Thank you for the question on deceased loved ones, “Can deceased loved ones come to us in visitation dreams if they are in purgatory?”
Every family will or has suffered the loss of a family member in death. It is common for family members to wonder if our loved one are fine on the other side and not suffering as they may be suffering in their deteriorating conditioning. There are many individuals who search for means to know if their loved one is fine on the other side.
From a Biblical teaching and not a theological teaching, the Scriptures do not teach a deceased loved one can contact their loved ones or that loved ones can contact their deceased loved one as much as one desires it.
Jesus said this in Luke 16 in the citation of the Rich Man and Lazarus. The text says this, “19 There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 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.’
25 “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. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ 27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ 30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 “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’” (A searchable online Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages).
Scholars debate whether this discourse by Jesus is a parable or a declared truth. Even if one interprets that discourse as a parable, the teaching remains the same. A deceased person is unable to contact a living person on earth. Jesus gives the reason that if a person does not listen or believe Moses and the Prophets, that person will not be convinced if someone rises from the dead.
When Jesus raised the brother of Mary and Martha, Lazarus, there were skeptics that Lazarus was truly dead. When Jesus rose from the grave, there were skeptics that Jesus was truly dead even though the centurion stated that Jesus was dead. The disciples believed that he was dead until he showed himself to them.
The Scriptures declares that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. What that means that those who died in Christ are with Christ. Absent from the body is present with the Lord as the Apostle Paul states in II Cor. 5:8. As Stephen was being stoned to death, he committed his spirit to God even as he saw Jesus standing to receive him. His body was buried but his spirit was with the Lord (Acts 7:59–60).
For believers, there is the assurance from Scripture that those who trusted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord have eternal life (John 3:16). It is not that they will have eternal life, but that they have eternal life the moment they believed that Jesus died for their sins and accept/believe that he is their Savior. It is my understanding from the study of Scripture that there is no purgatory since Christ died for all my sins and paid for it all. I can’t atone or repaid God for any failure or sin in my life for one is saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8–9). I realized that the Catholic teaching is different from my understanding of the Scriptures. A careful study of the Scriptures is required about forgiveness of sins and eternal life. I encourage you to read and consider the various viewpoint so that you may come to your own personal conviction of what the Scripture teaches.
SUMMARY: Believers are comforted to know that their loved ones are in the presence of God and our Savior upon death for those who believed that Jesus died for their sins. We will see them again (I Thess. 4:13–18).
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