He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the Lord An offering in righteousness.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Mal 3:3.
Dross is the scum or unwanted material that forms on the surface of molten metal. It is the impure part of whatever is being melted. It is removed so that the material will be pure. So what is this scripture speaking of? What does the implied refiner (God) purifying gold and silver have to do with me?
The sons of Levi were responsible for carrying out the priestly duties on behalf of the people of Israel. One very important duty was to make sacrifices to the LORD on behalf of people as well as themselves. The way these sacrifices were presented were just as important as the sacrifice itself. God desired righteousness from these men offering the sacrifices.
As always, man cannot be righteous on His own. We need God to cleanse us. The fact that Jesus suffered the cross on our behalf is proof enough that God must intervene that we may be made righteous. We must choose to offer ourselves to be cleansed rather than God forcing us through some spiritual carwash. Our willingness to be Holy lets God know that we desire to be in His presence and for that to happen we must allow Him to remove the dross of sin.