True. And nothing unholy may enter heaven. So those who die in a state of grace (without mortal sin on their souls), yet possess an attachment to sin, will be purified before entering heaven "as through flames."
1 Corinthians 3:12-15Consider also:If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
Matthew 12:32Jesus clearly implies that sins may be forgiven in "the age to come," i.e., in eternity. The classic proof text for Purgatory appears in the book of Maccabees. Luther found the doctrine of Purgatory repugnant, so he threw out the book of Maccabees.And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
2 Maccabees 12:39-45Today Orthodox Jews, for instance, engage in a mourner’s Qaddish for eleven months after a loved one’s death for the purposes of purification.On the following day, since the task had now become urgent, Judas and his men went to gather up the bodies of the slain and bury them with their kinsmen in their ancestral tombs. But under the tunic of each of the dead they found amulets sacred to the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. So it was clear to all that this was why these men had been slain. They all therefore praised the ways of the Lord, the just judge who brings to light the things that are hidden. Turning to supplication, they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out. The noble Judas warned the soldiers to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sin of those who had fallen. He then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view; for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death. But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought.
Finally, the doctrine that all true doctrine is contained in the Bible is not biblical.
Most direct reference to a functional Purgatory is the parable of the unmerciful debtor. Initially, he is condemned to slavery with his family. That is eternal damnation to hell (his family is damned because it was lead to sin by the principal debtor). He repents, asks for mercy and is given mercy. That is a state of grace. Next, he fails in his obligation of charity to others. Note that albeit uncharitable he is within rights with the fellow servant, who indeed owes him the money. Perhaps for that reason, or because of the boundlessness of the Divine mercy, his final punishment is finite -- limited to the repayment of the debt and followed by freedom, the parabolic heaven. His family is inaffected this time. The method of repayment, torture, relates to purification rather than to work. This, as well as the implication that the debtor is jailed, suggests deprivation of free will, that is, death. What we have is functional purgatory.