SALT
Another positive spice is salt. It is easy to understand the meaning of salt. Salt, first of all, kills the germs of corruption. And as it kills the corrupting elements, it also preserves, thus imparting lasting power. Salt has killing power, preserving power, and lasting power.
When we read the biography of Jesus in the four Gospels, we see that all His activities on the earth are forever. The ages have changed and the centuries have passed away, but the life of Jesus is still here. It really has lasting power. There is continually a kind of preserving in the life, activities, and behavior of the Lord Jesus. His activities are not like the activities of a natural man. Some of man’s activities were good in the second century, but not today. Some were good just thirty years ago, but today no one would be interested. They are over. Read the four Gospels again. Every page is so fresh and new. Everything the Lord Jesus did is still so refreshing. Nothing could damage His activity, for there was no element of corruption within it. All the corrupting elements cannot exist with the heavenly salt in the life of Jesus. Hence the life of the Lord Jesus will last for eternity. I do believe that in the New Jerusalem we will often recall the pages of the four Gospels.
In the life of the Lord Jesus, especially in His humanity, there is the salt. This is the killing power, the preserving power, and the lasting power. His love to us is so pure. Many times the love we have toward others has almost no salt. It was sweet yesterday, but it has become bitter today. This is because there is no salt. Without salt, our love becomes fermented. We must put salt into all our relationships with the brothers. To like a certain brother is good, but this kind of relationship needs to be killed. I do not mean the liking of that brother needs to be killed, but the corrupting elements in the liking must be killed. There is the need of the killing power in the salt.
Hallelujah! the humanity of Jesus has the oil, the frankincense, and the salt. When Lazarus, the most intimate friend of Jesus, became sick, his sisters, Martha and Mary, sent the news to Jesus, telling Him that the one He loved was sick. If we had been Jesus, we probably would have shed a few tears and gone to see him immediately. But after Jesus received the report, it seems that He was not moved. He stayed where He was for several days. Do not think that He did not love Lazarus. He loved him, but within His love there was the killing power, the killing of anything corrupting. His love was a pure love; therefore, it was a lasting love.
If you tell me that a certain brother whom I know very well is sick, it will be a real test to me. If I become sorrowful and say that I must go immediately and see this brother, it proves that there is no salt, no killing power in my love. Surely this kind of love is easily stirred up. It is emotional and natural. If, however, I have been experiencing the humanity of Jesus with the salt, when the report comes concerning this brother, I will immediately turn to the Lord: “Lord, what is Your feeling? I do not want to go by my natural feeling—that must be crossed out. If You do not have any feeling about this brother’s sickness, then I will forget about it.” We really need the salt to kill the natural friendships, the natural love, and the natural affection. The salt is not only for killing, but also for preserving power and for lasting power.
(Christ as the Reality, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee)
