 This is a difficult passage to interpret. A lot of folks have tackled it, and there are probably 10, 12, 15 different interpretations of this passage, how it ought to be used. And so I want to go ahead, because someone asked me, I want to go ahead and look at the passage. This is Mark chapter 9, verse 49 and 50, says, for everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good. But if salt becomes unsalty with, what will you make it salty again? That might seem okay. Pretty easy to follow. But then it says, have salt in yourself and be at peace with one another. It can be difficult because there are a lot of different. When I say a lot of different, you look up, you can Google, you can, if you got different Bible software, what have you, look up different commentary, and you're going to get a lot of different views on this. And so maybe it'd be safe to say that there probably isn't one consensus way to go about doing it. But obviously, because it's the word of God, and he gave it to us for our understanding, then there should be a way that we can get this. And the thing is, I think a lot of them kind of say some of the same things. Well, how I look at this is, first of all, this word, there's something that kind of gives me a little bit of a key in how we ought to look at this. And that is this word here for in the English, in the Greek, it's gar. So it's referring to something that is previous. And so if we just simply scroll back a little bit and look at the earlier portions, we'll kind of see what he's speaking of. Now, he's speaking of, you're going to see something that's spoken at the end of each one of these things. He's talking about some bad things or some simple things that can happen. And then he'll make a statement at the end of those things. He's speaking in verse 42, whoever calls one of these little ones who believes to stumble, it would be better for him if he would have a heavy millstone hung around his neck. He had been cast into the sea. If your hand caused you, now here we go, really 43 or one. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than having two hands to go into hell into the unquenchable fire. Notice what he says, where the worm does not die and the fire not quenched. If your foot caused you to, by the way, the whole point of some of these little markings, you see these little brackets that are there, these are stating that they weren't found in the earliest of manuscripts. And so we may not want to read into it, which is why we started in 42, but you'll notice something that's being stated here. Into this unquenchable hell. Now, the part that's probably added, not sure, so I don't want to make that a big point, but where the worm does not die, then go to verse 45. If your foot caused you to stumble, cut it off, what's better for you to enter the life than laying, going into hell with two good feet in and into hell. What does it say again? Where the worm does not die again, bracket it because it was not part of the earliest manuscripts, but we can still get past it. That's not a big sticking point. If your eye caused you to stumble, throw it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes to be cast in the hell where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. Now, the point is whether we consider the point about the worm does not die and so forth. The issue is we notice that there are previously these things that you should not do and some simple things you should avoid and to cut off whatever it is that is going to cause you to sin. Then we get to verse 49. For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salt again? But let's deal with the first part. For everyone will be salted. Well, this four is piggybacking off of what was stated previously. So for everyone will be salted. Now, the issue with salt is it can be used in a myriad of different ways. A myriad of different ways. The question is how is it used here? Is salt being used as something for preserving? Sometimes we see that or for seizing, making someone thirsty. Is it salt that's being used as something that kind of is kind of embodying trials? Is that what it is? Let's continue reading verse 50. Salt is good, but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? So maybe salt has this, because again, we're talking about a culture that we're not privy to. We're trying to put ourselves back into their time and understand how this is used. Clearly this is used idiomatically. This is, I've been talking about physical salt. But it's using salt that they understand how it's used in different ways to state a point that they would understand. But if salt is good, which it is, all the different ways that it's used for. So maybe what we should look at is how it's used all the different ways. But if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? So he says, and here's where it says, where it gets a little tricky, have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another. Now, how I look at this is, because you're going through all these different things, these issues of difference in, don't do those things, these are issues, these are problems. In some cases, they are just trial. Everybody is going to be salt at this word. Everyone is the word pos. I don't think this, some may take this just for unbelievers. Some may say it's just for the disciples. Pos, I think this is really everybody. I think this is one of those cases where pos literally means all the people. So everyone will be salted with fire. And if we take salted with fire, this kind of sprinkling with fire, this salting with fire, so to speak, that everyone is going to have these temptation, these trials, these hard times they're going to have to deal with this disciplining, because we're just, we're being told previously that people need to avoid whatever's causing them to sin, which means you got to discipline yourself. It's better to cut that off. Now he's, you're saying physically, but be it physically or kind of metaphorically cut off what it is that's going to cause you to sin. It's going to be a struggle. And so everybody is going to be salted with this struggle. Everyone's going to have a little bit of the struggle. And guess what? The struggle is good. But if your struggles are no longer a struggle, well, then what is going to make you strong again? This kind of, this again, this is how I'm taking this. And so I might be wrong, but have this in yourself, this discipline, so that knowing that you're going to go through these struggles, I think this is kind of what he's talking about. Why do I say that? Well, let's look at a couple of the passages that deal with this that some readers might, or some scholars might think that this is kind of connected. Notice that he says about this salt. Matter of fact, let's go back to Mark 9. He says this, he says, if the salt becomes unsalty or loses its saltiness, well, where have we seen them before? Well, we saw that in Matthew 513. He says, you are the salt of the earth. But if salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? Well, is it the, the seasoning that causes someone thirsty? Well, we are the people, our testimony is what we offer to people. Offering it to people, in other words, to get people to see what God has done in us through us and what he can do for them is the whole goal. We are trying to convey the gospel of Christ. And so in that way, is that kind of how he's using salt here, as well as the same way that's been used in Mark 9? Maybe Paul, I'm sorry, Paul, James makes a statement in James 1. We all know this passage says, count it all joy or, brethren, consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing. We're constantly told throughout the Scriptures that we need to be able to deal with these trials. And I think that's what he's, that the whole point in Mark is, whatever comes our way, we've got to have the ability to deal with him, that this will deal with him. Everyone is going to have some salt in their life, and it's good. And this saltiness kind of builds us up. So going back to Mark 9, he says everyone will be salted, which is true. If my understanding is, this has to do with tribulations, trials, the ability to discipline yourself and so forth, perseverance in that, well, everyone is salted that way. Everyone in life, if you live long enough, will have that, as a matter of fact, even if you don't live long enough, there is your fire that you're being, that you're being salted with. Salt is good. These trials, these issues are good. And so I think this is just me. Again, this is a hard one. When you look at this passage, there are a lot of different commentaries on this. And so I wouldn't just come out dogmatically and say that this person is completely wrong. There have been some things that I saw that like, yeah, I don't see that. But this is how I take this. I'd be interested to hear what you guys think about this. Again, this is a kind of obscure. It's only mentioned, only mentioned one time in the Gospels, here in Mark 949. It's not a textual variant. It's not that it doesn't belong. It clearly belongs. It's just, how do we take this? And so this is how I take it. But I'd be interested to hear what you think.