Mar 9:49 | KingComments | STEP | Fire is the symbol of God’s testing, examining righteousness that kills all evil germs. Everyone has to deal with it. The believers will have to deal with it in the sense of 1 Corinthians 3 ( ), where the salt will keep all that is good. The wicked have to deal with it in a way that they remain in this judgment ( ) and are not annihilated by it. There is no such thing as the annihilation of the soul, as if someone would cease to exist. The “salting with fire” applies to believers and unbelievers. The unbelievers are salted before the great white throne, that is to say, judged with a righteous, irrevocable and eternal judgment. In the case of believers, it is already happening on earth and will soon be happening in full before the judgment seat of Christ. To believers, salt is the power of sanctifying grace that binds the heart to God and preserves the inner for evil. If we have salt in ourselves, that is to say, if we live in self-judgment, it will not be difficult to be at peace with one another. If Christians, those who are of Christ, do not testify to this, there is no hope for their testimony. For where, then, can something be found that gives this testimony back to them or awakens it in them? For Christendom is the only place on earth where this salt of self-judgment can be found. If it has disappeared there, it is nowhere to be found. The sense of the obligation toward God to be separated from evil, this judgment of all the evil of the heart, must be found in each person. It is not a question of judging others, but of oneself. It is a question of putting oneself before God, by which one becomes ‘salty’ and has it in oneself. In relation to others one must continue to seek peace. Christians must remain separated from evil and remain close to God inwardly. They must walk with God, in peace with one another. This principle judges and governs the whole Christian life in a few words. Spiritual discernment and the preservation of goodness must be within ourselves and that will lead to peace with others.

‏ Mark 9:49

Fire and Salt

Fire is the symbol of God’s testing, examining righteousness that kills all evil germs. Everyone has to deal with it. The believers will have to deal with it in the sense of 1 Corinthians 3 (1Cor 3:13), where the salt will keep all that is good. The wicked have to deal with it in a way that they remain in this judgment (Jn 3:36b) and are not annihilated by it. There is no such thing as the annihilation of the soul, as if someone would cease to exist.

The “salting with fire” applies to believers and unbelievers. The unbelievers are salted before the great white throne, that is to say, judged with a righteous, irrevocable and eternal judgment. In the case of believers, it is already happening on earth and will soon be happening in full before the judgment seat of Christ. To believers, salt is the power of sanctifying grace that binds the heart to God and preserves the inner for evil. If we have salt in ourselves, that is to say, if we live in self-judgment, it will not be difficult to be at peace with one another.

If Christians, those who are of Christ, do not testify to this, there is no hope for their testimony. For where, then, can something be found that gives this testimony back to them or awakens it in them? For Christendom is the only place on earth where this salt of self-judgment can be found. If it has disappeared there, it is nowhere to be found.

The sense of the obligation toward God to be separated from evil, this judgment of all the evil of the heart, must be found in each person. It is not a question of judging others, but of oneself. It is a question of putting oneself before God, by which one becomes ‘salty’ and has it in oneself. In relation to others one must continue to seek peace.

Christians must remain separated from evil and remain close to God inwardly. They must walk with God, in peace with one another. This principle judges and governs the whole Christian life in a few words. Spiritual discernment and the preservation of goodness must be within ourselves and that will lead to peace with others.