Re: Verse reading–Matthew 5:1-16 (day four) “If the salt loses its saltiness. . .it is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” (vs 13) It was a compelling illustration. Convicting even today. While salt (NaCl) can never lose its chemical properties,” blocks of salt” did so all the time in the ancient world. As the real salt leached away, it left a useless, tasteless pile of chalky impurity. The warning? It is possible for Christians to lose our distinctiveness and ministry! Avoiding persecution and desiring pleasure we become cautious and forfeit our Kingdom service. When this happens, the Lord ” throws us out” just as the ancients did the impurities–used for road construction projects. Are we already seeing the warning light of such a judgement by God? Many are. If lost completely, salt cannot regain its saltiness. Better for us to hear this warning and repent now! May the Lord give us urgency and hope!
Thanks for the clarification!
I personally am not sure where I am on the whole once saved, always saved theory. To me, I don’t understand why anyone would possibly want to push it close enough to find out…He is too Good. That being said, I am guessing you are saying that it is possible to be “thrown out of our ministry/position” and not (as I initially read it) that we can be thrown out completely… lose our salvation. “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you” is such an amazing promise/comfort to believers who really rely on the Lord. However, there are examples of the Lord leaving(“But he did not know the Lord had left him”)…people fearful lest He leave them… in the Bible (“Take not Your Holy Spirit from Me”).
I imagine it as (once again) Jesus telling us that it is all about Him. Only He is righteous and any part of us not being led/directed by Him (through the Holy Spirit) is our default mode (impurities) or flesh and utterly useless. It really is not about us. We cannot do this apart from Him. So many people in our day have a form of righteousness, but they have no discernible LIFE. That is because the righteousness is not the goal…. He is the goal. “Seek you first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.” May it be so in all our lives.
Amen! Thank you, Don, for your daily encouragement.
Thanks, Don, for the reminder and the daily encouragement.
Amen, and thanks so much, Don, for your daily encouragement.