Salt

[charisenexcelcis]

Text: Matthew 5:13 You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt looses its saltiness, how will it be make salty again? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trnmpled under foot by men.

What does this mean? Salt had three main uses at that time.
1. As a preservative and flavoring. This is the most obvious meaning in this passage. We are to preserve and make palatable this earth. Notice the use of the word "earth" rather than world. The world is fallen society. We cannot save human society, we can only save humans. But we make the earth palatable both to God and to mankind.
2. As a medium of exchange, i.e. money. Salt was a universal medium up until the 1900's. Explain "salary" and "worth his salt". It was often used as a gift denoting friendship. When someone would come into your house, you would offer them bread, wine, and salt. Numbers 18:19 says that God established a eternal covenant of salt. We are indeed purchased with a price and we become an extension of the "salt" that He extended to the world as we continue the minstry of Jesus to the world.
3. Purification. Salt is an almost universal solvent. Because of this, it can purify many things. Explain "salt mines" Mark 9:49 say that all things will be purified by fire. This is the opposite effect of leavening. We are to be an influence for righteousness on each other and in the world. This is not a call to war. Mark 9:50 Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another. Explain the difference between power and influence. we give up power in order to gain influence. Use chemistry of salt to explain.

The danger of losing your "saltiness". We are called to be useful to our God. There is nothing sadder than the one who makes it without any fruit, as if through fire. And there is nothing more wondrous than to hear those words, "Well done, good and faithful servant"

 

[greatkraw]

This is an important concept in relation to the Church

it is the presence of believers which makes the world tolerable for God(ie salty) and makes Him delay His righteous judgement
when that saltiness is Gone(at the rapture) there will be nothing to prevent God unleashing His wrath

 

[Sharp]

So which meaning is most appropriate to our speech being seasoned with salt in Colossians.

 

[greatkraw]

Good post -

From…………..

http://www.mountainretreatorg.net/faq/salt.html

What is the Significance

of Salt in Scripture?
-by Tony Warren​

Salt in scripture carries a two-fold signification. The positive attribute of salt is that it is the flavor which makes things good, and the negative attribute of salt is that of it's use in making something barren or without worth. These are characteristics which both signify the Blessings, and the Judgments of God. In fact, it is the very judgment of God which makes a person good or righteous in His sight. i.e., the judgment for our sins were laid upon Christ, and through His being judged in our stead, we were made good or virtuous. This is the same principle as fire both being illustrated in scripture as a blessing (as in the baptism by Fire, or refined by fire), and as God's judgments (as in the lake of fire). When we come to understand just how we were made righteous, we understand that the Christians' righteousness, and his judgment, is intimately related.
It is thus not curious that God, almost from the beginning, used the signification of salt as a figure of the Covenant Promise which He has with His chosen people.

Leviticus 2:12-13

• "As for the oblation of the firstfruits, ye shall offer them unto the LORD: but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet savour.
• And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the Covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt."

Salt cannot be lacking from the sacrifice because it signifies the virtue of the sacrifice. It is the flavor which makes the meat good, or gives it it's savory or good taste.

Job 6:6

• "Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?"

Salt makes the meat tasty. That sacrifice is equated to Christ, and it was the salt that made the meat good. This is equating the salt which makes the sacrifice good, to the virtue or righteousness of Christ, which makes us good. That is why God decrees that the sacrifice was to be seasoned with salt, that no sacrifice should be lacking salt. It is why it is called, "The salt of the Covenant." It is the savor of the sacrifice, the righteousness of Christ, which is the foundation of the Covenant. Salt is at the heart of the Covenant both in judgment, and in the virtue of Christ. A sacrifice without salt (without virtue) would not suffice, signifying Christ had to be the lamb that was without sin, that through judgment we could also be made virtuous!

2nd Corinthians 5:21

• "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

The virtuous sacrifice, judged for us, that we could be made virtuous or righteous in Him. the sacrifice, seasoned with salt.

Matthew 5:13-14

• "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.
• Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid."

Jesus is here giving us a contrasting view of the man of God with Christ in him, and the man who has fallen away from God, and has no virtue. Note that if the salt have no savor (no virtue), it is good for nothing. For it is the savor which is the goodness! The savor signifies the good or righteousness. In this verse we are warned not so much of our duty to salt the world, but to see that our salt is genuine, having a real flavor. In other words, we make our calling and Election sure! The previous verses (matt. 5:11-12) set the context of Christians being reviled, persecuted, and having all manner of evil spoken against them, and it is in this context that in verses 13 and 14 we are warned not to lose our saltiness. Context is important!
In Christ only can we be the salt of the earth, having flavor or virtue to go forth with the gospel, righteously. In Christ only can we be the Light of the world to go forth in righteousness, the gospel shinning, that many will not walk in darkness. Covenant-breakers who cease doing God's work is like salt which has lost it's savor. Apostasy, or the departing from the faith, is the inevitable result. This salt (without virtue of Christ) is savourless, unfit for use of God, and good for nothing but to be trampled upon by men. Rather than salt of savor, it has become salt of Judgment. Salt loosing it's flavor is salt which has lost all it's goodness. This analogy is the same one as Jesus uses of a light which has been put under a bushel or bed. In other words, it's made useless! No Christian should hesitate to salt the earth, or to let his light shine, for fear of not being popular, or being reviled, hated, or persecuted by man. God says blessed are those who for the sake of Christ endure these things. These two figures of light and salt, are synonymous.

Matthew 5:13-16

• "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.
• Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
• Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
• Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

Our good works are the light of the world, and our Good works are the Salt of the earth. It is the good of Christ in us (Philippians 2:13, Hebrews 13:21), not our own. It is the virtue of Christ, which is the salt of the Covenant that Leviticus addressed! The Promise or Covenant of Christ was confirmed, or given strength (heb. 9:17), by the judgment of the sacrifice Lamb.

1st Peter 2:24

• "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."

It is by His bearing our sins, and His being judged of God for them, that we are healed. And that judgment and healing, is by the signification of salt. The sign manifested in such illustrations as in 2nd Kings.

2nd Kings 2:21

• "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."

There we see the signification of salt used for the healing of the waters, that there not be any more death or barren land. This is the marvelous spiritual figures which God places in His Holy Word. One salt makes the land barren, and another salt heals the land that it not be barren. The figure of salt is inseparably tied to both the healing of the nations, and the judgment of the nations. For truly, because of God's perfect justice, you can't have one without the other. Without judgment, there would be no forgiveness. The judgment side of salt is illustrated in such chapters as Joel, in the wastes of the east sea.

Joel 2:20

• "But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things."

Being in a land barren and desolate, and having your face toward the east sea is a signification of having nothing worthwhile. The east sea (sea of the plain), is more commonly known as the Salt sea, or today appropriately called the Dead Sea! The salt sea is a large inland lake whose waters are extremely saline. In fact, it is five times more salty than the oceans, and marine life cannot live in it's waters. It is at the lowest point on earth (1292 feet below sea level), and thus not then surprising that God would use it as a signification of Judgment. Truly a dead sea, it is a place with a salt content so high, it can only be described as desolate. For this people to be in a land barren and desolate and have their face toward this dead sea, is a figure of the worst possible scenario, and the lowest position one can be in. Under God's judgment where there is nothing around you but desolation! And one's "face" toward the salt sea, signifies this judgment.
One of the first examples we find of salt as judgment is when Lot's wife "Looked Back" to Sodom, as she obviously had not taken her eyes off it's wickedness and placed them on the Lord. A great example God made of her there for all of us! Her eyes offended her, and she didn't pluck them out! It implies a heart problem, as her thoughts were on Sodom, not on her God, and she was judged there, as God turned her into a Pillar of salt.

Genesis 19:26

• "But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt."

She became a "sign" of God's judgement upon those who look back to their old house after God brings them out of that world of darkness. And that sign, or signification, was of a Pillar of Salt. In other words, a station or house of worthlessness, destitution or barrenness. It is meant an example to all of us who would look back to our former dwellings. It is also interesting that most Theologians believe from scripture that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were in the area of the Salt Sea. Some say it is "in" what is now part of the salt sea.
By Lot's wife becoming a pillar or station of salt, she is a standing sign or example for all, that, "No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. -Luke 9:62" This judgment illustrated by salt.

Deuteronomy 29:23

• "And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:"

Here we see Salt again used to signify that the land was desolate or in ruin, and was worthless that it could not bear any grass. Moreover, in times when there was war, the enemies' lands were sometimes "sown with salt" in order to make it barren that no one could cultivate it. As in the example we read of Abimelech destroying a city, and then sowing the fields thereof with salt that nothing would grow there.

Judges 9:45

• "And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt."

These are all examples of God using Salt in it's negative attribute to signify that something is made worthless or barren, the figure of God's judgments.
Another chapter which shows salt in both it's negative and positive aspects, is Mark chapter 9.

Mark 9:47-50

• "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."

Salted with fire signifies the judgment of God, and the sacrifice salted with salt signifies the virtue in the sacrifice, given to us. Another parallel passage speaks likwise of both aspects of salt, but in a slightly different way.

Luke 14:33-35

• So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
• 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."

Again note, "forsaketh not all he has." i.e., remember Lot's wife who looked back, not forsaking all she had, not plucking out her eye that offended! And the signification here of salt being sown in the land, to make it desolate is again illustrated. It is being pictured as worthless, not fit to salt the land, or even for the dunghill. Salt which is without efficacy is worthless salt.When Jesus ascribes to us the title "salt," Salt is the seasoning within us.
Colossians 4:6

• "Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man."

How is our speech seasoned with salt? By it being virtuous, and that can only be by the faithful witness of the Word.

Titus 2:8

• "Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you."

Speech seasoned with salt is what is spoken in righteousness, not hypocrisy.

Proverbs 12:4

• "A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones."

The truly virtuous woman is the bride of Christ, only! Then, and only then, is she the salt of the earth, and the light of the world.
As we ponder these illustrations of salt, we should ask if we can honestly look at ourselves and humbly say that our life is as a light to the world, and that we are as the salt of the earth.

 

[charisenexcelcis]

So which meaning is most appropriate to our speech being seasoned with salt in Colossians.

I think as a medium of exchange. Good crossreference.

 

[charisenexcelcis]

Nice response, Greatkraw

 

[resurrection33]

The way I see it, when the Lord said something, he probably intended that most people would understand what he was saying. Most people would understand that salt adds flavor to food. As you get older, you probably come to understand that salt preserves food. Therefore, I would guess Christians in some way are to add “flavor” to life—make life interesting for others—or in some way be a “preservative.” I can be a preservative, perhaps through perseverance. I can make life interesting by trying always to do the Lord’s will. It might not be a good answer, but I thought I’d give it a shot.

 

[loveschild]

Salt is faith

 

[charisenexcelcis]

The Israelites of Jesus day would have known those three things that I mentioned, but the first that would have come to mind is the seasoning/preservative.