Comments on Purgatory, Baptism, and Confession

Purgatory:

1). John 19:30 It is finished by Christ (no halfway house is mentioned).

2). John 6:47 Eternal life (no purgatory) and heaven are given to believers in Christ.

3). John 3:36 If you don’t believe in Christ, you’re going to Hell after death, no in between zone of purgatory.

4). Romans 5:19 Eternal life is through Christ not a purgatoric purification procedure.
5). Mt. 25:46 There is either everlasting punishment (hell) or eternal fire (heaven) after death. No in-between area.

6). Hebrews 10:12,14 Christ is at the right hand of God the Father and his one sacrifice saves completely not purgatory.

7). John 5:24 says To have eternal life in Christ is passed from death to life without further purification after death. Therefore, purgatory is a myth inducing bondage on the adherents of Roman Catholicism.

8). 1 John 1:7 Christ’s blood, not purgatory cleanses us from all sin.

9). Philippians 1:23 To die is to be with Christ directly if you’re saved.

10). 2 Cor. 5:8 Being absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. (This one verse refuted purgatory 100% completely).

11). 1 Cor. 6:11 You are sanctified by Christ without a special purification (purgatory).

12). 1 John 1:7-9,2:1-2, John 5:24, Rom. 8:1 The blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin again not a purging procedure after death.

13).Ecc. 12:7 The spirit returns to God who gave it. Not purgatory. Purgatory is neither mentioned in the OT or NT.

14). Hebrews 9:27 There is one chance proclaimed and after this is judgment. Your fate is sealed after death and there is no crossing over to purgatory.

15). Luke 16:26 The gulf between heaven and hell is fixed making purgatory a fable.

16). Gen. 5:24/ 2 Kings 2:11 Enoch and Elijah are directly taken to heaven by God (not to purgatory for purification.)

17). Luke 23:24 Even the thief on the cross experienced no purgatory since Christ said “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” (Heaven was given to the thief and not purgatory today. He went to heaven in that event today.)

18). 2 Cor. 5:19 Reconciliation through Christ is without purgatory.

19). 2 Cor. 5:10 Purgatory is a perversion of the Judgment Seat of Christ. Works and teachings are judged by fire in heaven not purgatory. It is by grace through faith man is saved and by his works is he judged. The works are the fruits or the outcome of faith. It’s not rooted in God’s infallible scriptures but from the Apocrypha and other pagan religions.

20). Hebrews 1:3 Jesus purges our sin (no need for purification in purgatory) and Christ is in the right hand of God the Father. In fact Purgatory has pagan origins from Babylon and even Plato in his stories mentioning a purgatory concept. It’s pagan all the way through. Also the Apocrypha mythological books have concepts of Purgatory.

21). Hebrews 9:22 Christ purged his blood for the remission of sins. No biblical evidence of a halfway area in the purging of all sin after death. After death, you’re judged and you either go to heaven or hell.

22). 1 Peter 3:18 says that “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God (not to purgatory). Christ endured all of the eternal punishment for sin; Christ’s death couldn’t permanently purify us (in terms of us not sinning again after salvation or be sinless after salvation) because of Christ’s personal suffering for our sins is required enough to make believers to become pure enough to enter heaven. Catholics just deny that Christ is powerful enough to suffer for all men and it isn’t any need for any saved person to suffer after death, which Christ had already did for all human beings.

23). Eph. 1:1-14 In those verses it says we are holy and blameless before him because of Christ v. 4 not because of our achieving a holiness by our own work, but through grace. Suffering cannot purge us of all of our sin not here in the now neither in some spiritual zone of the so-called halfway house of purgatory in the afterlife (which purgatory doesn’t even exist). The suffering of Christ on the cross was definitely enough. The article of purgatory wasn’t even an article of faith of Catholicism until 1439 by the Council of Florence and later confirmed by the infamous Council of Trent in 1548. But does any intelligent person believe that such a place as purgatory is described in the Bible it would have taken the church “fathers” 600 years to discover it, and another 1,000 years to confirm it?

24). Romans 8:38-39 Paul says that nothing will separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now Paul didn’t say purgatory in word or concept, because the concept of purgatory would mean a temporary separation for a saved person to be burned by “fire” in order to see God. That’s blasphemy.

25). Romans 5:9 Christ saves us from all wrath by being saved. How simple is that truth. Purgatory will cause pain in the afterlife according to the Catholic interpretation, but biblical there is no more pain in the afterlife and there is no such thing as purgatory. Christ did it all by himself and no one who believes on Christ needs to in the afterlife but exist in paradise with God in heaven as outlined in the scriptures.

26). Revelation 1:6 Jesus Christ released us from our sins by his blood (not purgatory or a mythological, legendary purgatory-like fire cleanses us to see God). Historically, not all early church leaders ever subscribed to purgatory. It came by gradual development and by numerous pagan religions. The first main individuals to embrace some of its precepts were Maricon, Origen, Tertullian [he admitted that this had no biblical justification for usage], Augustine, Clement of Alexandria, and others. The people who didn’t mention a word on purgatory in the early church from their literature were Clement of Rome, Polycarp, Cyprian, Papias, and others. Later by the late 500’s and early 600’s, Pope Gregory I issued purgatory as a requirement for Catholicism. Before and after that, many bible-believing Christians protested the pagan lie of purgatory or prayer to (or for) the dead like Aeris of Pontus in the 300’s, Jovinius in the 300’s, Vigilantius of the 400’s, Waldensians, Lollards, Petrobussians, Reformers like Cyril Lucaris, John Knox, William Tyndale, and tons of other people.

27). John 14:1-6 Christ has many mansions for his believers after they die. There is no mention of purgatory since there are signs of immediate access to heaven without purgatory’s fire.

Baptism (Baptismal Regeneration):

1). Matthew 26:28, Eph. 1:7, Col. 1:12, 1 John 1:7, Romans 3:25, Heb. 9:22, Heb. 9:12, Heb. 10:18 (The Blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin not baptismal water). See also Col. 1:14.

2). Luke 2:30, Acts 4:12, Romans 1:16, 1 Thes. 5:9, 2 Timothy 2:10, 2 Timothy 3:15, Heb. 5:9, Heb. 2:10 (Christ is solely necessary for salvation not water. Water can’t remove guilt, which is in the heart.)

3). Acts 15:9 There is the purifying heart by faith without water. See also Titus 3:5 and Heb. 10:20.

4). Romans. 10:9-13, 1 Cor. 1:17, 1 Cor. 1:12 Baptism isn’t necessary for salvation

5). In 1 Cor. 1:17, Paul said he didn’t came to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Paul was a preacher and if he wasn’t called to baptize, then baptism isn’t necessarily required to be saved since sinners before repentance can be baptized and claim to be saved but aren’t. Also baptism alone doesn’t account for sins since Christ’s blood alone does that by you believing on him.

6). 1 Peter 3: 21 Baptism is symbolic for an answer of a good conscience toward God.

7). Acts 8:34-39 Baptism comes from the Greek word baptizo meaning immersion not sprinkle. Catholics are sprinkled instead of being immersed for baptism, which is unscriptural.

8). Acts 8:36-37, Acts 16:31-33, Acts 18:8, Acts 2:41, Acts 10:44-48, Acts 6, Acts 8:12, Acts 8:13 In those verses, it shows baptism coming after salvation after one believes on Christ (repentance). Baptism can’t affect a man’s heart since baptism is a water action or work and only Christ alone can do that apart from works. Paul, Cornelius, and the Philippian Jailer are all examples in the book of Acts of using or being presented with baptism after one’s salvation first.

9). Eph. 2:5 By faith ye are saved (Baptism is excluded from the equation). Another analogy is this; the very elderly, crippled, those paralyzed for life, and the very ill can’t be baptized for obvious reasons, yet if they repent; they’re saved without baptism. One is baptized because he/she believes (or is saved) not to get saved.

10). Luke 23:43 The thief on the cross is in heaven without being baptized. See also Galatians 2:16, Galatians 3:11, Romans 3:28, Galatians 15:4, Acts 16:30-34. Rituals like baptism or baptizing people will never save but Christ making baptism proceeding after salvation. Therefore, the believer’s baptism is scriptural.

11). Rev. 12:11 The blood of the Lamb (not baptismal water) causes us to overcome this old world. See also Eph. 1:3 saying that you are sealed by the Holy Spirit not by water baptism.

12). Mark 10:13-16 Baptism is unnecessary for salvation, because a simple action can’t account for every sin you’ve committed. If you’re not saved and baptized, you can still sin without being saved until you experienced repentance. Repentance doesn’t require baptism, so baptism isn’t required to be saved.

13). Galatians 3:26-27 You are placed in the body of Christ by spiritual baptism at the moment you are saved then water baptism later.

14). Mt. 28:18-20 Jesus gave the local church the ordinance of water baptism so the believer’s baptism within a church is justified. Note: a church can only issue water baptism for anyone who is saved. Since anybody can be saved with or without a church’s assistance, baptism is not required for salvation again. See also Eph. 1:13-14 saying one becomes an heir to salvation and is indwelled by the Holy Spirit after he/she believes not after he/she is baptized.

15). 1 Cor. 14:1-5 Individuals in the church are speaking in tongues before being baptized. Only saved people can speak in tongues, therefore you can be saved without being baptized, but all Christians should be baptized as an adult in their lifetime as participating in God’s ordinance (also covenant sign with God).

16). Hebrews 13:20 The blood of the everlasting covenant (Christ’s blood) had brought peace not water.

17). John 4:2 This is a great verse. It says that Jesus never baptized anyone but only his disciples. If Jesus mentioned salvation and saved people, why didn’t he baptize? It is because baptism isn’t required for salvation validated once again by Christ’s actions of never baptizing anyone. If Jesus is the giver of salvation and never baptized people for salvation then baptism isn’t needed for salvation. It’s interesting to note that no one from Adam to Christ who was believers was saved by baptism. And baptism regeneration was never doctrine in the early church until Justin Martyr and Clement of Alexandria at ca. 120 AD. In fact, you can find Polycarp, Clement of Rome, Barnabas, and others mentioning salvation by grace through faith without works in their literature before 120 AD.

Here are some questions that baptismal regeneration supporters can’t answer conclusively:

-If baptismal regeneration is true, why can afterwards that you can still have a chance to lose your salvation?
-Why is it that many people like the Thief On the Cross, etc were saved before being baptized?
-Why is that there are examples where people received the Holy Spirit before being baptized? Only saved people can receive the Holy Spirit.
-Why did Christ didn’t baptize a soul and Paul only baptized 2 people? Both lead many people to salvation and both even proclaimed people’s salvation with or without baptism.
-Why is it that there are tons of verses to easily show that salvation is by grace through faith involving Christ’s blood (Which I can show easily), yet baptism is mainly used in fewer times at the Bible?
-What saves and it can only be either Christ’s blood or baptismal water. It’s either one and you can’t have it both ways. If Christ’s blood is sufficient enough to save people, why must you believe that baptism saves which isn’t and doesn’t involve Christ’s blood? If Christ’s blood is infinite enough to save all sin and all humans, isn’t that baptismal water is needed as well? Is Christ’s blood not enough? Please explain.
-Why is it that salvation can come within or without a church’s assistance and baptism is to be only executed by the church, yet you’re not required to submit yourself to a church for salvation?
-Why did Peter say Repent to get salvation first and then baptism after salvation in Acts? If baptism is used for salvation wouldn’t you be baptized first or what is the outline of salvation in terms of repentance and baptism?
-Why did Christ in Mt. 28:19-20 say teach all nations first then baptize second?
-Why did Phillip baptize the Ethiopian eunuch only after he believed on Christ and acknowledged that he is the Son of God?
-Why did historically the Didache (It shows baptism only after days of preperation), Polycarp, Ignatius (he only calls baptism as a spear or helment to your faith), Clement of Rome, and others in the early church didn’t mention a word on baptismal regeneration yet by 150 A.D., it came about by Justin Martyr. Many reformers like John Wycliffe, Waldensians, Anabaptists, etc don’t subscribe to it anyway so why should we?
-Why did baptismal regeneration exist from pagan religions before Christianity’s existence, yet for some reason you believe it must be required for Christians? God rejects paganism into the true faith and that’s outlined in the O.T. and N.T.
-Why did no OT person or prophet utilize baptism for salvation yet you believe Christian is to do this in the NT?
-Why is that men and women who had true conversion living godly lives in Christ without being baptized first in their walk? There are tons of examples of that in the world whether you like it or not.
-Why is there no mention of baptism for salvation anywhere in the Bible especially in Jude and James? All references to baptism involve the church and the believer alone nothing more or less.

Confession to a Priest (Auricular Confession):

1). Acts 2 No priest is needed for the confession of sins. Also see Acts 8:21-23.

2). James 5:16 You can confess faults one to another not one to a priest. If it says confess your faults to a priest, the priest should confess his faults to you as well according to the context, but Catholicism definitely doesn’t teach that. It says faults, but not confess your sins one to another. Only God can forgive all of your sins.

3). Mark 2:7 Only God can forgive sin. See also Acts 5:12 speaking of Neither salvation in any other name that you can be saved but by Christ not priests.

4). Acts 8:22 Peter said Repent and pray to God (not to a priest). Peter didn’t have a confession experience, but exhorted the believers and people in need of salvation to pray to God solely.
5). 1 John 1:9 If we acknowledge our sin in God not in a priest. See also Joel 2:32, Joel 2:13 mentioning that Whosoever calls on the name of Lord shall be delivered without priests or method of auricular confession.

6). 1 John 2:1 If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father not priests. See also 1 John 1:7 saying the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin. (Not priests or a special type of confession to a priest.)

7). Acts 4:12, Heb. 7:25 Jesus can only save without Mary, priests, etc. Also see Acts 2:37-38, Acts 8:21-23 showing Peter commanding believers to Repent to God.

8). Heb. 4:16 A person can come to God with boldness in prayer without a priest and expect to be saved. See also Romans 10:9 speaking of you confessing to the Lord to be saved without priests.

9). Mt. 6:9,12 Forgiveness comes from the Father not priests. See also Psalm 32:5 saying confess your sins to the Lord solely.

10). Psalm 4:1-8 David wants God (not priests) to hear his prayer. See also John 20:22-23 where in that verse it says that the Holy Spirit not priests or the apostles by their own power that enabled the apostles to proclaim the forgiveness of sins.
11). Mark 2:2-12, Luke 7:36-50 No apostles never had any person to come to them and ask them to forgive their sins. Nor did they ever say to someone that their sins were forgiven in the same way the Lord often did while he was physically on the Earth in his 1st coming. The Auricular Confession concept isn’t there.

12). Mt. 6:5-15 The Lord’s Prayer is even proclaimed directly and involving prayer to the Father without a priest’s influence. Also see Isaiah 1:18 saying Coming to God can end your sinful lifestyle apart from priests “attempting” to forgive sins in a “confessional”

13). 1 Timothy 2:5-6 Only Christ is the mediator between God and man. He is the only mediator to forgive every single sin when anyone can access him by prayer.

14). Mark 2:10 A very fascinating verse. It explicitly says that the Son of man (or Jesus Christ) have the power to forgive sins. If Christ already has that power, why need a substitute or use someone impersonating Christ’s power? Auricular Confession is a Satanic counterfeit of Christ’s power to forgive sins.

15). Mt. 3:2 Christ said to Repent for salvation. In that situation no priests were used as intermediate guides of absolution of sins, etc. In fact auricular confession has pagan ties to Babylon, China, Greece, etc. They used prayer through their pagan priests for forgiveness of sins just like Catholicism. Catholicism is just following pagan customs, which is one out of tons of reasons to reject Catholicism and auricular confession. Penance in the early church was voluntary and consisted of once a year by the end of the 2nd century and early 3rd century by Tertullian. Clement of Rome, John Crysostom, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, and other individuals exhorted people to pray to God alone not to priests or any other influencing mediator. The Catholic concept of penance and confession was non-existent. The early church method of penance or confession mainly involved mortal sin not just any sin made just once a year.

By TruthSeeker24 (Timothy)