What does it mean to have salt in yourselves (Mark 9:50)?

The latter part of the verse is an allusion to Leviticus 2:13. Salt has been described as symbolizing that "power of holy grace, which binds the soul to God and inwardly preserves it from evil." We cannot present our bodies a living sacrifice to God if that holy grace is absent. It is indeed good, and nothing would compensate for its absence. We are to have in ourselves this holy grace which would judge and separate us from all that is evil. If each is concerned to have it in oneself, there will not be difficulty in having peace amongst ourselves.

The world was so contrary to Christ, that he who was not against Him was for Him. The Son of man was to be rejected. Faith in His Person was the thing, not now individual service to Him. Alas! the disciples were still thinking of themselves: "He follows not us." They must share His rejection; and if any one gave them a cup of cold water, God would remember it. Whatever would cause them to stumble in their walk, were it even their own right eye or hand, they would do well to cut off; for it was not the things of an earthly Messiah that were in question, but the things of eternity. And all should be tested by the perfect holiness of God, and that in judgment by one means or another. Every one should be salted with fire — the good and the bad. Where there was life, the fire would only consume the flesh; for when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. If the judgment reaches the wicked (and assuredly it shall reach them), it is condemnation — a fire that is not quenched. But, for the good, there was also something else: they should be salted with salt. Those who were consecrated to God, whose life was an offering to Him, should not lack the power of holy grace, which binds the soul to God and inwardly preserves it from evil. Salt is not the gentleness that pleases (which grace produces without doubt), but that energy of God within us which connects everything in us with God, and dedicates the heart to Him, binding it to Him in the sense of obligation and of desire, rejecting all in oneself that is contrary to Him (obligation that flows from grace, but which acts all the more powerfully on that account). Thus, practically, it was distinctive grace, the energy of holiness, which separates from all evil; but by setting apart for God. Salt was good: here the effect produced in the soul, the condition of the soul, is so called, as well as the grace that produces this condition. Thus they who offered themselves to God were set apart for Him; they were the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savour, wherewith can it be salted? It is used for seasoning other things; but if the salt needs it for itself, there is nothing left that can salt it. So would it be with Christians; if they who were of Christ did not render this testimony, where should anything be found, apart from Christians, to render it to them and produce it in them?

Is it not also, for every one will be exercised in the fire of trial? The fire shall try every man's work, and indeed every individual's work in his own soul. "Present your bodies a living sacrifice." "Every sacrifice," i.e., every one devoted to the service of God in the Gospel of His Son - crucified with Christ. This can only be effectual and real in the power of genuine grace. "Salt is good," there seems to be a conjunction here of the instrumental power or means, and the person in whom it operates, as in the parable of the sower: "These are they which are sown," etc. Then of the salt (ye are the salt by the power of the salt in yourselves), "If the salt becomes saltless, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." This connects it with the circumstances from which the discourse sprung. The result is simple and powerful - "salt in yourselves … peace with one another." The more real power of grace there be in us in truth, the more recognition of the Name of the Lord Jesus, the more genuine apprehension of nothingness in ourselves, more of the communion of the power of His Person, and so the more peace among ourselves. When real grace fails, though there be gifts, there will be jealousy and self-seeking even by those very gifts, and the Name which is the bond of power and unity will be disregarded, and division follow. They are most important as substantive directions, but have the utmost connection one with the other. Though peculiarly strong as to ministers, it is, as all other such places, true to all disciples.

Thus, whether it be the general dealing in a judicial manner with man, with every soul as such; whether it be the special case of such as belong to God (i.e., every sacrifice acceptable to God, as brought in by Christ on the foundation of His own great sacrifice), the principle is as clear as it is comprehensive and sure for every one; not only for every sinner, but for every believer, however truly acceptable to God by Jesus Christ our Lord. With the glorified saints, although it be not, of course, the judgment of God, certainly there is no concealment of the truth, though there is that also which God in His grace makes to be mighty to preserve; not pleasant, it may be, but the preservative energy of divine grace with its sanctifying effects. This, I think, is what is meant by being "salted with salt." The figure of that well known antiseptic does not leave room for the pleasant things of nature with all their evanescence. "Salt," says our Lord, "is good." It is not an element which excites for a moment, and passes away; it has the savour of God's covenant. "Salt is good; but if the salt have lost its saltness, wherewith will ye season it?" How fatal is the loss! How dangerous to go back! Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another; "that is, have purity first, then peace mutually, as the apostle James, too, exhorts in his epistle. Purity deals with nature, and resists all corruption; it preserves by the mighty power of God's grace. Following this, but of no worth without it, is "peace one with another." May we possess this peace also, but not at the cost of intrinsic purity, if we value God's glory!

The general meaning of this somewhat difficult scripture is soon apprehended. It was no longer a question now of following a Messiah on earth, or of the present establishment of His kingdom. Christ was in fact already rejected, and the cross was in full prospect. (See vv. 9-11, 30-32.) Rejection, therefore, would be the portion of His disciples; and, consequently, the constant and unsparing application of the cross. Everything was to be sacrificed rather than lose entry "into life," and incur the penalty of "the fire that never shall be quenched." It was thus eternity that was now in view, instead of the glory of Messiah's kingdom on earth; and hence there was no alternative between eternal gain and eternal loss. This will account for the distinction between the two clauses of verse 49: the first comprises all men, the second only the true followers of Christ. "Every one" — there is no exception "shall be salted with fire." That is to say, God will test, and search in order to test, every soul of man by His holiness as applied in judgment; for it is of this that fire is a symbol. Even Christ Himself was so tested, as shown out in the holy fire that fed upon the sacrifices offered to God under the old dispensation. The effect for the sinner will be the eternal fire; while for the believer who is in Christ nothing is lost save the dross. But whether for the saint or the sinner the standard is the same; the former finds the answer to it in Christ, the latter being without Christ will perish. Then, secondly, "every sacrifice shall be salted with salt." None but real disciples of Christ are here contemplated, their lives being looked upon as a sacrifice to God. (Compare Ephesians 5:1-2; Philippians 2:17.) This will be the more readily seen if it is recalled, that it is especially in connection with the meat-offering, type of the perfect devotedness of Christ to the glory of God in all His pathway (including, no doubt, His death, as in Philippians 2), that salt is mentioned. (Lev. 2:13.) Now, salt is the energy of grace in the soul, linking it in all its activities with God, and preserving it from the contamination of evil. To borrow words: "Salt is not the gentleness that pleases (which grace produces without doubt), but that energy of God within us which connects everything in us with God, and dedicates the heart to Him, binding it to Him in the sense of obligation and of desire, rejecting all in oneself that is contrary to Him … Thus, practically, it was distinctive grace, the energy of holiness, which separates from all evil, but by setting apart for God." A life without the "salt" would degenerate into human grace and amiability, and would thus be characterized by "honey" — that which was absolutely forbidden "in any offering of the Lord made by fire." (Lev. 2:11.) We are next told that "salt is good;" that is, "the condition of soul" which is produced by the energy of grace. The activity of grace within begets a state corresponding to its character. (See 2 Tim. 2:1.) But if the salt, through the lack of watchfulness and of self-judgment, have lost its saltness, wherewith shall ye season it? "It is used for seasoning other things; but if the salt needs it for itself, there is nothing left that can salt it." When we have lost devotedness to God, together with our Nazariteship, separation from evil, our state is hopeless, unless indeed God once more come in with His powerful grace to restore the soul. The remedy against the danger is to have salt in ourselves, and to have peace one with another. The more we cultivate true holiness, the more we are apart from all evil, the more we shall be in peace with our fellowChristians; for it is then that the Spirit of God, being ungrieved, works mightily in us, and enables us also to use all diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.

But "every sacrifice shall be salted with salt:" that which is to be presented to God must answer to His nature; there must be "the salt of the covenant of thy God," as the law puts it, or what must be in all relationship with Him. Salt is the energy of devotedness to God which keeps out corruption: "salt," therefore, "is good," and if it lose its power, what shall replace it? Salt, therefore, we must have in ourselves. It will diffuse its savor round, of course: if it has any, it will surely do so. But this is ministering, not requiring. We must be jealous over ourselves ― careful, of course, to maintain this character in all our intercourse with others; but in peace ― so easily broken by a legal and exacting spirit: "have peace one with another."

Then the believer is told that every sacrifice shall be salted with salt, and to have it in himself. Salt is a preservative. The believer is in a scene where moral decay has set in, and the Lord would have the preserving power of divine energy that links up everything with God, binding the believer in heart with God and holiness of walk, rejecting all that is of the flesh.

"'Every sacrifice must be salted with salt' refers to Leviticus 2:13. The salt represents the power of the Holy Spirit to keep us from all that is impure and produce holiness in a heart devoted to God, to keep us from all corruption. 'Have salt in yourselves.' He wishes us to exercise diligence in order that our souls, in our walk, may be thus sanctified before God, and then manifest it before the world and that we should walk with others in peace." (J.N. Darby on "Mark.")

But there is direct profit for the disciples also. For if "every one shall be salted with fire,"101 it is also true that "every sacrifice shall be salted with salt"; the former statement, in my opinion, being as large toward man as such as the latter emphatically and exclusively regards the saints set apart to God. "Salt is good," concludes our Lord, "but if the salt have become saltless, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."101a How precious and practical the exhortation! The first requisite is this holy preservative energy in our souls, and then for one with another a spirit of peace. "The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace," adds the Apostle James, (James 3:18). Some witnesses [ℵBLΔ, I, and several other cursives, with Syrsin] followed by the Revisers leave out the latter half of verse 49. [It is supported by ACNS and most later uncials, and by cursives, with Syrpesch, and other versions.] The substance of the truth abides, no doubt, but the solemnity of the warning appears to be enfeebled in the curtailed form; and the distinction between the wicked and righteous as tested by God's judgment, moral in grace, or final in verse 49 (B.T.).

Salt, as we have seen, was to be used with all the offerings of Jehovah’s redeemed people, Israel, and, generally speaking, it was a divinely-given symbol of truth in regard to preservative and moral savour. It was used in the oblation of the meat-offering, and in other offerings (Lev. 2:13), also in connection with covenants (Num. 18:19; 2 Chr. 13:5, etc.); and in judgments (Gen. 14:3; Deut. 29:2; Jud. 9:45; Jer. 17:6). These uses eloquently proclaim the enduring nature of that which is thus strikingly typified.

The words of our Lord Jesus Christ consequently come to us with freshness and forcefulness, making their meaning and connection of teaching pointed and clear. He said, “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 9:49-50). Eastern salt was different to that which is commonly used now. It was not pure chloride of sodium, but was mixed with vegetable and earthy substances, and, when exposed to the adverse influences of sun and rain, might become savourless and useless. This gives point therefore to the words of Matthew 5:13, too—“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.” These words, which speak with such wholesome warning, are similar to those of Luke 14:35, “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 has ears to hear, let him hear.”

We do indeed need to use our ears to hear the truth of God in these days of moral corruption, when social, commercial, political, and professedly Christian circles are being invaded with influences, principles and doctrines destructive to the truth. Both Mark and Luke record the Lord’s words, “SALT IS GOOD,” as we have seen. In the former we are exhorted to have salt in ourselves, and “HAVE PEACE ONE WITH ANOTHER.” This is important, and it is what is to characterize us inside—“one with another.” Then what is to mark us outside—“toward them that are without”—is given in Colossians 4:5-6, “Let your speech be with grace seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” Among the children of God, self-judgment and peace are to prevail within; while graciousness of speech (preserved by the truth), wisdom and zeal, are to be become them without. The salt of the covenant of our God is needful for the maintenance of peace inside, and for the presentation of divine grace outside. It is to be applied to ourselves individually in the first instance, and it is to give a savour to our speech in the second.

An earthly remnant of Israel will bear testimony before men soon when the heavenly bride of Christ, the assembly, has been translated to be with the Lord. This remnant will take the place that the disciples of Christ had when He was on earth, before the Spirit was sent from Christ on high, forming the one body of which He is the Head. Then, as Matthew 5:13-14, shows, these godly Jews will be the salt of “the earth” and the “light of the world.” Were it not so, all would go to corruption and darkness after the Lord takes up the assembly from the earth; but, as the Word shows, this remnant of the Jews will have the testimony of Jesus, “which is the spirit of prophecy”; and truly those who are then benefited (just before God’s kingdom is established upon earth) will say, The salt is good! and they will glorify their Father who is in the heavens!

It is now, however, before that time, as we await the coming of our Lord, that we are to have salt in ourselves. The truth in self-judgment is to have its right place in us. Not some sort of morbid censoriousness of others, but the wholesomeness of the truth applied individually, for thus peace will be maintained collectively—“the uniting bond of peace”! What a powerful and practical effect results where the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life is truly before us when, self-judged, we sing to Him: “Learning of Thee to walk in grace And fellowship with God!”