The Meaning of Being Purified

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Purifying Our Food

To purify something means to remove contaminants from it. When we think about purifying food, we use heat and fire to remove the harmful contaminants that would make us sick. Some things like fruits and vegetables only require cleansing by water to wash the external dirt off, and then they are safe to eat. But raw meat requires purification to make it healthy and good to eat. It must undergo a process of being exposed to heat to kill the harmful impurities within it — otherwise, the contaminants would make us very sick. Not only this, but the raw meat contaminates everything it comes in contact with; even if you didn’t consume it, you can indirectly get sick from anything that the meat touched.

When raw meat is heated, it is transformed — it changes appearance, taste, and texture. It is permanently made into something else — it can never go back to the way it was before cooking. The heat causes its protein molecules break and denature, forcing water to come out and evaporate. This results in the meat shrinking about 25% once cooked. If eaten, raw meat is very tough and chewy, because the molecules are in their natural state. The more the meat is cooked, the more the molecular structure changes. Different kinds of meat require different cooking times and methods to get the tastiest result. Steak requires only a few minutes of cooking to taste the best; if cooked too long, it will also be tough and chewy due to the muscle fibers becoming rigid and tight from losing too much fat and moisture. Some meats like roasts require hours of cooking, but others like chicken would be burnt and inedible if cooked for that long. A good chef knows how to cook each type of meat not only to remove impurities and make it safe to eat, but also to make it very tasty and appealing.

The Lord Purifies Us

Both in our food and spiritual life, purification is done by fire. What is the fire that the Lord purifies us with? It is first the trials and sufferings we face here on earth: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:” (1 Pet. 1:6-7). Trials are necessary to build our reliance on God, as well as to humble us. Secondly, it is His Word: “Is not my word like as a fire?” (Jeremiah 23:29); “But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay (Jeremiah 20:9).” The Lord’s Word, both through Scripture and the Holy Spirit, also pictured as a tongue of fire, convicts our consciences and moves us to repentance.

Our natural human state is to be tough and contain contaminating sins that harm us and others, just as raw meat. Only through purification can we become permanently transformed, our inner man being broken and denatured through the fire of the Holy Spirit. As a whole we shrink; our pride and ego becoming smaller though the purification process. We become pure and free of contaminants that harm us and make us unfruitful with others.

Meat is of no use to us if it remains raw, but if it is purified, it becomes enjoyable, nutritious, and fuels our body. In the same way, believers are not usable for the Lord’s work unless they are purified. As a good chef knows how to perfectly cook every kind of meat, the Lord knows the perfect way to purify us in order to remove harmful sins within us and perfect us for His good purposes. He does not cut the process short, so that we are still at risk of having contamination within us; nor does He send us a trial that is too intense for us, or lasts longer than we can bear, causing us to become tough and hard-hearted. Rather, He knows the exact amount of fire to subject us to so that we are can become pure, tender-hearted, appealing, and of a sweet-smelling aroma towards Him.