How Gold Is Refined

Gold is purified by heating it to approximately 1000 degrees, when it begins to melt. At that point, various impurities that are simply mixed with the gold separate from it. I don’t want to delve into the subtleties of this process; I simply want to point out that the purification of gold is a PHYSICAL process, not a chemical one. The essence of purification is to SEPARATE the unnecessary impurities from the gold, rather than chemically altering the composition of the ore in order to preserve ALL of the mass.

I believe each of us would much rather have one kilogram of pure gold than five kilograms of gold ore, even though the latter number sounds more impressive. The same applies to the church. A handful of people who hold firmly to God’s Word is better than huge gatherings where God’s Word is constantly compromised. Unfortunately, many pastors focus precisely on numbers, so it’s no surprise that in such churches everything is permitted as long as it makes everyone comfortable and no one leaves. Sermons in those settings often best fit the description given by the Apostle Paul: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Timothy 4:3, ESV).

God also prioritizes not the size of the church but its quality—faithfulness to Him, separation from the world, adherence to the Word, and so on. For example, Moses was more valuable to Him than a million-strong nation: “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you’” (Exodus 32:9–10, ESV). As we see from the Bible and history, God continually purified His people from impurities by handing them over to their enemies. The Apostle Paul writes: “And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ‘Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved’” (Romans 9:27, ESV). Christ does not need masses of world-compromised Christians; a handful of the faithful is better.

God has always operated on the principle of separation. For instance, part of the nation did not enter the Promised Land—they remained on the eastern side of the Jordan (I won’t go into detail here; perhaps I’ll write more in a separate article). Later, the northern kingdom of Israel was separated from Judah and Benjamin (again, I won’t elaborate, but I’ll note that their spiritual state was far poorer, and remaining in one state would likely have corrupted Judah more quickly). After the separation, Judah had the opportunity to be preserved and not destroyed like the kingdom of Israel. It could have endured for a long time after the split, if not for certain kings’ attempts to reunite the kingdoms so the people would be together and UNIFIED—something that is also heavily emphasized among churches today. The most notable example is King Jehoshaphat—one of the best and most faithful kings to God—who, unfortunately, failed to understand God’s will and tried to reunite the nation of Israel. “Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance, and he made a marriage alliance with Ahab” (2 Chronicles 18:1, ESV). To make one nation. “And Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, ‘I will go with you to battle’” (cf. 2 Chronicles 18:3). This greatly displeased God (see 2 Chronicles 19:2). The attempt at unity and the marriage alliance had catastrophic consequences for both Jehoshaphat and all of Judah. Virtually his entire family line was wiped out, and through Ahab’s daughter Athaliah, idolatry entered Judah so deeply that Judah never truly recovered afterward.

The principle of separation also operates at the individual level, especially among servants. For example, after Abraham and Lot’s journey to Egypt, Lot changed. He was influenced by Egypt’s luxury. Before Egypt, it was Abraham WITH Lot; after Egypt, it became Abraham AND Lot. As we see, Lot no longer wanted to live in tents; after separating, he moved to the city. Meanwhile, Egypt did not affect Abraham. They had become different servants of God. Lot already carried the leaven of the world and posed a spiritual danger to Abraham. Therefore, God separated him from Abraham. Although Lot could have immediately entered Abraham’s line through his daughters (such marriages were still permitted at that time), he chose another path. It is important to note that Lot is also considered righteous (2 Peter 2:8). But there were different levels of righteousness. Abraham would never have lived in Sodom. AFTER THE SEPARATION, God blessed Abraham: “The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, ‘Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth’” (Genesis 13:14–16, ESV).

A similar situation occurred with the Apostle Paul and Barnabas. Just as with the strife between Abraham’s and Lot’s herdsmen, God allowed a dispute to arise between Paul and Barnabas: “And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and departed, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord” (Acts 15:39–40, ESV). Why did God separate Barnabas from Paul? The answer can be found in Galatians 2:11–13: “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.” Barnabas placed human relationships above obedience to Christ’s truth, so—like Lot to Abraham—he could have had an undesirable influence on Paul and weakened him. Then God could no longer use Paul as powerfully. Yet we cannot condemn Barnabas any more than we can condemn Lot. We don’t know what happened to him later. They simply had different levels of righteousness—and different rewards.

So let us watch who we associate with: “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals’” (1 Corinthians 15:33, ESV). Let us not forget that gold is purified through the principle of separation: “Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you” (2 Corinthians 6:17, ESV).

Of course, I do not wish to introduce division or anything of the sort. I simply call everyone—and churches among them—to purify themselves from impurities rather than tolerate them.