Salt, The New Covenant, Your Life

Greetings, Friend.

Even though the days since we last spoke are many, Jesus is the same today as He was then. Thankfully, the gospel does not change. Salvation is found in no other name but His.

I have read Jacques Ellul’s book The Presence of the Kingdom many times. Last night I was led to read it again. I must say, God prompts me in some fascinating ways. I’m often drawn to a book with a message that corresponds to where I am in the Scriptures without trying to achieve this. The messages of the two sources overlap, and I’m blessed and edified.

I’ve been repeatedly going through the book of Hebrews. Chapter 12:24-29 presents Christ as the mediator of the new covenant and presses the point of the requirement not to refuse Him. In addition, we are told that God is shaking out, or making non-existent, all things in earth and heaven that do not pertain to the new kingdom, a kingdom that itself cannot be shaken; meaning, this new kingdom will remain. Christians, the ones receiving this kingdom, are to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

With this in mind, consider the following from the first chapter of Ellul’s book. The chapter is titled “The Christian in the World” and speaks to Christians as the salt of the earth.

“To be the salt of the earth is a precise reference to Leviticus 2:13, where we are told that salt is the sign of the covenant between God and Israel. Thus, in the sight of men and in the reality of this world, the Christian is a visible sign of the new covenant which God has made with this world in Jesus Christ. But it is essential that the Christian should really be this sign, that is to say, that in his life and his words he should allow this covenant to be manifest in the eyes of men. Apart from that, this earth will feel bereft of any ‘covenant’; it will not know where it is going; it will no longer have any real knowledge of itself, nor any certainty about its preservation. The fact that Christians are, in their lives, the ‘salt of the earth,’ does far more for the preservation of the world than any external action.”

For background on salt as related to the notion of covenant with Israel, see Numbers 18:19 and 2 Chronicles 13:5.

I leave it to you, my friend, to process all which Ellul directs our minds to regarding our lives as Christians being salt, being living testimonies of Jesus Christ and the new covenant, as well as what Jesus implies by His statement that if salt loses its flavor it is of no value and is thrown out and trampled under [the world's?] foot. (Matthew 5:13)

I present just this one thought: As a Christian, one “is” salt and one “is” representing not just Christ Jesus but specifically the new covenant. It does not matter whether one is male or female, old or young, wealthy or poor, disabled or fit, talented or struggling. Our being representatives is not dependent upon any quality we possess or lack. Yet, it is somewhat conditioned on our understanding and our faithfulness. Thus, may we faithfully serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, knowing that He is a consuming fire.

I trust we do so gladly, not from external compulsion or raw duty void of love. May we forever avoid the trampling of the world’s feet and faithfully live as salt, as those who testify of God’s reconciling work through Christ Jesus, and of the fullness of the new covenant and the kingdom that will not be shaken and will not end.

God’s best to you.