Protestants and Catholics tends to have two different views of grace. In both accounts, grace is unmerited, it is a gift - not something that is earned.
In the protestant view (generally), the grace tends to cover you, like snowfall, and God sees you "through Christ." You are simultaneously saint and sinner. Here, there is no reason for purgatory.
In the Catholic view, the unmerited grace is something you must participate in, like cultivating a seed that has been planted, and you must cooperate with the grace to become more Christ-like through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. It is the vine and the branches in John 15. Here, there is a need for purgatory, because when you die, your soul is not configured to Christ perfectly; thus, there is need for further configuration.
What a horrible thought: locked in some place of anguish after a lifetime of trial and error.
Your soul needs Christ, Who on the cross said, "It is finished!"
You could spend 100,000 years in some Purgatory and not be one whit closer to perfection,
but thank God, you don't have to because His righteousness is yours.
Rejoice in the freedom Christ won for you, and meditate on that.
Protestants and Catholics tends to have two different views of grace. In both accounts, grace is unmerited, it is a gift - not something that is earned.
In the protestant view (generally), the grace tends to cover you, like snowfall, and God sees you "through Christ." You are simultaneously saint and sinner. Here, there is no reason for purgatory.
In the Catholic view, the unmerited grace is something you must participate in, like cultivating a seed that has been planted, and you must cooperate with the grace to become more Christ-like through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. It is the vine and the branches in John 15. Here, there is a need for purgatory, because when you die, your soul is not configured to Christ perfectly; thus, there is need for further configuration.