What does it mean to be seasoned with salt (Mark 9:49)?

Answer

In Mark 9:49, Jesus says, “Everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt” (NKJV). Instead of being seasoned with salt, the ESV and NIV use the phrase “salted with fire.” Regardless of the translation, the concept is that believers will be purified by the “fire” of suffering, highlighting the cost of discipleship (see Mark 9:43-48). Just as salt was utilized in preparing a sacrifice, self-denial readies a follower of Jesus to be a willing offering to God.

In ancient times, salt played a role in religious sacrifices. For instance, in Leviticus 2:13, the Israelites were directed to season their grain offerings with salt: “You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not omit the salt of the covenant with your God from your grain offering; with all your offerings, you shall present salt” (ESV). This ancient practice symbolizes salt as a means of both purification and preservation.

Jesus, referencing the Old Testament practice of sacrifices being “seasoned with salt” (NKJV) in Mark 9:49, emphasizes that His followers are “sacrifices” to God (see Romans 12:1). The notion of being “seasoned with salt” conveys two ideas: 1) believers will be purified and 2) believers will be preserved.

Those who follow Christ are willing to relinquish anything that might obstruct their relationship with the Lord, even if it means sacrificing a hand «And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: », (Mark 9:43), a foot (verse 45), or an eye (verse 47). One commentator explains it as follows: “The term ‘fire,’ here . . . signifies self-denials, sacrifices, trials,In refraining from indulging the flesh. As if [Jesus] had said, ‘Consider the sacrifice on the altar. It is an offering to God, ready to be presented to Him. It is sprinkled with “salt,” symbolizing purity, preservation, and making it suitable for a sacrifice. So “you” are dedicated to God. You are sacrifices, victims, offerings to Him in His service. To become “acceptable” offerings, everything must be done to “preserve” you from sin and to “purify” you. Self-denials, controlling desires, enduring trials, resolving conflicts, are the appropriate “preservatives” in God’s service’” (Barnes, A., Notes on the Bible, 1834).

The “seasoning” with “salt” can also be something that God does in the lives of believers, as He allows His people to undergo various kinds of suffering. God’s purpose for permitting suffering in our lives is not to annihilate us, but to mold us into the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ: “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps” «For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps: », (1 Peter 2:21, ESV).

Elsewhere, Peter states, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (ESV). While Peter does not mention being seasoned with salt, his words acknowledge the importance of suffering to refine believers and demonstrate them as true followers of Christ.

True disciples embrace the sacrifices of discipleship and the radical commitment needed to pursue Christ. They are, in a way, offerings to God being readied for the altar. Jesus’ words

Remind believers to make every effort to abstain from sin and pursue righteousness. To ensure that sin does not become our master again, God allows us to be “seasoned with salt.”

In His allusion to the Old Testament sacrifices being “seasoned with salt,” Jesus calls us to discipleship. Just as salt purifies and preserves food, God purifies believers of sin and preserves them from destruction. The apostle Paul explains how we can present ourselves as living sacrifices to God: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” «And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. », (Romans 12:2, ESV).