Came For a Bath

“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’ soap:” (Mal 3:2 AV)

We may look at this and see only judgment seated in wrath.  But there is another way of looking at it.  Note the fullers’ soap.  Both the refiner’s fire and fuller’s soap seek to accomplish the same thing.  They seek to cleanse and purify.  The fuller was a worker in fabric.  His soap was distinctly designed to whiten.  Hence, when the question is posed, “…who may abide in the day of his coming…” does not suggest judgment for the purpose of destruction.  Otherwise, there would be no fuller’s soap.  The question is posed to suggest the LORD is coming to clean those who are in need of it. 

Remember when OxiClean was sold on infomercials?  Who can forget Billy Mays selling us such a miracle product?  Why, all one had to do is put a white t-shirt stained with every imaginable stain into a swirling pool of water fortified with OxiClean, and it would come out white as snow!  Stain after stain would be defeated at the mighty power of this miracle product.

This is the point of the question.  No one will abide the perfect standard of the holiness of God!  No one!  We all need a bath in the fuller’s soap.  We all need to be cleansed from serious ailments of sin by the refiner’s fire.  This is why Christ came!  This is why He came the first time!  He came to show us how far we had fallen and offer to cleanse us by His own blood. That was His first coming.   If we reject the purpose of the first coming, we will suffer in the next coming.  There will be no refiner’s fire.  There will be no fuller’s soap.  Only the wrath of God on those who reject the free gift of salvation in Christ!