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Salted with Fire Mark 9:49-50 READ

One of the hardest scriptures of the NT

Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

To be seasoned with fire is to be chastised

The 49 “For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Is a very contested verse with many scholars differing on its meaningFirst- we are transitioning from the discourse about Hell and the eternal nature if towards those who refuse Christ’s free gift of graceSecond- the statement ‘for everyone’ isn’t to imply that everyone is going to Hell as much as it is implying that everyone is going to go through fire.Fire isn’t always a bad thing in the Bible. This isn’t to say that everyone is going to go through Hell, but everyone on this earth is going to go through stuff in their life. “salted with fire”

Salt is the process by which a piece of meat would be prepared to be a sacrifice for the Lord in the OT and now, we too must be ‘seasoned’ (salted) with fire to prepare us to be a sacrifice for the Lord. Anything that isn’t salted isn’t acceptable to the LordSalt is the spiritual element that purifies sacrifices and keeps it from spoiling- from being destroyed.When we salt meat we preserve it, when we are salted we are preserved, and it takes fire to do so.Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.Christ promised us the Holy Ghost and he promised us fire. The Holy Ghost is the seal of our salvation and the fire is the refining cleanser of our souls to prepare us for being a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to GodJesus said Luke 12:49 “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!1 Corinthians 3:13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.

1 Peter 1:7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,that “fire” represents the righteousness of God manifested as punishing and chastising—the discipline, in other words, of suffering of the righteousOf that discipline, Jesus says “every one” shall be a partaker.He shall be “salted with fire,” fthat fire and the purpose of the sufferings which it represents, is to purify and cleanse.However horrible it may be, the Bible still declares that even the righteous will experience the fire of suffering and chastisementMany people in the Bible experiences calamity because they were followers of God. Join them!Read Isaiah 33:14-15 The promise is that even the righteous will be burnedWhat does it mean to you?Embrace the fire! READ 1 Peter 4:12-16 do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try youAs a Christian, you are going to go through it! Welcome to the fire-But here’s what’s happening- God is refining you through the fire- you learn through the fire- God does stuff in the fireI have been serving God long enough, and been through the fire enough ,that I can recognize when God is doing it to me, or allowing me to go through itIt isn’t fun, but is the process by which is prepares me for the future and for heavenThis is why I’m always concerned with theologies that omit the pains of the Christian lifeThe Christian life IS a blessed life, I love it- but there are times when God allows us to suffer as a ChristianIts hard ...