In 1 Peter 4, Peter challenges believers to understand that suffering and difficulty will be part of our lives (1 Peter 4:12). Even in that suffering, we should continually rejoice because one day Christ will be revealed in glory and we with Him (1 Peter 4:13). In this context, Peter says, “If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And,
‘If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?’” (1 Peter 4:16–18).
Peter’s quotation is from the Septuagint translation of Proverbs 11:31, which says, “If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (Brenton, 1844). Peter uses this quote in the context of preparing believers to suffer for the cause of Christ.
It is worth remembering that Peter had tried to escape the potential of suffering for Christ when Jesus was arrested. Rather than be associated with Jesus, Peter denied knowing Jesus three times. By the time he wrote his epistles, Peter had come a long way and had indeed suffered for Christ throughout his ministry—he would ultimately die as a martyr because of his preaching of the gospel of Christ. In encouraging believers to rejoice even in suffering for Christ, Peter exhorts them that they should not suffer for doing wrong (1 Peter 4:15)—believers should be cautious not to do wrong. We should be holy in our behavior because our Father in heaven is holy (1 Peter 1:15–16). But when believers suffer for being associated with Christ, that glorifies God (1 Peter 4:16).
As Peter cautions against doing evil, he reminds that judgment begins with the household of God. Peter rhetorically asks, if God takes righteousness so seriously that He first judges His own people, then how serious will the judgment be for unbelievers (1 Peter 4:17)? If the righteous will “scarcely be saved” (as the King James Version phrases it), then what will become of those who are not believing in God (1 Peter 4:18)?
Peter recognizes that God’s saving grace has been provided (1 Peter 1:3–5). Peter knew firsthand what that provision cost. God’s grace is free to all who will receive it by belief in Jesus, but it was not free to God (1 Peter 1:18–19). Jesus paid the ultimate price to provide us with that gift, and all three Persons of the Trinity exert effort to ensure our salvation. The Father chose us to be in Christ to be holy and blameless as His adopted sons (Ephesians 1:4). The Son redeemed us by shedding His blood as a substitution, dying in our place (Ephesians 1:7). The Holy Spirit seals us as God’s pledge or guarantee that we have been redeemed and have eternal life (Ephesians 1:13–14). These are just a few examples of what God does on our behalf. While nothing is difficult for God, Peter recognizes that the righteous will “scarcely be saved” (1 Peter 4:18), or as the NASB puts it, “it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved.” Further, if God has done so much to express His kindness to those who don’t deserve it, how grave will things be for those who reject His grace and kindness (by not believing in Jesus Christ)?
How God’s Refining Fire Purifies You
God installed us with a similar feature. OK, so maybe not so much self-cleaning, but God-cleaning. I doubt any of us would willingly submit to the cleansing fire and ask to have the heat turned up so high that our impurities are burned off, yet that is one of the ways God the Refiner purifies us.
As we walk through the trials of life, God often uses those times to refine us.
“For he will be like a refiner’s fire or launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.” (Malachi 3:2-3)
Sometimes the thing that holds you back – sin, doubt, past experience, uncertainty, self-focus, etc. – clings too tightly to scrub off through prayer or spiritual practice. Often you don’t notice or want to admit you are in need of further cleansing. It’s not until you’re in the fire of yet another of life’s trials that you see God working on an area of your life.
Maybe you’re facing medical challenges for yourself or a loved one. God may use that to work on your trust or your patience and compassion. Or, maybe you’re in a difficult situation at work. Is God using that challenge to reset your priorities and focus?
“See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.” (Isaiah 48:10)
The Refining Process
Step 1: Break the ore into chunks to reveal the valuable bitsIn the ancient days, gold and silver were refined by first crushing the large rocks of ore into small pieces, about the size of lentils. This breaking up revealed the hidden treasures of precious metals.
Step 2: Melt ore in a crucible to burn out lesser metalsThe refiner then placed the bits of metal into a crucible and placed it over the fire.
This began to burn away other lesser metals and debris that might ruin the gold or silver.
Step 3: Remove the drossAs the heat increased and the metals melted, the impurities (dross) would rise to the surface so the refiner could skim them off.
Step 4: Repeat the process at higher and higher temperaturesThe refiner would continue to heat the crucible to hotter and hotter temperatures, as some of the impurities would only burn off at the higher temperatures.
This process could continue at least seven times.
As the impurities were removed, the refiner would watch closely to make sure the silver or gold didn’t burn away.
Step 5: Purify the gold and silverThe purest and most valuable gold and silver were refined to the hottest temperatures to remove all the impurities.
Once the impurities were removed, the refiner would continue heating, watching for the molten metal to become shiny and reflective, until he could see his own reflection.
The Refining Fire Is Hot but Controlled by the RefinerHave you been put through the refining fire?
Have you felt God breaking up the large rocks of sin and doubt in your heart? Breaking past all the coverings you’ve accumulated in this world and showing you the precious treasures hidden beneath?
Has God heated the fires around you to ever hotter temperatures to cleanse your character and burn away the impurities?
“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10)
You will go through fires in your life and they can feel hot, consuming, and at times out of control. Remember God is the refiner and is watching the process carefully to make sure you aren’t consumed by the fire.
He’s watching for his image to begin to reflect from you and then he’ll remove you from the fire.
Isn’t that a comforting thought, even when the fire is raging?
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” (Isaiah 43:2)
3 Ways to Sustain Through God’s Refining Fire1) Submit to the processOften you don’t notice you’re being refined through the fire until you look back in hindsight. Yet, what if you could be aware in the moment that God’s there in the fire with you, walking by your side and keeping you safe from the flames, and at work to improve you?
What if in your trials, you started to ask what work God might be doing through it, and submit to that process?
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4)
2) Trust God the RefinerThe fires of life are often where you either forge your faith more firmly, or you drift away from God. Trials tend to bring you to a decision point. Will you trust God in this moment come what may? Or, will you walk away in disbelief?
Will you turn your eyes to God and trust that he’s in the fire with you and will lead you through it to the other side?
“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5)
3) Lean Into Prayer More FerventlyWhere do you turn when life gets tough? Do you start Googling for answers? Post on Facebook to ask for advice? Do you start putting together your own solutions? Or, do you turn first to God in prayer?
This is a time to lean most fervently into prayer and cling to God’s promises. Ask others to pray, but also commit yourself to prayer and keep your eyes turned to God. Even when you don’t know what to pray or can’t form the words, stay close to God and allow the Holy Spirit to intercede for you.
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” (Romans 8:26)
God’s Refining Fire Brings You Closer to HimI don’t choose to enter the “self-cleaning” cycle with God. The fires are hot and difficult and not a path I’d choose to walk. Yet, in this life we will face trials and, oh, how I’ve experienced God at work through so many of them.
In hindsight, I can see the work God’s been able to accomplish even when I wasn’t a willing participant, but how much more he’s been able to do when I submitted to the process.
So, the next time you find yourself in the fires of yet another of life’s trials, look for God. Know he’s there with you.
Ask yourself what cleansing you need as you walk through this fire.
Then, keep your eyes firmly fixed on God and trust him to lead you through the fire.
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
(Matthew 5:14-16 NIV)
1 John 3:3 ESV / 53 helpful votes And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
2 Corinthians 7:1 ESV / 39 helpful votes Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
1 John 1:9 ESV / 35 helpful votes If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 Peter 1:22 ESV / 32 helpful votes Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,
James 4:8 ESV / 31 helpful votes Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Acts 21:26 ESV / 29 helpful votes Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them.
Ephesians 2:8 ESV / 26 helpful votes For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
1 John 1:7 ESV / 25 helpful votes But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV / 25 helpful votes Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Ephesians 5:25-26 ESV / 24 helpful votes Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
Ezekiel 36:25 ESV / 24 helpful votes I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
John 14:15 ESV / 23 helpful votes “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Hebrews 12:14 ESV / 22 helpful votes Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
2 Timothy 3:16 ESV / 22 helpful votes All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
1 John 3:2 ESV / 21 helpful votes Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
John 15:3 ESV / 21 helpful votes Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.
Psalm 51:7 ESV / 20 helpful votes Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Numbers 8:7 ESV / 20 helpful votes Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of purification upon them, and let them go with a razor over all their body, and wash their clothes and cleanse themselves.
Ephesians 5:26 ESV / 19 helpful votes That he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
Titus 3:5 ESV / 17 helpful votes He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
Romans 4:3 ESV / 17 helpful votes For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
Luke 2:22 ESV / 17 helpful votes And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord
1 Peter 1:15-16 ESV / 16 helpful votes But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
Hebrews 9:22 ESV / 16 helpful votes Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
Hebrews 1:3 ESV / 16 helpful votes He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Hebrews 12:29 ESV / 15 helpful votes For our God is a consuming fire.
Hebrews 10:14 ESV / 15 helpful votes For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
Hebrews 2:11 ESV / 15 helpful votes For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,
2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV / 15 helpful votes For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
John 3:16 ESV / 15 helpful votes “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Romans 12:1 ESV / 14 helpful votes I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Romans 8:26 ESV / 14 helpful votes Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
Romans 8:1 ESV / 14 helpful votes There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 9:11 ESV / 13 helpful votes But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)
Ephesians 2:10 ESV / 13 helpful votes For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Romans 6:6 ESV / 13 helpful votes We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
Romans 5:9 ESV / 13 helpful votes Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
Leviticus 15:17 ESV / 13 helpful votes And every garment and every skin on which the semen comes shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening.
Titus 2:14 ESV / 12 helpful votes Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
1 Thessalonians 4:3 ESV / 12 helpful votes For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;
1 Corinthians 6:11 ESV / 12 helpful votes And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Romans 5:1 ESV / 12 helpful votes Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Acts 21:24 ESV / 12 helpful votes Take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law.
1 Peter 2:5 ESV / 11 helpful votes You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:7 ESV / 11 helpful votes So that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 10:22 ESV / 11 helpful votes Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Romans 6:23 ESV / 11 helpful votes For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 3:28 ESV / 11 helpful votes For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
Acts 17:10-11 ESV / 11 helpful votes The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
Malachi 3:3 ESV / 11 helpful votes He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.
Leviticus 14:8-9 ESV / 11 helpful votes And he who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes and shave off all his hair and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean. And after that he may come into the camp, but live outside his tent seven days. And on the seventh day he shall shave off all his hair from his head, his beard, and his eyebrows. He shall shave off all his hair, and then he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and he shall be clean.
Jude 1:3 ESV / 10 helpful votes Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
Hebrews 9:13-14 ESV / 10 helpful votes For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
Hebrews 1:1-3 ESV / 10 helpful votes Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV / 10 helpful votes For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
1 Corinthians 1:30 ESV / 10 helpful votes And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
1 Corinthians 1:2 ESV / 10 helpful votes To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
John 14:6 ESV / 10 helpful votes Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 3:16-17 ESV / 10 helpful votes “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Malachi 4:1 ESV / 10 helpful votes “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
Amos 5:6 ESV / 10 helpful votes Seek the Lord and live, lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,
Numbers 19:17 ESV / 10 helpful votes For the unclean they shall take some ashes of the burnt sin offering, and fresh water shall be added in a vessel.
Exodus 24:5-8 ESV / 10 helpful votes And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
1 John 3:15 ESV / 9 helpful votes Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
1 Peter 3:21 ESV / 9 helpful votes Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
1 Peter 1:2 ESV / 9 helpful votes According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
James 2:24 ESV / 9 helpful votes You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
Hebrews 10:10 ESV / 9 helpful votes And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Hebrews 6:2 ESV / 9 helpful votes And of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
2 Thessalonians 2:13 ESV / 9 helpful votes But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.
Ephesians 1:4 ESV / 9 helpful votes Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
1 Corinthians 3:3 ESV / 9 helpful votes For you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?
Romans 10:13 ESV / 9 helpful votes For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Romans 5:12 ESV / 9 helpful votes Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned--
Romans 5:3 ESV / 9 helpful votes Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
Romans 3:23 ESV / 9 helpful votes For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
John 11:55 ESV / 9 helpful votes Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.
Psalm 51:2 ESV / 9 helpful votes Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
Esther 2:12 ESV / 9 helpful votes Now when the turn came for each young woman to go in to King Ahasuerus, after being twelve months under the regulations for the women, since this was the regular period of their beautifying, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and ointments for women--
Numbers 31:23 ESV / 9 helpful votes Everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified with the water for impurity. And whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water.
Hebrews 9:14 ESV / 8 helpful votes How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
Acts 15:9 ESV / 8 helpful votes And he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.
John 17:19 ESV / 8 helpful votes And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
John 17:17 ESV / 8 helpful votes Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
John 3:3 ESV / 8 helpful votes Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Matthew 27:24 ESV / 8 helpful votes So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves.”
Numbers 19:19 ESV / 8 helpful votes And the clean person shall sprinkle it on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day. Thus on the seventh day he shall cleanse him, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and at evening he shall be clean.
Revelation 13:1 ESV / 7 helpful votes And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.
Hebrews 10:5 ESV / 7 helpful votes Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me;
Hebrews 9:2 ESV / 7 helpful votes For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place.
2 Corinthians 4:4 ESV / 7 helpful votes In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
1 Corinthians 3:15 ESV / 7 helpful votes If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV / 7 helpful votes The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
Isaiah 1:16 ESV / 7 helpful votes Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil,
Psalm 26:6 ESV / 7 helpful votes I wash my hands in innocence and go around your altar, O Lord,
Numbers 19:9 ESV / 7 helpful votes And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place. And they shall be kept for the water for impurity for the congregation of the people of Israel; it is a sin offering.
Leviticus 12:8 ESV / 7 helpful votes And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.”
Genesis 2:3 ESV / 7 helpful votes So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
Revelation 1:1-20 ESV / 6 helpful votes The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood ...
Jude 1:1-25 ESV / 6 helpful votes Helpful Not HelpfulJude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. ...