to Jesus, there was a place in Hades for the righteous dead.  When Jesus died on the cross, he went into Hades, to Abraham's Bosom, and he freed the righteous dead. 

Heaven is oneness with God.  The only way to heaven is through Faith, a knowledgeable dependence, with the Lord Jesus Christ.  

Given someone was going to Church, they believe in Jesus Christ, and was baptized, that is the start of something.  Faith is a journey.  It is a journey of getting to know God.  Someone believed, and was baptized.  They should be seeking God with all their heart and soul and strength and mind.  Christianity is transformational, and they are looking to change their life, and be transformed by God. They were seeking, and then they found God.  After finding God, they may have been going through a process of Sanctification.  Sanctification is being made Holy to be brought closer to God.  

The Way -  

Belief and Baptism - Seeking in humility - Found God - Sanctification

In Divine Comedy, there were layers in heaven where someone may not have gone through all the process of Sanctification.  This makes sense.  Given someone found God, and has faith, a relationship, they are going to heaven.  Purgatory may be Abraham's Bosom for those who were baptized, and did not find God.  

Abraham's Bosom, after Jesus Christ, it changed.  Man's righteousness is like a filthy rag to God.  Not one is righteous.  A Roman may have seen himself righteous in Roman Virtue.  About seventy or so years before Jesus, Romans were lamenting the loss of Roman Virtue.  Saul the Pharisee believed he was righteous in The Laws of Moses.  Not one is righteous.  Apostle Paul worked to separate people from the idea that someone is righteous outside of God.  Not one is righteous.  Someone needs to be "In God." We do that in part by making a decision to actively build The Kingdom of God, and make it on earth as it is in heaven.  Someone is in God by acknowledging they were a sinner, less than.  Abraham's Bosom became what we understand as Purgatory.  

In Christianity, there was a Tradition of Revelation.  Did the Pope, and his contemporaries, make a mistake?  Was there a falling away where religion was being wielded selfishly?   That is a broader discussion that we may need to address at some point at a Synod.  Purgatory exists. I worked to show it to you.  Something to pray and reflect on.  

Addendum -  

Question:  Would a Protestant who had no belief in purgatory end up in purgatory?  

No.  

A lot of Protestant denominations went all or nothing.  Someone was saved, like in Ezekiel 36:26, or they were not.  They had a relationship with God, or they did not.  

Given Church was a social gathering, or tradition, where someone showed up on Sundays, or during Christmas and Easter.....they may have been Luke-Warm or worse.  Jesus spits or pukes out the Luke-Warm.  (Revelation 3:16)  They were not seeking.  They were comfortable and complacent.  Someone should be vigilant, and have a fear of God.  

People choose God.  Given certain Christians didn't care for purgatory, they wouldn't end up there.  

Question:  What is the point of Sanctification?  

God is Holy and separate from sin.  Sin doesn't do well in God's presence.  Sanctification is a process where someone is being brought closer to God.  

Part of Sanctification may be developing The Power of the Tongue.  Someone works to remove all lies, half truths, and exaggerations from their speech.  Someone who lied a lot, like a corrupt politician, his soul may have been molded a certain way.  Someone is repenting of their sins, and seeking God, and working to be transformed.  Our corrupt politician, given he repented, part of Sanctification may be reworking his soul to be Godly or "In God."  

Was someone lustful? A man looked as his wife's sister, and thought about being with her carnally.  That was lust.  Someone is repenting of that, and seeking God, looking to be transformed.  His soul may be reworked to be closer to God.  There may be some penance involved.  

Sanctification is a process.  The Holy Ghost is a teacher and a councilor.  Sanctification may have been a deeply personal thing, in a relationship with God.  God may remind a man of something he did wrong.  A man worked to fix it.  Did he hurt someone?  He seeks that person and apologizes. Are his thoughts wandering towards sin?  He should have Jesus on his mind, and in his heart.  (2 Corinthians 10:5)   

Question:  Is confession important?  

Yes.  

I was raised from a Christian background that did not teach confession.  In 2014, I found that I had saved my sins.  I worked to confess my sins, often publicly, in ways that did not cause trouble or bring harm.  I did this over social media.  A lot of it, I left for a few days, or weeks, or whatever, and eventually deleted.  Is this the best way?  Probably not.  It worked.  

Question:  When did Apostle Paul go through Sanctification?  

Saul the Pharisee was one of Christianities worst enemies.  As Paul, he had to ask forgiveness from the Body of Christ.  Apostle Paul talked a lot about God's love.  Apostle Paul also had a Fear of God in the reality of God.  This may have been a carrot and stick propelling Paul forward.  In Evangelizing, and working to build the Kingdom of God, in being a doer, there was Sanctification.