Our Covenant of Salt

 

Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt?  --2 Chronicles 13:5

Salt is an amazing substance.  In food it is a flavor enhancer as well as a preservative.  It is used in the manufacture of soap, glaze, and porcelain enamel, making something shine.  When added to water, it raises the boiling point, so that it is used in metallurgy to cool forged metal without brittleness or distortion.  When added to ice it lowers the melting point, thus making it easier to clear off roads, sidewalks, and windshields.  It also acts as a water softener, removing calcium and magnesium compounds from the water.

Salt is also an important component of covenants among different people or between people and God.  Covenants were ordinarily made over a sacrificial meal, in which salt was a necessary element.  The preservative qualities of salt made it a particularly fitting symbol of an enduring compact, sealing it with an obligation to fidelity.  The word "salt" has thus acquired connotations of high esteem and honor in ancient and modern languages.  An Arab affirmation of friendship was "there is salt between us."  The Hebrew expression "to eat the salt of the palace" (see Ezra 4:14) meant having fealty with the king whom they served.  A modern Persian phrase is "untrue to salt" meaning disloyal or ungrateful.  In English the phrase "salt of the earth" denotes a person held in high esteem, and "worth his salt" describes a hard worker.

Whenever Jesus uses a phrase or metaphor involving salt, it is always a good idea to pay attention.  Continuing our study of the Gospel of Mark, salt plays an important part in chapter 9 verses 38 through 50.

John said to Him, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your Name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us."  But Jesus said, "Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in My Name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.  For the one is is not against us is for us.  For truly, I say to you, whoever gives a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.  Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.  And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.  And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell.  And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out.  It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 'where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.'  For everyone will be salted with fire.  Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again?  Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."  --Mark 9:38-50

Whew!  There's a lot going on there, so let's break it down a bit.  According to Barnes' Notes (a commentary by Albert Barnes in 1870), "the chief object of the passage was:

1. To teach the apostles that "other men", not "with them", might be true Christians (Mark 9:38-39)
2. That they ought to be disposed to look favorably upon the slightest evidence that they "might be true believers" (Mark 9:41)
3. That they ought to avoid giving "offense" to such feeble and obscure Christians (Mark 9:42)
4. That "everything" calculated to give offense, or to dishonor religion, should be removed (Mark 9:43), and
5. That everything which would endanger their salvation should be sacrificed; that they should "deny" themselves in every way in order to obtain eternal life.  In this way they would be "preserved" to eternal life (Mark 9:44-50)."
   

Not to take away from that excellent summary, but I'd like to go a bit deeper.  First, if we compare the synoptic Gospels, it would appear that Mark's account was not chronological.  Verses 38-41, in which John identifies believers who are not in their group, but whom Jesus says should not be discouraged, has parallel passages in Matthew chapter 10 and Luke chapter 9.  The rest of the 9th chapter of the book of Mark has parallel passages in Mathew chapter 18 and Luke chapter 17.  Apparently a lot happened between these two statements of Jesus, but Mark puts them together for a purpose.  

What might that purpose be?  I think that Mark was comparing and contrasting Jesus's warning against discouraging like-minded believers with His command to separate ourselves from sinful influences and heresies.  I believe it is a call to spiritual discernment.

In Matthew 7:15-20, Jesus warned His disciples: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.  You will recognize them by their fruits.  Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?  So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.  A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Thus you will recognize them by their fruits."  In our passage, John was being zealous about potential false prophets--that is, those who would use the Name of Jesus disingenuously.  We don't know where this fellow came from, but he sure wasn't one us us.

Here in Mark 9:39 Jesus again told His disciples to look at the fruit.  Anyone who can do "mighty works" or "miracles" in Jesus's Name cannot quickly denounce Him, or bring Him dishonor.  This would apply to one who was casting out demons in the Name of Jesus, but would also apply to one giving a cup of water to a thirsty soul in the Name of Jesus. Both can be described as "mighty works", translated from the Greek word dynamis (from which we get the English word "dynamite").  It takes a spirit of discernment to recognize an act of kindness for kindness sake against an act of kindness done in Jesus's Name.

Next we see in Mark 9:42 a transition statement.  Jesus had just warned them against speaking ill of a fellow disciple, a co-worker in the faith who may not be in the same group as you but strives toward the same goal.  Whoever causes one of these little ones, e.g. a second-generation Christian, one who did not sit at the feet of Jesus but has faith nonetheless, and did mighty works in His name (see John 20:29, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe") to sin--well, it would be better if they had not been born.  The disciple John was being warned, but so, too, was the warning meant for those who would stir up dissension in the Body of Christ.

Paul would later write a metaphor in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 where he described the Church as a collection of people with differing spiritual gifts as being one Body with many parts.  Those who go are compared to the feet of Christ, those who do are compared to the hands of Christ, those who see are compared to His eye, those who listen are compared to His ear, and on and on.  I don't think it strains the metaphor too far to think of Jesus's words in Mark 9:43-48 in this light.  If someone claiming to be a part of the Body of Christ (the Church) causes offense (literally "scandal", from the Greek word skandalizo used here), then that part of the body should be "cut off", whether it is the hand, the foot, or the eye.  We should not abide those people in the Church who try to influence her to sin.  It would be better for the Body to be without them than to be thrown corporately into the pit of hell.

I know that Jesus' words here to avoid anything having to do with sin relate to each individual Christian.  Each one of us is individually responsible for our own sin, and must repent and ask forgiveness independently of others.  I also know that within the Body of Christ, Jesus will raise up the people with individual spiritual gifts whom He wills, and that none whom He foreknew and fore-ordained will be cast out.  However, if anyone claiming to be a part of Christ's Church is involved in sin and encourages others to sin, the Church corporately should have discernment, see that this one member is not bearing good fruit, and then they should corporately cut him off and cast him out, and should corporately (as a Body) ask for forgiveness and repent of the corporate sin caused by that one offending member.

This line of reasoning makes sense when trying to interpret verse 49, one of the most difficult verses to understand.  "For everyone will be salted with fire."  Many commentators believe this means that we all must go through trials that will burn away the chaff and refine us, purify us, and preserve us, as with salt and with fire.  But the very next verse says we are the salt, and we must not lose the properties of salt or we will be useless.  

The phrase "salted with fire" may refer to ancient metallurgy.  When forging metal (think armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-18, yielding the Sword of the Spirit which is the word of God in Hebrews 4:12), the blacksmith will heat the metal until it is red-hot, and then temper the metal by cooling it down quickly.  Plunging it into water may cause it to cool down too quickly, thereby making it brittle or distorted.  Adding salt to the water raises the boiling point, thereby allowing the metal to cool down more slowly, with less chance of weakness or lack of integrity.  When Jesus said "salted with fire," He may have been referring to this ancient blacksmithing technique.

Salt is important to the process of hardening metal and tempering it to a sharp edge.  It is only when we are hardened steel that we are not impressionable, given to deceptive lies and heresies thrown at us by the world and by Satan himself.  The sharper we are, the more valuable we are to the Kingdom.  The less impressionable we are, the more we are at peace with one another.