On the contrary, Paul says that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord and in Hebrews, that it is appointed to men once to die and after this the judgment.
It is so cute when you act like you have actually read the Bible.
When Jesus dies on the cross where did he go?
Did He go to Heaven? According to your out of context quote He must have. But that is not what the Bible says is it?
1Pe 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 1Pe 3:19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 1Pe 3:20 because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.
And of course don't forget this one:
1Pe 4:6 For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
And we know he did not go to Hell/ Hades to do this.
Act 2:31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
Let's not forget this one:
Eph 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Eph 4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? Eph 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
Not in Heaven , not in Hell. Hmmmm must be in a third place. I know let's call it purgatory.
Hades is not hell.
Hades is a waiting place for the dead that people who lived before Christ waited. There is no Scriptural reference to being purged from sin. Yes, Jesus did descend to Hades. It says so and says that He was not abandoned to it.
In the account of the rich man and Lazarus, Abraham says this.....
Luke 16:22-26 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’
There's no getting out of whereever you end up on Hades. You can't cross over.
Hades has yet to be thrown into the lake of fire.
As far as suffering to cleanse from sin, that is completely unscriptural. It's only the shedding of blood that cleanses from sin.
Hebrews 9:22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
And once sin has been forgiven, it's gone. There's nothing left to pay for.
Hebrews 9-11-14 11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
Hebrews 9:24-28 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Hebrews 10:11-1811 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” 17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
No more offering. Suffering can't do it because it isn't adequate.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The wages we get for our sin is death.
Galatians 2:20-21 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
If righteousness could be gained by ANYTHING but Christ, Christ died for nothing. But it can't, therefore the death of Christ was necessary.
Sounds like people figure they can sin and just pay it off in purgatory. Since they know they're saved anyway, they can go ahead and sin with impunity. Hey, they're saved anyway, right? It just takes them a little longer to get there.
And Christians are condemned for a cavalier attitude toward sin because they believe that once saved, always saved? The hypocrisy abounds.
Do you not understand the difference in before and after Christ’s death and resurrection? Do you not realize what the rending of the veil meant? Before Christ’s perfect and final sacrifice no one could go before the Father in heaven. Thus the need for Hades or the holding place for those who were faithful prior to Christ’s death who would later be “set free” by Christ. To claim the need for that holding place or “purgatory” as the Catholics refer to it is to deny the all sufficiency of Christ’s death and resurrection.