Chapter # 9 Paragraph # 6 Study # 3
June 13, 2023
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis:  The proper exercise of "hindrance" is to cause evil to cease.

Introduction:  In our last study we considered the downside of the Kingdom's practice of "reward' and we saw that the disciples were in danger of a significant consequence if they twisted that practice into an image of the current practices of the kingdoms of this world.

This evening we are going to look into Jesus' insertion of the "salt" concept into this warning.

• I. The Enigmatic Response Of Jesus Regarding Salt.
  • A. The backdrop.
    • 1. Jesus' declaration that He is to be delivered into the hands of men to be killed and the outcome to be His resurrection.
    • 2. The argument about who is greatest.
    • 3. The teaching that "greatness" requires one to be "last" and "servant" and the use of a child to emphasize this characteristic of the Kingdom in which they seek to be "great".
    • 4. "The John" responds by telling Jesus that he and others tried to stop an exorcist because "he was not following us".
    • 5. Jesus' response was to correct the attitude that caused "The John" to try to stop the man and to emphasize how the "Kingdom" responds to those who act properly for the right reasons: those so acting cannot destroy their reward (by any future contrary action).
    • 6. Then He immediately launches into the "dangerous side" of that truth: just as the Kingdom meticulously records and rewards those properly motivated, so it also meticulously records and penalizes those who are "adversarial" ("those who are not against us are for us").
    • 7. At this point, He introduces the "salt" comments.
  • B. "Everyone shall be 'salted' with fire".
    • 1. This verb is only used in one other text of the New Testament: Matthew 5:13.
      • a. The context in Matthew 5:13.
        • 1) "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven".
        • 2) Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
        • 3) Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
        • 4) You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.
      • b. The issue at hand: people whose faith causes them to be significantly opposed by those who do not wish to be exposed to their faith and actions.
        • 1) The purpose of "people of faith" is to accurately portray the "Truth" on the earth.
        • 2) The reaction of the people who live on the earth is "oppositional" even to the point of strong contradiction.
        • 3) The "danger" at this point for a person of faith is for that person to stop participating in the portrayal of Truth.
          • a) If that happens, the "salt" has been neutralized.
          • b) And if that happens, those who were to be "salt" lose their reason for being and get trampled under foot by men.
    • 2. Our use in this present text in Mark.
      • a. The overall issue introduced by "The John" is "opposing" the exorcist.
        • 1. This is, fundamentally, an attempt to dominate another as an action of someone who is "greater" than the other.
        • 2. With His "salt is good" statement, Jesus appears to be telling "The John" and the others that there is a "good" place for the confrontation of others who are "in the wrong".
        • 3. But that "salt is good" statement is only made after Jesus says, "For everyone with fire shall be salted".
          • a) The immediately prior context is the "fire" of Gehenna.
            • 1) Clearly, that "fire of Gehenna" is designed to stop the actions and attitudes of those who are "stumbling" by reason of their faulty actions and attitudes (a protection of the righteous by the relegation of the wicked to their own place).
            • 2) This "immediately prior context" makes "fire" an instrument of prevention.
              • i. This "prevention" is equal to "The John's" attempt to stop the exorcist.
              • ii. Thus, the rebuke of the exorcist by "The John" is equal to "fire".
          • b) Jesus, thus, is saying that everyone is going to be subjected to this "method of prevention" by being "salted with fire".
            • 1) With this the New Testament fully agrees by teaching that the wicked will be subjected to the fire of Gehenna and that the righteous will be subjected to the "fire" of "the day" when every believer's "work" is subjected to "fire" to burn up the "wood, hay, and straw" (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).
            • 2) The outcome in both cases is that "others" are no longer to be subjected to the ungodly attitudes and actions of men.
          • c) The point, then, is that "everyone will be 'salted' with fire" means that legitimate "salt" will be introduced so that the "rot" is prevented. That "fire" is used signifies the permanence of the outcome: the wicked will no longer be able to torment the righteous by their final destiny; and the righteous will no longer be subject to the "false salt" of the superiority complex of "the greatest".
        • 4. Thus, "salt is good" means that there is a place for the "good" of confrontation and opposition of those who are doing "evil" (BUT they must actually be doing "evil").

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This is article #410.
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