A Bible Study by Jack Kelley
A single line in Mark 9:50 tells us so much. It’s almost like a waste and yet when taken in light of the surrounding passages it speaks immensely. Have salt in yourselves; and have peace with each other. «
In Mark 9-10 , the Lord spent a lot of time summarizing God’s standards for behavior, and believe me, they are impossible. So much so that the disciples were amazed and exclaimed, “Who then can be saved? Jesus told them: “For men it is impossible, but for God it is not; because all things are possible with God. » ( Mark 10: 26-27 )
And at the very core of the teaching in these two chapters we find the simple little phrase, “Have salt in yourselves; and have peace with one another ” ( Mark 9:50 ). What a great lesson springs from this little part of Scripture.
Worth your salt
Salt in those days was used as a preservative to slow down the rotting process. Of course, refrigerators didn’t exist back then, so salt was a very valuable asset. In fact, Roman soldiers sometimes received their pay in salt. (Hence the saying, “worth your salt.”) They could easily exchange the salt for something they needed and sometimes they still had a small profit left on the transaction.
When you look up the word «salt» in the Bible, you will find 27 references in the Old Testament and 8 in the New Testament. For example, salt was one of the ingredients in the sacred incense that was used in the Holy of Holies ( Exodus 30: 34-35 ).
Pact Of Salt
In Leviticus 2:13 the Lord commanded the Israelites to use the “salt of the covenant” in every offering they presented, as a voluntary act of worship. There is also a reference in Numbers 18:19 to a «covenant of salt» in connection with the portion of the sacrificial offering that was given to the Levites for their own consumption. This covenant of salt is mentioned for the third time in 2 Chronicles 13: 5 when referring to the Lord’s promise of an everlasting kingdom to David.
Traditionally the salt pact symbolized resistance, preservation, and freedom from corruption. Although the Bible never explains it in so many words, the three Old Testament references to this covenant seem to say that the Lord was preserving forever something that He had ordained and that He wanted to keep it free from all corruption.
The priests and the Levites were set apart for Him, no land was given to them, and they were maintained (preserved) through the offerings that Israel brought to the Lord. When some of these were corrupted, He prohibited them from His presence forever, and in the Millennium only the family of Zadoc will be the one that is authorized, for having remained faithful, to perform the most important tasks in the Temple before His presence ( Ezekiel 44: 10-16 ).
Similarly, the Davidic line was established to preserve the throne of Israel for the coming Messiah. But when the kings of Judah became corrupted, the Lord cursed David’s royal descendants by suspending the office of king until Messiah himself came to sit on David’s throne ( Jeremiah 22: 28-30, Ezekiel 21: 25-27, Luke 1:32 ). In order to avoid this curse, nothing less than a virgin birth was required for the Messiah to qualify to be King of Israel. These examples tell us that only God can make a Covenant of Salt and only He can keep it.
As I have written on previous occasions, things that are eternal and physical in the Old Testament become internal and spiritual in the New Testament. So if New Testament believers are supposed to have salt in ourselves, that must symbolize a spiritual preservative that gives us strength and is free from corruption. And please note that this admonition is not for us to sprinkle salt on ourselves, but for us to have salt on ourselves. In other words, it is not something we do, but something that is done by us.
The salt of the earth
Romans 8: 29-30 says that the person who believes has been conformed in the image of His Son, and because of this, has been justified by God. The Greek word translated «justified» is dikaioo. It means to be justified. Because of our faith God has declared us righteous. When He looks at us, He sees a new creation ( 2 Corinthians 5:17 ) created to be like He is in true righteousness and holiness ( Ephesians 4:24 ). When we sin He attributes our behavior to our old sin nature that still dwells in us ( Romans 7: 18-20 ) and since He will destroy our sin nature and retain only the part that conforms us to the image of His Son , that’s the part He chooses to see.
“For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be transformed. For it is necessary that this corruptible clothe itself with incorruption, and that mortal clothe itself with immortality ” ( 1 Corinthians 15: 52-53 ).
On that day we will in fact transform into what we already are by faith, receiving new bodies that will never decompose. Until then, our faith is what preserves our life in His presence. And because our faith is based on what the Lord has done, and not on something we do, it will remain forever and will never be corrupted like the kings and priests of old. By one sacrifice He has perfected forever the sanctified ( Hebrews 10:14 ).
But there is still more. Because of our faith, God placed His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, thus guaranteeing what is to come ( 2 Corinthians 1: 21-22 ). As a result, our presence on Earth has helped preserve the fallen world around us by slowing the process of decay. Even Jesus called us the salt of the earth ( Matthew 5:13 ). But it won’t be like that for life. One day soon, we will be removed from Earth to Heaven, to the place of our citizenship ( Philippians 3:20 ), and the salt of the Earth will no longer be here.
This is what Paul indicated in 2 Thessalonians 2: 7-8 . He said that the secret power of iniquity was already at work, but that someone was stopping it. That someone is the Holy Spirit who resides in the Church ( Ephesians 1: 13-14 ). After our departure the rotting process will accelerate and the world left behind will be destroyed in judgment. Then, in the same way that He will have made a new incorruptible body for us, God will make a new Creation, which will be free from its bondage to corruption to be brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God ( Romans 8 : 19-21 ).
Act Righteously, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly with Your God
This is why the rest of Mark 9:50 is so important… «have peace with one another.» At the beginning of Mark 9 we can read about a discussion among the disciples about which of all would be the most important ( Mark 9: 33-37 ). Then we see the incident where the disciples prevented a man from casting out demons in the name of the Lord because he was not one of them ( Mark 9: 38-41 ), and finally the warning not to be the cause of someone else to sin ( Mark 9 : 42-48). Part of being the salt of the Earth is being a source of peace in the sphere of influence that we all have. You cannot very well preserve something while you are destroying it. Paul said that if possible, as far as it depends on us, we should live in peace with everyone ( Romans 12:18 ).
So here you have it. A little phrase with a great meaning. The Bible is full of them. Selah 07/07/12
Original Title: The Salt Of The Earth
Translated by Walter Reiche B.
walterre@racsa.co.cr