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 9:49)
Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Luke 14:34)
The Christian’s State of Being
According to the Word of God, it’s our responsibility, as Christians, to have salt in ourselves. The source of our salt is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible makes it plain that we can lose our saltiness; we can lose our savor. God wants us to be salty. In these few words, Jesus told us something about the function of His church and the responsibility of those who make up His church. As disciples, we’re the salt of the earth. We are not to become salt; according to Jesus, this is the Christian’s state of being. We’re the salt of the earth.
God had more in mind than just saving us. After we became saved, He wanted us to be an influencing power in the world. He didn’t say that we’re the salt of our churches, our Sunday school classes, or our fellowship; but rather, He said, “Ye are the salt of the earth.” There’s a reason why He said that. In order to understand what it means to be salt, we need to know what salt is like, where it comes from, and what it does.
When God created smells, He gave us about fourteen thousand different kinds of smells. However, when He created tastes, He only made four: sour, sweet, bitter and salty. All flavors come from these four. The Bible didn’t say that we are the bitter of the earth, the sweet of the earth, or the sour of the earth; but the Bible says, “Ye are the salt of the earth.” God wants us to be the salt of the earth; therefore, we need to pay close attention to the attributes and the characteristics of salt. Tons of salt can be found in places such as the Dead Sea and the Great Salt Lake. Salt is obtained when salt water is evaporated.
Job said, “Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? (Job 6:6). How do you salt eggs? You can’t salt eggs by sitting the salt shaker close to them or on top of them. You have to put the salt on the eggs, and until then, they won’t be salted. Likewise, in order for us to be the salt of the earth, we must come in direct contact with those who need to be salted, spiritually speaking.
Christian friend, it’s easy to settle in a little group somewhere; however, we have a job to do in reaching the world. In order to do this, we’re going to have to come in direct contact with those who are lost. They’re on their “way to hell without hope”. Throughout the Word of God, Jesus didn’t merely say, “Go out and compel them to come in.” That’s necessary, and we need to do that, but He said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). This is the way we salt the earth. It’s important to understand why God called us to be salt. It’s because He wants us to be in direct contact with those who need to be salted.
Salt Must Be Broken
A salt container is not a salt shaker. In order for it to be a salt shaker, some holes must be punched in the top of it. Likewise, a church container is not a salt shaker. I believe that some Christians need to let Jesus shake them loose. There’s a shaking going on today, and God is trying to shake people loose. I’m sure that you’ve had a salt shaker in which the salt has gotten moist at one time or another; then when you picked it up to try to sprinkle some salt on your food---the salt was stuck in the bottom. It was in a hardened form, and you couldn’t salt your food; so you tapped the salt shaker on the table and shook it up in order to break the salt loose.
I believe that’s what God is trying to do to the church. In too many cases, people have gotten into “a clump’ and they’re not being used of God. God is trying to get people to break loose so He can shake them out where the salt is needed. May God help us. It’s easy to settle together in a clump and become useless. It’s easy to get comfortable and forget about being in direct contact with those whom God has called us to reach.
It’s important for every Christian to be a part of a local congregation and to have local pastors. This is essential, but this is not all that God wants us to do. In too many cases today, as long as people go to church three times a week, pay their tithes, do this and don’t do that, they think they’re doing their job. However, God has a job for every one of us to do, preacher and layman. The church is where we’re nurtured, challenged, taught, encouraged and corrected when we need correction. We grow spiritually and find fellowship in the church. Nevertheless, our vision must be greater than just going to church. Too many people (even some good Christian people) think that’s all God requires of them, but there’s a work for each of us to do.
The church should be our launching pad for winning the world to Jesus. It should be our home base, not our retirement village. Until people and pastors understand that we need to go out and work for God, we’ll never be what God wants us to be.
Salt must be broken. When a clump of salt blocks the holes in your salt shaker, you must break it up so that it can be shaken out and used. We, as the church can’t be used in a rock form either. Many times, God allows us to go through a breaking process so that we can be used a few grains at a time. Jesus was broken for us. We remember His brokenness when we take the communion. Before we can ever minister help to a broken world, we must be broken. If we’re not broken, we’re hindering God’s will. God is faithful to us and wants us to flow freely, just as the salt does from the salt shaker. We need to have salt in ourselves.
Getting broken is never enjoyable. Sometimes during the process, we feel as if we’re being crushed, but here’s something encouraging: when salt is ground as fine as it can be ground and viewed through a microscope, it still will be shaped in little square crystals. This is true no matter how fine it’s ground. This teaches us something as Christians. When we’re broken, we can be assured that we’ll not lose our uniqueness or the distinctive mark of Jesus Christ; in fact, the smaller we get, the bigger He’ll be. I believe God wants to break us up more, so that we can be the salt of the earth and be used to the glory and honor of God in a greater way.
The Salt Balance Is Delicate
The salt balance in our bodies is delicate. If we have too much salt, it causes our bodies to retain extra fluids. This causes problems with the heart. The heart has to work a lot harder in order to pump the extra fluids. Many times, when this is the case, it causes high blood pressure. If we go to the doctor in this condition, he will put us on a salt-restricted or salt-free diet. Too much salt is bad, yet not enough salt is bad also. Just as the salt balance is very delicate in our bodies, so it is with the things of God. May God help us to know how much salt is needed for every circumstance. If we don’t have enough salt and we go on a salt-free diet, our blood pressure will go down, we will go into shock, and we’ll die. On the other had, too much salt will kill us also.
We, as ministers, need wisdom to know how much salt to use: let’s not use too much, but let’s make sure it’s enough. Why? A new person may come to church who is “in false religion”. You don’t have to give him the whole load, from Genesis to Revelation, the first visit! Instead, we should just give him a little salt. We’re liable to kill him if we give him too much at one time. We shouldn’t overdo it, but we must be sure we give him enough. As the salt of the earth, we must be in the right place at the right time with the right amount of salt.
Too much salt will ruin a good meal. Perhaps at one time you might have been eating a bowl of soup and gotten ready to sprinkle some salt in it, and all of a sudden, the lid came off the salt shaker and you got too much salt in your soup. You certainly weren’t able to eat it. May God help us to realize and understand that, spiritually speaking, we need to put in the right amount of salt at the right time and the right place: a pinch for personal ministry and cup for a big project. We need discernment to know just how much impact is needed to adequately salt the situation.
The Bible says be instant in season and out of season. It also says to let our speech be always seasoned with salt, not part of the time but always. We never know when we’ll meet an honest heart who is thirsty, or wanting to be saved and desiring the truth. Just thinking salty thoughts and being salty won’t season anything. We must come in direct contact with others.
Speech Seasoned With Salt
What does salt do? There are five things I’d like to mention. One is that salt de-ices. The layer of ice on the sidewalk on a cold December morning is much like an ice-bound heart: hard as a rock from the impact of bitter experiences; however, both of them can be melted with the right application of salt. There have been people who were bitter because of problems and circumstances that have happened in their lives. But thanks be to God, the right amount of salt placed on their hearts caused the hard surface to melt away, and they became as humble as a little child.
Colossians 4:6 reads, “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt [ not pepper ], that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” If our speech is not endued with the Spirit, it’s flat, empty, and unprofitable. On the other hand, when our speech is seasoned with salt, it’s useful, agreeable and beneficial to mankind. Christ’s speech was seasoned with salt in John, the fourth chapter. When He sat on the well and the Samaritan woman came and met Him that day, as she began to draw water, He said, “If you would only ask of me, I would have given you living water.” She said, “Give me some of this water.” Jesus told her to go and get her husband. When she told Him that she didn’t have a husband, He said, “You have had five, and the one you’re with now is not your husband.” Her reply was, “I perceive that you are a prophet.” If we read that chapter, we will find that she went into town and said, “Come and see a man who told me everything that I have ever done. Is He not the Christ?” What caused that to happen? Christ said some things which caused her to become thirsty, and it created a longing within her. The Bible says that she forsook her water pot and went into the city and said, “Come and see Him.”
I believe that someone had seasoned their speech with salt when speaking to the lady who had the issue of blood in Mark, the fifth chapter. It caused her to thirst for an experience that she could have. She had the issue of blood for twelve years, but it grew worse, and nothing could help her. Finally, she pressed through the crowd, and when she came to Jesus, she touched the hem of His garment and was made whole.
In Luke, the seventh chapter, a lady who was a sinner came to the feet of Jesus and began to weep. She cried so much that she wet His feet with her tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head. What caused her to do that? She was thirsty. We’ll never see people saved until we cause them to become thirsty. People who are in “false religion” must become thirsty also. They’re going to have to see something better.
In Acts, the seventh chapter, Steven had his speech seasoned with salt. Somebody said, “Nobody got saved.” No, not that day; but later (Acts, the ninth chapter), Saul was on the road to Damascus with letters in his had, ready to persecute the Church. Suddenly, a light from Heaven shined round about him, and he heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” He knew who was talking to him, because he said, “What do you want me to do, Lord?” Jesus told him to go to the street called Straight. How did he know the Lord was talking to him? He hadn’t gotten away from the things Stephen had said. (See, we can preach messages, go through forms, and say this and that, but unless it’s seasoned with salt, it’ll be flat and empty, and it won’t help anyone.)
Peter had his speech seasoned with salt in Acts, the second chapter, as he preached the message that day. It caused people to say, “Men and brethren, what must we do?” In Acts, the tenth chapter, when Peter preached to Cornelius and his household, the things he said were seasoned with salt. That is why he saw the results. He didn’t have to give an invitation or have them sing. They believed in their hearts, the experience came, and they glorified God. We sometimes think that things must happen just the way they happened to us. However, when people meet God’s conditions, He’ll save them.
Sharing the Salt with Others
The reason more people aren’t getting saved and aren’t coming out of “false religion” is: they’re not thirsty. In Acts, the sixteenth chapter, Paul and Silas had their prayers, their songs, and their message seasoned with salt. After being beaten and mistreated, what happened there in the prison cell? They began singing. I don’t believe they were singing the blues as some of us would have been. I believe they were singing a song of victory. About the time they got through singing that song, God came down and shook the prison. Next, out came the keeper of the prison with a sword drawn, and he was ready to kill himself; but Paul said, “Do thyself no harm, for we’re all here.” Then he called for a light and went in trembling. The Bible says he sprang in and said, “What must I do to be saved?” What caused him to do that? He had been listening to them pray, and he became thirsty. May God help us to be the salt of the earth. Have salt in ourselves.
Now, we may not cause everybody to get saved, but we can make them thirsty. The Bible says that few find it; however, we must do our job to find those few. Paul made King Agrippa thirsty as he preached to him in Acts, Chapter 26, when he reasoned with him concerning righteousness and judgment to come. As Paul preached the message that day, Agrippa said, “Paul, you have almost persuaded me to be a Christian.” Why was he, almost persuaded? Paul didn’t give him a sad story. He said, “I think myself happy that I can speak for myself today.” Again, God help us to have salt in ourselves. Let’s ask ourselves, “How is the salt in our heart and life?”
When we sit at the table, we sometimes say, “Pass the salt, please.” Can you imagine someone sitting down at the table and refusing to share the salt with anyone else? What if you said, “Pass the salt,” but they, in turn, said,” No, it’s my salt.” This is the way many people are with their Christian experience. See, if we’re the salt of the earth, we ought to be sharing it with others. Some people are just as we once were: they’re thirsty.
I like to sit down at the table and not have to ask for everything. I prefer to have someone ask me, “Do you want some salt?” Spiritually speaking, we ought to ask some people if they want some salt. Why? Because the Bible says, in 2 Corinthians 4:3, “But if our gospel be hid, it’s hid to them that are lost.” This Gospel is hid from those who are lost, and it’s up to us to show it to others by the way we live. We have a precious possession. Many of our neighbors around us are lost in their sins due to a lack of salt. Let’s not bury the treasure that God has given us. May we “pass the salt.” We all need to be salt shakers for the Lord; with large enough holes in the top so that the salt can be shaken out easily. The salt needs to be free, loose and broken.
Salt enhances the good flavor of food. It makes something acceptable that might not have been otherwise. All the cooking that some of the best cooks can do would be tasteless without salt. I thank God for salt. If we’re salty, the way we live and the things we say, will make others thirsty for the reality of God that they can see in our lives. Salt is the only common compound that dissolves easily in both cold and hot water. The Gospel is able to help those who are cold or hot---even lukewarm!
The Healing and Purifying Characteristics of Salt
Salt is healing. In Luke, the fourth chapter, Jesus said that one of the things He came to do was to heal the brokenhearted. One of the ways He heals the brokenhearted is through you and me. How? By putting some salt where it’s needed. Salt will draw the poison out of the body. It will cleanse the wound and help it to heal. You may gargle with salt water whenever your throat is sore. Some, when they’ve been working hard all day long and are tired, take a bath in warm, Epsom salt water. It soothes the aching pains.
Salt is good, and it is healing, but it can sting also. When we get sick, pain is often part of the healing process. In order to be healed, a sin-sick person must first feel the sting of truth. Somebody may say, “Don’t you know that the Bible says you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free?” Yes, that’s true; but before truth will set you free, it will sting you. Many have witnessed the sting of truth. When does it sting us? When we’re not living right. When the message goes forth and finds us “short”, it will have a stinging effect on our soul.
If we’ll obey the Word, God will take away the sting and set us free… The very truth that stung us will heal us. The truth will sting people who once rejoiced in it but have now turned away from it. That’s sad… However, all they have to do is turn around and repent, and the very truth that stung them will cause them to rejoice. Sometimes we feel worse before we feel better; but we’ll be better when we realize who we are, what we are, and who God is.
Salt can revive those who have fainted from a stressful journey in life. We need to pass the smelling salts under them now, and bring them back to consciousness again. God wants us to awaken those who are lost and revive the backsliders to a state of consciousness once again. How can we help those who have been wounded? By speaking the truth in love. If we put salt on the wound, it will begin to heal.
Salt is a purifying agent. Elisha took a jar of salt and poured it into a poisoned spring of water, and fresh water came out. Salt purified that poisoned spring. In 2 Kings 2:21 we read, “And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.”
See, we have a well of living water springing up in us; but with some people, the water has become poisoned. What needs to happen? Somebody needs to put some salt in the wells. Once the salt gets in, the waters no longer will be poisoned. Somebody may ask, “What do you mean when you say the water is poisoned?” Everything that comes out of their mouth is poison, and if we listen to it, it will poison us. Let’s be careful of poisonous water.
The poisoned water in Elisha’s day caused the land to become barren, and it no longer could yield fruit. Just as Elisha didn’t cast the jar of salt in the poisoned water (he poured the salt into the water), likewise, many churches need some salt poured in. They have beautiful church buildings, but what is really valuable to God, is the people on the inside of the buildings. After all, the building is not the church. People make up the Church. We’re God’s building, and we’re what is really valuable to Him.
God could have told Elisha to walk around and throw salt down everyone’s well, but He sent him to the root of the problem: the poisoned spring. God wants to send us to the root of the problems and us to purify the poisoned areas of society. These poisoned springs need to be purified so there no longer will be death and unfruitfulness. Again, we must have salt in ourselves.
The Preserving Quality of Salt
Salt also preserves. Before we had refrigeration, people rubbed salt into the meat to keep bacteria from setting in and causing spoilage. Our Christian influence works in a similar way by restraining the corruption of the world which, if left unchecked, will multiply quickly. Bacteria on a piece of meat will set in very quickly. Likewise, if we are not the salt of the earth, if we don’t purify the things that God has ordained us to purify, what will happen? Things will spoil very quickly.
When Jesus called us the salt of the earth, He made a strong judgment about the state of society and a lofty claim about what His disciples could do about it. You don’t salt something that’s alive; you salt something that’s dead, to keep if from rotting. What world, according to the Word of God, is perishing? The world needs us to keep the salt rubbed in to keep them from spoiling. Christ’s influence in us and through us is to keep the world from decaying and disintegrating.
Just as the salt was to be rubbed into the meat, we, as His disciples, are to be rubbed into the world. The only way to preserve the world is to be rubbed into it. I say again, in order for salt to help, it must come into direct contact with something. This is where many people are failing as the church: they’re failing to come in direct contact with those who need to be salted. Oh, many put up church signs saying that everybody is welcome, but that’s not enough. We must go out into the world. Jesus didn’t pray that we would be taken out of the world, but He prayed that we would be kept from the evil that’s in the world.
The reason there are so many problems today is that too many Christians are not being the salt of the earth. Things are not being preserved as God would have them to be. Many have retreated for fear of being infected rather than obeying God and doing what He has asked them to do. When God calls us anywhere, we must operate with integrity, purity, honesty, and fairness. We are salt, not because we are bearers of truth, but due to the godly influence of our conduct and character. We should conduct ourselves in a way that makes evil ashamed to “show its face”.
The enemy has many tactics today. He wants us to settle off to ourselves somewhere and not be up and about doing the Father’s business. Too often, it’s hard to get people to go out on visitation. Getting people to go to work for God can be a difficult task; nevertheless, it’s the need of the hour.
Little is much when God is in it. In Biblical history, we can see, over and over, how God used one choice grain of holy salt to make a difference. Whole nations of people have been preserved by obedience to God. Moses stood in the gap for the people of his day. God said He was going to destroy the people, but Moses said, “If you are going to blot out their names, blot out my name also.”
The lives of two hundred seventy-six people on a ship were spared because of one man’s obedience to God: our brother, Paul. The world around us is in desperate need. Their own answers are not working; however, God has an answer for every possible situation, and His answers work. Just a few grains of salt can make the difference.
Salty Ambassadors for Christ
To be the salt of the earth, we must first view ourselves as representatives of the Lord wherever we are. We’re told in 2 Corinthians 5:20 that we are ambassadors for Christ. Ambassadors are sent to a nation and have the authority to represent the interests of their government or king to that foreign land. They don’t change their citizenship when they go to a foreign country. Similarly, we don’t change our citizenship when we go to work for God, no matter where we go. Why do ambassadors go to foreign lands? To create a better relationship between the two countries. God has called us to create a better relationship between man and God. We need to be salty ambassadors for Christ.
Fifty years ago, a young girl was ashamed to admit that she was living with her boyfriend. Today, however, young girls are ashamed to admit that they’re virgins. If you’re a virgin, chaste, young person, you don’t have anything to be ashamed of; you have something to be proud of. There was a time when a man would fight you if you said he was gay, but not many men are fighting to be called gay. What’s the problem? Our world is decaying, and one of the reasons is that Christians aren’t doing their duty to help preserve it. There was a time when homosexuals were ashamed to show their faces. Now they’re bragging about it.
Many Christians are lumped together in a hardened rock form. They need to be shook loose and go out and start salting this world. It’s corrupt and dying, and it’s “going to hell”. Adultery, drugs, drinking, pornography, abortion, and teen rebellion are now generally accepted. Why? In many cases, it’s because too many Christians are not doing what they ought to do.
Believers everywhere should be speaking out on their jobs and in the schools concerning how they feel about things. The world tells us how they feel about things; so we ought to tell the world how we feel. Believers should say something like this: “I’m not going to lie to my Mom or Dad. I’m not going to lie to my boss. I believe that abortion is wrong.” The world talks about these things at work; they talk about it everywhere. They speak their mind about things, so we ought to speak up for what’s right. We shouldn’t be afraid to say, “I don’t take drugs, and I thank God that I don’t have to give in to pier pressures.
We need to let people know that we’re going to practice godly principles. They’re not afraid to let us know what they’re going to do. Let’s sprinkle some salt on situations. People are so bold today about ungodly things. There was a time when people who “talked that way” were rebuked by Christians.
Men shouldn’t be afraid to say that they’re going to be faithful to their spouses. In raising our children, we need to keep salt sprinkled on them The salt that we rub into them from childhood to adulthood will never get away from them. Let’s be careful to keep our speech seasoned with salt, even in raising our children.
When Salt Has Lost Its Savor
Yes, we can lose our saltiness. In the Middle East, salt is stored in buildings with dirt floors. The salt on the bottom loses its taste if it stays on the ground too long. Once this happens, there’s no way to restore it. The salt is then thrown down on the streets and trampled under the foot of men; it’s not fit for anything.
Saltless, religious professors are easy prey for the devil. The devil goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Who does he devour? Those who have lost their saltiness. Not only do they give the enemy access into their own lives, but they also give him access into the area of influence, over which God made them faithful stewards. This means that the principles which God gave them to uphold within their families, on their jobs, and in their communities are left unprotected. God Himself has sent us forth with a message for the world. If we’re too lazy to deliver it, not only do we become tasteless, but we also become a source of irritation to the Lord. Jesus makes it clear that it’s possible for Christians to lose all that makes them different from the world. We can lose the saltiness out of our lives, out hearts, and out of our souls. It’s the only thing that can make the world better, and if we’re not careful, we can lose it.
Going back to our Scripture text, in Luke 14:34-35, we read: “Salt is good but if the salt have lost his savour…It’s neither fit for the Land, nor yet for the dunghill…” When salt has lost its savor, or its saltiness, it’s not fit for the soil or the land, and it will not even do the manure any good. It’s only cast into the streets to fill up the cracks and to be trodden under the foot of men. If we’re meant to be the salt of the world, yet we need to be salted, is there any hope for others around us? If we’ve lost our savor, or our saltiness, we’re of no value to God. Knives that won’t cut and lamps that won’t give light have no value, no matter how beautiful they may seem.
It’s a serious thing to fail in our mission for God. If we carefully examine our relationship with the Lord and see that we’re falling short, we might take the necessary steps to make it right Jesus was not saying that we can’t regain our savor. If we’ve become flat, there’s nothing to keep us from going to God in honesty and humility and true repentance, saying, “God, I’ve lost my savor. I’ve lost my saltiness. Empty me and fill me afresh.” My friend, if we’ll do that, the God of Heaven will give us a fresh dose of salt.
Have We Lost Our Savor?
All around us, things are getting worse and decaying from individual lives and from society. It’s time to tell the enemy to back off. We as Christians, have a unique destiny to fulfill. We have a window of opportunity before us. Many have set in churches for ten to fifteen years or more. They’ve learned the truth; they’ve become rooted and grounded in the truth of God’s eternal Word. It’s time for us to arise and put to practical use the light and understanding that we’ve received. May we earnestly pray for the Lord to direct us where He know the salt is needed. The only way we can stay filled with salt is by living close to Him. Let’s ask ourselves if there’s a lack of harmony threatening our Christian witness? We need to reach for the salt and turn to His Word, and His Spirit to fill us afresh.
Imitations or salt substitutes won’t work when it comes to the things of God. When people realize they’ve lost their saltiness, many times they’ll turn to substitutes. That’s what the religious world is doing. They’re trying to get people in Sunday school and church by coming up with “this program” and “that program”. Those things won’t get the job done. How are we going to get the job done? By being filled with fresh salt…having salt in our soul.
Again, have we lost our saltiness? Have we lost that drawing power that we once had in our life? Have we lost our savor? Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It’s fit for nothing. Men will cast it out, and it will be trodden under the foot of men. Through the life that we’re living, are we causing other people to be thirsty? Are we creating a thirst in their hearts and lives---as we can read of the early church doing in the Book of Acts? Are we being the salt, the purifying agent, the cleansing agent, the preserving agent that God would have us to be?
How is the salt in our soul? If we’ve lost our saltiness, let’s be honest and say, “Yes, I’ve lost my saltiness.” Perhaps we’re still doing well in many areas. We may be living the Bible standard, and that’s good. We may be attending church services regularly…and that’s good. But have we lost that saltiness?
It’s our responsibility as an individual to see that we’re salty. Jesus said, “Have salt in yourselves.” Salt doesn’t lose it’s savor or it’s saltiness overnight; it happens slowly. What can we do about it? Return to the source: Christ is the source, and He can fill us afresh.
[ The End ]