Salt Intake

“For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.” (Mr 9:49-50 AV)

Verse 58 is a puzzle to most writers.  I won’t belabor the confusion by stating all the possibilities.  Sufficient to say, I think the LORD’s words above if taken in context, suggest that all will be treated with a purifying agent as it is better we welcome that agent and retain it than have it forced upon us by eternal hell fire.  The fire that salts can be one of two things.  The fire that salts can be the Holy Spirit or hell; depending on one’s choice to accept Christ as one’s Savior.  The statement would then be true that everyone will be salted with fire.  The second phrase refers to the preparation of an animal sacrifice at that temple.  Salt was used as a cleansing and preserving agent.  In this way, Christ was prepared as our sacrifice on Calvary.  Cleansing and preserving are good things.  It would be advisable to have the salt within rather than suffer the salt of eternal damnation.  It would be better to yield to the ministry of the Holy Spirit and surrender to salvation than suffer the eternal punishment of fire that cleanses.  The underlined phrase above can also be applied as an ongoing operation of the Holy Spirit in sanctification.  Yielding to the ministry of the Holy Spirit would accomplish that which was taught before these two verses.  That being the removal of all that offends God.  Therefore, have salt in yourselves so that the impurities of character and soul can be cleansed away.

Taking medicine we do not like can be a chore.  Currently, I don’t have many.  Of the three or four pills I do take, the one to help me sleep is the worst.  It has a bitter taste.  If I do not swallow it on the first try, the process becomes rather unpleasant.  There are also those cold medicines that are not all that pleasant tasting as well.  But the one that stick out in my mind most of all was the second time around having a colonoscopy.  The first one was no big deal.  As my mom told me, the prep was the worst part of this procedure.  As she was right.  The first time was rather tame.  The prep came in powder form and I drank just two helpings several hours apart.  In between those doses, I had to drink a lot of water.  The taste wasn’t all that bad and I was wondering to what my mother was referring.  Then came the second time.  I found out in spades.  The second time around, the doctor prescribed a jug!  The power was inside and I had to mix it with water.  I was supposed to drink this concoction at two intervals.  Half a gallon in one sitting and several hours later, the remaining half gallon. Drinking a half-gallon of anything is difficult, let alone prep.  The second time around, I got flush, feverish, nauseous, and sweaty.  Needless to say, I did not finish this poison.  I didn’t care if the procedure was canceled. I was not going to have this prep within myself any longer.

Most desire the work of the Holy Spirit as long as it is restricted to edification or comfort.  Many do not care for the rebuke and reproof.  This is uncomfortable.  We do not want to be corrected, warned, and re-educated.  We want to live as we want to live.  That is our nature.  When we accepted Christ, the cleansing process began.  The Holy Spirit dwells inside us, but He will not force us to live as we should.  That is up to us.  We must yield.  We must surrender to the ministry of the Holy Spirit to be cleansed of that which offends the LORD.  We cannot live as we always have.  There must be change.  And that is what salt is meant to do.  It is meant to change what is unsavory to that which is a delight.  Salt cleanses away bad bacteria that cause unpleasant taste, and replaces that flavor with a saltiness that enhances the natural delight of the food upon which it is cast.  The Holy Spirit does the same.  He cleanses us from all unrighteousness and changes the new creature we are into something far more delightful in the sight of God.  But we must have Him within ourselves.  And, He must be active.