Salt & Fire

Mark 9:48-50
For everyone shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltiness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

The context of these 2 verses in the entire passage is punishment in times of sin. Fire in this passage is punishment and everyone here refers to every non-believer. The end of the fire is destruction. People who are unrepentant will be seasoned with salt to be roasted in the lake of fire. Thus the importance of spiritually cutting off our hands (v43); foot (v45) and eye (v47) that have caused us to sin against God. Spiritual surgery is important for our Salvation from the Lord.

Col 3:5 - Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Mortify here is to put to death. The old man that have all these sins have been washed by the blood of Jesus to become the new man.  We need to show the fruits of our salvation in our lives, and be salted with salt as we get cleansed. The sacrifice speaks of the believer, as a sacrifice unto God. Our body is a reasonable sacrifice to God. Thus we are salted with salt to further sanctify ourselves to God. The salt here is a covenant with our God. It will last forever, just as salt preserves us forever.

Romans 12:1-2. 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. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Let's us not conform to the world and salted with fire; but be transformed in Christ to be salted with salt and be preserved forever.

Spiritual Surgery

Mark 9:42-48

And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
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.

Cut it off! Pluck it out! If this is taken literally, our church will be full of handicapped people, and we would have to repeatedly do this every time we sinned.

These passages refer to the doctrine of Biblical  Seperation. We need to be separated from sin, from erroneous doctrine and practices of the world. Make no mistake, Jesus' teachings above are commandments to us, thus this is not a choice, it is to be done. The language is clear, cut it off and pluck it out; it is as clear and as straightforward as it can be. Biblical Seperation is for every Christian; it is a fundamental doctrine for all of us.

2 Col 6:14-7:1
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.

Seperation here is stated as a commandment by Apostle Paul - "be yes not unequally yoke"; "come out from among them"; "be ye separated"; "touch not the unclean thing"; "let us cleanse ourselves". These is no mistake on what every Christian will do. Only then will God be a Father unto us, and we shall be His sons and daughters. (2 Col 6:18)

We need to take a serious look at our lives. Are we addicted to worldly activities that take us away from God, and cause us to sin? We need to purposefully tear ourselves away from things t hat Seperation us from our God, and set our hearts to cut them off and pluck them out! We will survive without these worldly addictions and gain the grace & mercy of God. We need to walk closer to God to know what is bad or wrong in the eyes of God, so as to deliver a spiritual sensitivity that will allow us to know when we should separate ourselves from things that we should not do. We listen to the Holy Spirit to separate ourselves from sins that will keep us away from God.

Let us check ourselves and let us be safe on the Lord side!

Notes taken from Sunday Sermon from True-Life Bible-Presbyterian Church, 12 February 2017.