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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Judgment Begins With the Household of God, #5
But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' (a launderer's) soap: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. (Malachi 3:2,3)
Christ is a refiner's fire. He is a strong soap, not a dainty, perfumed soap but a strong soap.
Whenever Christ receives us He washes the robe of our conduct. He does not limit Himself to forgiving our sins. He washes away our sins with fiery sufferings.
Redemption is not limited to the expression of God's mercy in forgiving sinners. We have emphasized the forgiveness aspect of redemption out of proportion to its role in the new covenant. An enlarged justification has swallowed up sanctification. The new covenant primarily is the placing of the Law of God in our minds and hearts (Hebrews 8:10).
God is in the process of establishing righteousness and praise in the earth. God has saved us by His grace so we will behave righteously in His sight and in the sight of His creation.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
Divine grace accomplishes vastly more than the forgiveness of our sins. Divine grace finally succeeds in conforming us to the image of Christ and bringing us into restful union with the Father through the Lord Jesus. Such conformation and union are the goal of our predestination (Romans 8:28,29).
We do not lose sight of God's mercy or His boundless love. Rather we thank God for His mercy. We apprehend His grace by marching forward in His Spirit to perfect, total victory over the world, over Satan, and over our own sin and self-seeking.
The Fire that Christ Is purifies the "silver" (redemption) of our personality. It purifies the "gold" (Divinity) that God has placed in us. "Wood," in the Scriptures, symbolizes the adamic, flesh-and-blood nature of human beings. The Kingdom of God is not flesh and blood (wood). The Kingdom is the "silver" and the "gold" that come to us from Heaven. The silver and gold, after they have been given to us, are refined through the purifying fires of judgment.
As young Christians we speak and sing of our faith. But as we grow older that faith is tested and refined until it is pure. We say Christ shall provide our every need. We believe it. But one day our belief will be tested in the fire. Only then is it pure enough for God to accept.
The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. (Psalms 12:6)
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: (I Peter 1:7)
To be continued.