Even when your sins have been forgiven, there is a temporal punishment due in justice. God is merciful, but God is also just.
Read C.S. Lewis's comment on Purgatory posted above, also consider Cardinal Newman's Dream of Gerontius, which you can read here in its entirety.
There is a pleading in His pensive eyes
Will pierce thee to the quick, and trouble thee.
And thou wilt hate and loathe thyself; for, though
Now sinless, thou wilt feel that thou hast sinn'd,
As never thou didst feel; and wilt desire
To slink away, and hide thee from His sight:
And yet wilt have a longing aye to dwell
Within the beauty of His countenance.
And these two pains, so counter and so keen,—
The longing for Him, when thou seest Him not;
The shame of self at thought of seeing Him,—
Will be thy veriest, sharpest purgatory.
Thank you for both of your kind responses.
I was raised Roman Catholic and when I was in my early twenties I got saved when I was reading Ephesians chapter 1. I lost a wrestling match with God that day and he persuaded me that salvation is by grace through faith alone in the full sacrifice of Christ for my sins.
However, the idea of purgatory died a slow death with me, and I think it only did so when I read God’s Word cover to cover about seven times.
I’m not bragging about that, because I have not read his Word cover to cover since many years ago, which is quite regretful.