BIG IDEA:
THE PATHWAY TO GREATNESS IS PROTECTING YOURSELF AGAINST THE CANCER OF SIN WHILE POSITIVELY IMPACTING OTHERS FOR CHRIST AND PROMOTING PEACE AMONG BELIEVERS
INTRODUCTION:Figure it out … Live it out …
Other messages started with the teaching and then moved into illustration and application. In this lesson, we start with some illustration and application and then get the teaching on the back end.
Vs. 42 we studied with the section above – but it is a transitional verse – just as you need to make sure you don’t cause other Christians to stumble, you must as a priority give heed to your own moral purity
Parunak: Regarding background of usage of salt: For us, salt is a cheap, common substance, used mainly to flavor food, and we are most conscious of it as something that physicians try to get us to avoid. In ancient times, it was much more rare, thus precious. Roman soldiers received part of their pay in salt, a payment called salarium, from which we get our modern word “salary.” In addition, it was more than a seasoning, though it was that (Job 6:6). But it was also important as a medicine and a preservative for food. In this sense the Lord here uses it as a metaphor for something important in the Christian’s life.
I. (:30-32) FUNDAMENTAL LESSON: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF THE MESSIAH – DEATH IS NECESSARY BUT RESURRECTION IS CERTAIN
II. (:33-37) LESSON ON STATUS IN THE KINGDOM – THE PATHWAY TO GREATNESS IS HUMBLE SERVICE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE CROSS
III. (:38-42) LESSON ON SECTARIANISM – THE PATHWAY TO GREATNESS IS RESPECTING DIVERSITY IN KINGDOM MINISTRY FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE CROSS
IV. (:43-50) LESSON ON SALTINESS – THE PATHWAY TO GREATNESS IS PROTECTING YOURSELF AGAINST THE CANCER OF SIN WHILE POSITIVELY IMPACTING OTHERS FOR CHRIST AND PROMOTING PEACE AMONG BELIEVERS
A. (:43-49) BE PURE – Protect Yourself Against the Cancer (Leaven) of Sin in Light of Eternal Accountability
1. (:43-48) Protect Yourself Against the Cancer (Leaven) of Sin
a. (:43-44) Illustration of Hand of Temptation
“And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than having your two hands, to go into hell, [into the unquenchable fire, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched].”
What “life” is in view here? Not this present life – you already are living in that; but eternal kingdom life that is in contrast to eternal punishment in hell
Look at yourself – don’t go around attacking the ministry of fellow believers and trying to hinder them – first take the speck out of your own eye – plenty to be concerned with
Hands speak to human activity – what types of things are you doing?
Jesus speaking by way of hyperbole – nobody advocating for the physical mutilation of one’s body
Speaking to taking sin seriously; understanding the awful reality of hell
There are consequences for sinful behavior
Do whatever it takes … no matter how difficult . . . no matter how painful, to avoid hell
Constable: “Hell” translates the Greek word gehenna, the transliteration of the Hebrew phrase ge hinnom (lit. “Valley of Hinnom”). This valley, just south of Jerusalem, is where apostate Jews formerly offered human sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (cf. Jer. 7:31; 19:5-6; 32:35). King Josiah terminated this practice and converted the site into a city dump where rubbish burned constantly (2 Kings 23:10). The fire never went out at Jerusalem’s gehenna, and the worms that fed on the garbage never died off. “Unquenchable fire” must mean eternal. External “fire” and internal “worms” are Old Testament pictures of destruction (cf. Isa. 66:24). Thus gehenna became a picture of the place of eternal punishment (Enoch 27:2; 90:26), not annihilation. The word gehenna appears 12 times in the New Testament, and in all but one of these occurrences Jesus spoke it (i.e., James 3:6).
b. (:45-46) Illustration of Foot of Temptation
“And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than having your two feet, to be cast into hell, [where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched].
Feet speak to where you go – the path that you take
c. (:47-48) Illustration of Eye of Temptation
“And if your eye causes you to stumble, cast it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.”
Song: “Be careful little eyes what you see . . . for the Father up above is looking down in love”
Eye speaks to the sins of lust and covetousness and envy
1 Cor. 6:9ff “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Mark Dever: your worst enemy is your own sin; forsake your own sin; we are in a life and death struggle with sin; no negotiation; no compromise; will be painful to root it out; sin is deceptive by its very nature; no way for us and sin to thrive together; take sin seriously
No doctrine of annihilation in Scripture
Hendriksen: One hears the objection, “But does not Scripture teach the destruction of the wicked”? Yes, indeed, but this destruction is not an instantaneous annihilation, so that there would be nothing left of the wicked; so that, in other words, they would cease to exist. The destruction of which Scripture speaks is an everlasting destruction (II Thess. 1:9). Their hopes, their joys, their opportunities, their riches, etc., have perished, and they themselves are tormented by this, and that forevermore. . . What is perhaps the most telling argument against the notion that the wicked are simply annihilated but that the righteous continue to live forevermore is the fact that in Matt. 25:46 the same word describes the duration of both the punishment of the former and the blessedness of the latter: the wicked go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life.
2. (:49) Embrace Accountability from the Perspective of Eternity
“For everyone will be salted with fire.”
How broad is the “everyone” referenced here?
Some would apply this more to believers – speaking of the purification performed by trials and sufferings and persecution in this life
Seems to be a broader reference than that – Jesus has just been talking about a fire that will be applied to all unbelievers in hell for all eternity – certainly at least that must be in view
Salt is associated with permanence – we are going to be stamped for all eternity as either believers or unbelievers
Fire here seems associated with judgment:
– For unbelievers, it will be the eternal hell fire of punishment and suffering
– For believers, it will be the judgment fire applied to our works at the judgment seat of Christ — 1 Cor. 3:13ff – again, it is not our mission to go around judging the ministry of other believers and hindering their ministry because they are not in our camp
– For believers can also be the fire of purifying and preserving our faith right now thru fiery trials
Cambridge Bible: Salt and fire have properties in common. Salt, like a subtle flame, penetrates all that is corruptible, and separates that which is decaying and foul, whilst it fixes and quickens that which is sound. Fire destroys that which is perishable, and thereby establishes the imperishable in its purest perfection, and leads to new and more beautiful forms of being. Thus both effect a kind of transformation.
Fire and salt associated with sacrifice of the grain offering that the Israelites were required to offer up:
Lev. 2:11,13
Every grain offering you bring to the LORD must be made without yeast, for you are not to burn any yeast or honey in an offering made to the LORD by fire. 13 Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings.
Parunak: Grain offerings must be accompanied with salt, and must not have leaven or honey in them. Leaven and honey promote fermentation; salt preserves food and protects it from spoilage. The offerings that we bring to the Lord should not be liable to change and deteriorate on their own, but should be stable.
Think of how as believers we are to offer up our whole being as a living sacrifice continually to the Lord – dedicated to His service – Rom. 12:1-2
Offering of consecration – total dedication – idea of permanence; God will remain faithful to His covenant and we are pledging our permanent commitment
B. (:50a) BE POTENT – Embrace Distinctiveness — Positively Impacting Others for Christ
“Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves,”
Purity was mentioned first as the prerequisite for any positive impact on the world; no possibility of ministry if you have not taken care of the moral foundation of your life
Seems to be somewhat of a mixed metaphor with what just was referenced previously
Salt is in contract to Leaven – with the Pharisees, this was the leaven of false doctrine
Salt is a positive concept – used as currency in the day of Jesus; of value; provides distinctiveness
In what sense is salt “good”: Only good when it is performing its intended function
– Preservative against corruption and decay in the world
Cf. washing mouth with salt after dental procedures; protection against infection
– Positive flavor of grace and wisdom
Regarding conduct towards unbelievers – Col. 4:6 “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”
– Personal biblical convictions lived out in the context of a wicked world
You will be peculiar in this sense – distinct – remember before you were encouraged to respect diversity in the kingdom – but not at the expense of watering down and throwing away your own biblical convictions
1 Pet. 2:9 (KJV) “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light”
How does salt become unsalty:
– When no more effectiveness as a preservative against corruption and decay
– When no positive flavor of grace and wisdom
– When it no longer functions as salt = no different than the world; hypocritical; insipid
– When no distinctiveness remains of holding firm to your biblical convictions
Parunak: refers to rock salt deposits; sometimes the salt is mingled with gypsum, or else the rain has washed the salt out leaving only tasteless minerals that cannot preserve. So we must guard against becoming insipid in our commitment to the Lord.
Exhortation to “Have salt in yourselves”
Not go running about judging other believers to see if they have salt in themselves
The renowned Baptist pastor, George Truett once said…
“You are either being corrupted by the world or you are salting it.”
Hendriksen: have within oneself those qualities that promote truth, kindness, peace, joy, etc.
C. (:50b) BE PEACEFUL – Respect Diversity in the Kingdom — Promoting Peace Among Believers
“and be at peace with one another.”
Danger when you are being salty with your full potency that you would run roughshod over others and fail to be considerate and gracious
Negatively:
– Not striving to be the greatest in a selfish spirit of competition – jealousy, envy
– Not trying to exalt yourself by hindering the ministry of other believers who are not in your particular camp
– Should not be a lot of personal drama in the church – with all sorts of factions
Instead, Positively:
– Exercising patience and forbearance
– Being gracious and kind towards others even as Christ has been towards you
Regarding conduct towards unbelievers – Col. 4:6 “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”
– Pursuing peace whenever possible
How did Jesus fulfill this command to “be at peace with one another”?
Certainly not by sacrificing His commitment to Truth – He did not shrink back from exposing the hypocrisy of the Pharisees or the doctrinal error of the Sadducees
Truth can be divisive – we are not talking about peace at any price
But as much as possible be gracious towards others especially in the matter of patience and forbearance so that you are not always asserting your own rights; act in humility; act as a servant; submit yourselves to one another in Christ; keep your focus on kingdom objectives rather than personal preferences
The Apostle Paul had to address this matter of maintaining peace in personal relationships in the church at Philippi – chap. 4:1-5
“Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. 2 I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. 3 Indeed, true comrade, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.”
“be of the same mind” – Phil. 2:2
CONCLUSION:
The Lord Jesus was our example in each of these respects:
– Pure in His Life and Conduct\
– Potent in His Impact on Others
– Peaceable in His Relationships with Others