Welcome to Ask the Church, our series where we seek to answer your questions about church worship, practice, and theology in under five minutes.
Today’s question is about Purgatory:
Is it permissible for Anglican Christians to believe in Purgatory?
What the Thirty-Nine Articles Condemn (and Why)
In the Anglican Articles of Religion—I’ve mentioned this article before—in Article XXII, a doctrine of Purgatory is condemned as “repugnant to the Word of God.”
The doctrine being condemned is a medieval one. I won’t go into all the details, but it’s a very specific belief that goes something like this:
On the cross, Jesus forgave our sins.
But there remains a certain punishment or penalty that still needs to be paid in the body for each of our sins.
In this doctrine, there’s a separation between the ultimate forgiveness we receive from God and the ordinary, earthly penalty that still must be paid. The idea is that when we die, we will not have fully paid that earthly penalty in our bodies. So even though we are forgiven and our right to be in heaven is secured through Jesus, we still need to “work off the debt,” as it were.
Purgatory, in this medieval conception, is a period of time where we pay off the earthly penalty for our sins until the slate is wiped clean, and the forgiveness already secured by Jesus’ work on the cross is fully applied—allowing us to enter heaven.
This is the doctrine that is condemned by the Articles.
The Anglican Reformers rejected it because they saw in this division between what Christ has done for us on the cross and our supposed need to pay an earthly penalty a denial of the Gospel (Galatians 2:21; Hebrews 10:14).
The Sufficiency of Christ
What Christ did on the cross has accomplished everything necessary for every single one of us. That’s good news!
Every sin that you or I have committed has been dealt with fully and completely by Jesus on the cross (Colossians 2:13-14; 1 Peter 2:24). There is nothing we need to do to pay the penalty for our sins. It’s true that we still experience earthly consequences for sin, but we are forgiven—and the penalty has been paid.
We are truly free and clear before God. As Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The medieval doctrine of Purgatory is condemned because it denies the sufficiency of Christ’s work. Everything has been done by Jesus. Even if we feel earthly consequences for sin, there is nothing that needs to be done between us and God. Jesus has done it all (John 19:30).
Other Conceptions of Purgatory
Now we turn to other conceptions of “purgatory.” The only thing the Articles of Religion deny is that particular medieval doctrine. Other conceptions do exist.
We’re told in 1 John 3 that when we see God, “we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). There’s a basic truth here: we are being sanctified by the work of God, but that sanctification is slow (2 Corinthians 3:18). When we die, there will still be sanctification left to do in us. We’re forgiven—the penalty has been paid—but we’re not yet fully transformed into the likeness of God.
And when we see Him, we will be fully transformed. Scripture tells us that when we see Him, we will be fully conformed (Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52). We will be transformed down to the last bit of our being.
But is that instant, or does it take time?
The answer is: we don’t know. All we know is what Scripture says: “When we see him, we shall be like him.” That transformation may take a long period of time, or it may happen in the blink of an eye. Scripture doesn’t tell us.
Based on that, some Anglicans—C. S. Lewis among them—saw this process of becoming like God as a gradual journey, moving “further up and further in.” Others have said, No, it will happen instantly when we die. I don’t know the answer to that question.
What We Can Say with Confidence
What I do know is that the penalty has been paid fully by Jesus Christ. Forgiveness has been secured. We will not need to work off our sins.
I also know that we must be fully transformed—and that transformation will happen when we see Him (1 John 3:2).
Within those two boundaries, we’re speculating. We know the penalty has been paid. We know we need to be fully transformed. And somewhere between those two truths lies the mystery of what happens after we die.
I hope this answer helps.
As always, if you have questions, send them to steven@incarnationrichmond.org.
And now, go in the grace of our Lord.