Until the Second Vatican in the 1960's, Roman Catholic masses were performed using the Latin lingo of times past. After this meeting, services started to use the relevant word of today.
Challenging this church's tradition, Martin Luther is known for identifying the doctrine that salvation is granted as a gift through God's grace. Our freedom that God provides is clearly explained in Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV: For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. Made acceptable by faith, there is no reason for the make-believe land of purgatory.
Let’s examine some Scripture from the New Standard Revised Version that ScriptureCatholic.com cites to evidence purgatory.
Luke 16:19-31: There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, “Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.”
But Abraham replied, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.”
"He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.”
Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.”
"No, father Abraham,” he said, “but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.”
He said to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead."
Here is ScriptureCatholic.com’s explanation of these verses: “In this story, we see that the dead rich man is suffering but still feels compassion for his brothers and wants to warn them of his place of suffering. But there is no suffering in heaven or compassion in hell. So where is the rich man? He is in purgatory.”
Verse 22 mentions that Lazarus was taken by the angels to Abraham’s side. Sometimes this location is known as the bosom of Abraham. Before Jesus was sacrificed for us, saints were not worthy of fellowship with the Father. When anyone died, souls descended to Hades. Verse 26 shows the two separate sides of Hades, the hellish side as well as where saints went when they died. When Jesus conquered death, he took those whom he pardoned to heaven.
1 Peter 3:19, 4:6: through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison. For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
ScriptureCatholic.com says of these verses: “Jesus preached to the spirits in the ‘prison.’ These are the righteous souls being purified for the beatific vision.”
The “prison” is where saints were kept apart from God in Hades.
Matthew 5:48: - Jesus says, "be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect."
ScriptureCatholic.com's explanation of this verse: "We are only made perfect through purification, and in Catholic teaching, this purification, if not completed on earth, is continued in a state we call purgatory.” Again, we are saved from hell, made perfect, by lives that have faith in Jesus . If that faith is insufficient for purification unto perfection, a human-devised place like purgatory is even more insufficient.
As a recap, let’s refer to Galations 3:1, NIV: You foolish Galations! Who bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. “The living word doesn’t matter” and belief in purgatory are examples of other times that Christians have been deceived.