Can Physical Suffering per se Purify Sinners?
The notion that the souls in purgatory have no choice but to suffer passively and patiently in the purifying fire until God is satisfied that they have been purified sufficiently to earn admission to paradise, suggests that physical suffering per se can purify sinners, even without being able to make moral choices through the free exercise of the will. This teaching, as we shall see, is clearly contradicted by the biblical view of salvation, which is achieved through the suffering of Christ, not of sinners. Suffering per se can harden sinners, like in the case of the impenitent thief crucified next to Christ. Scripture teaches that Jesus made purification of sins (Hebrews 1:3) on the cross. His blood can cleanse the vilest penitent sinner (Hebrews 9:14). There is no temporal punishment remaining for which believers must atone in purgatory for the vestiges of sin, because Jesus paid it all: He Himself is the propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:2). This fundamental Good News of the Gospe
