Jesus, our Refiner, our Fire, our Cleanser

Malachi 3:2-3: “…For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap;…He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the priests, the sons of Levi, and refine them like gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord offerings in righteousness.” (AMPC)

We all sin and we all need cleansing.  As believers in Christ we have a Refiner that cleanses us from all our filthiness. The Refiner which we read about in Malachi 3 is Christ, our Redeemer. When the appointed time arrives Jesus shall be like a refiner’s fire, which separates between the gold and the dross by melting the ore, or like fuller’s soap, which with much rubbing cleanses the spots out of the cloth.

Christ as our Refiner will purify and reform us by His Holy Spirit. The works of the Holy Spirit cleanses our souls from all filthiness and by the Word of God He washes us as the Word runs through our hearts and minds.

“So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, That He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such things [that she might be holy and faultless].” (Ephesians 5:26-27 AMPC)

Who will be purified?

“The sons of Levi” who represents all those that are devoted to Jesus, who brings Him praise and live to be employed for His services. Just like the tribe of Levi was devoted to God and whom He designed to become spiritual priests (Revelation 1:6) so are we destined to a holy priesthood (1 Peter 2:5). All believers in Christ are sons of Levi. We are set apart for God, to do the service of His good will for our lives.

How will the purification take place?

The first step of our purification takes place when we are saved: “He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but because of His own pity and mercy, by [the] cleansing [bath] of the new birth (regeneration) and renewing of the Holy Spirit,” (Titus 3:5 AMPC)

From there the finer details in the process follow according to God’s will. He will purge them as gold and silver. That means that Jesus will sanctify us from the inside out. He will not only cleanse us on the outside, but He will remove every piece of filth and rot we may foster on the inside. He will save us from our human nature which make us corruptible and useless and will make us like gold refined, valuable and useful.

He will purge them with fire, as gold and silver are purged, for He baptizes with the Holy Ghost and with fire (Matthew 3:11), with the Holy Ghost working like fire. The fire of the Holy Spirit burns away our weaknesses and filth so that Jesus can see His reflection in us.

Through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross we can be refined and purified by the grace of God. Nothing we do can reverse our purification in Christ as it all depends and flows from the perfect work He performed on the cross. He makes the tree good that the fruit may be good.

Jesus makes us acceptable by His grace. He purifies and refines us. He makes our efforts acceptable in the eyes of God. Jesus, through His Holy Spirit will intercede for us before God so that we may be found pleasing in God’s eyes as He made us accepted in the Beloved. God is well pleased with those that are in Christ (Matthew 3:17) and bring forth fruit in Him.

You are safe in Jesus’ hands. He is your refiner and through the power of His Words and the strength of His Holy Spirit He will never fail you but purify you to the perfection for His works through your life.

Maretha Retief

Illustration by Jeanne de Villiers