Salt of the Earth

Many of the readers of this magazine will receive it before Christmas. I hope you have a Christmas blessed by God in worship of our Saviour. We are called to worship him at all times, but I believe there are special times in the Christian calendar when we can worship together. We Christians are the salt of the earth and I believe without that salt, the world would not be acceptable to God. Without that salt the world would be good for nothing but destruction. Let us not lose our saltiness.

Jesus spoke of the impending judgement of fire. “And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 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.” Mark 9:47-50. Jesus was not telling people to gouge out their eyes, but we could apply this scripture to the “evil eye”. The evil eye is the love of money. (Proverbs 28:22). Get rid of the love of money if you want to enter the kingdom of God. Make a choice. Be salted with fire in hell or be salted with salt and have salt in yourself. To illustrate this, I believe we must turn to the book of Exodus.

In his instructions to Moses about eating the Passover feast, the Lord said, “And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s Passover.” Exodus 12:8-11. Whatever was not useful to the Israelites in their feast was burned up. That would be the fat, the inner organs, the skin and the bones. Even so, I believe that on the day of judgement God will cast into the fire everyone that is of no use to him. Those who are acceptable to him must be salted with salt.

We are not to be cast into the fire to be salted by fire. We are to be salted with salt. We are the sacrifice acceptable to God. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Romans 12:1. Two Bible commentaries I read say that the salt in the parable is grace. I am not so sure. Jesus said we can lose our saltiness. I believe Christians are salted by the Holy Spirit. “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” Matthew 5:13. I believe we become salt by receiving the Holy Spirit. He is salt to us. By him we have fellowship and peace with other Christians. I believe that is the sacrifice acceptable to God.

We must keep our saltiness. We must have fellowship with other Christians. If you cannot meet with other Christians, then speak to them by means of the internet or telephone. Have fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Meet with Israelites and non-Israelites who love the Lord. We are one body under Christ. We have received salvation by means of the prayers and witness of other Christians and we can be kept strong in the faith by fellowship with them. Our society is quickly abandoning our Christian Israelite beliefs, but some people are holding to them. We must hold fast to what we believe until the Lord returns and there is spiritual power in unity.

May the Lord bless all of us as we wait for his return.