CHRIST AND BELIAR are the opposing leaders in the great controversy between righteousness and unrighteousness (Rev. 12:7-9). Sin is not an abstract thing. Along with all that is true, holy and righteous are the supernatural forces of the universe led by Christ. Conversely, along with all that is evil, and worthless are the supernatural forces of darkness led by Satan. All the world is lined up behind one or the other (I Peter 5:8, 9; Rev. 12:11). Man’s choice between these two must be clearly decided by the individual. Christ is the Prince of light (John 1:9: 8:12). His followers are called the children of light (Matt. 5:14; John 12:36; Eph.5:8). They walk in the light and their destiny is the city of light, where there is no darkness at all (John 12:30, 36; 1 Thess. 5:4, 5; I John 1:5-7; Rev.22:5). Satan is the prince of darkness (Col. 1:13). His followers are the children of darkness (John 3: 19; Eph. 5:11). They walk in darkness now, and their destiny is eternal darkness (Matt. 22:13; 25:30; II Peter 2:17; I John 1:6; Jude 13). There can, therefore, be no alliance between Christ and Satan; between the true God and false gods; between Christianity and heathenism. And an alliance between believers and unbelievers is therefore, equally inconceivable.
In verse 16, the apostle quoting from Lev. 26: 11,12 draws an analogy between the Jewish Temple and the church. The Temple at Jerusalem was built for the glory of Jehovah, it was honoured by the glory of His presence in the “shekinah” which was His dwelling place (I Kings 6:12; 13; cf Ex. 25:8; 29:43 to 45; Heb. 8:1, 22). The church is composed of those who have been born into Christ (Heb. 3:6; 12:23). They constitute the body of Christ (Col. 1:24) who is the head (Eph. 1:22). He purposes to dwell in them as He dwelt in the temple of old (1Cor. 3:16, 17; 6:19, 20); but how can He do so if they are in agreement with idols?
In verse 17, the believer is enjoined to: “… Come out from among them (the unbelievers and the unrighteous) and be ye separate, sayeth the Lord and touch not the unclean things; and I will receive you.”
This is a combination of various OT passages such as Isa. 52: 11, 12; Jer.51:6, 46. The historical reference is the departure of captive Israel from ancient Babylon, which illustrates the separation of God’s people from the world and from spiritual Babylon (see Rev. 18:4). Upon their return from captivity, the Jews were charged not to carry back anything of pagan idolatry. Similarly, spiritual Israel — Christians of the Church — are charged to “touch not the unclean things” (see again Isa. 52:11, 12). And in IICor. 6: 18 (which consists of various mosaic ideas gathered from different OT passages such as II Sam.7:8, 14; Isa. 43:6; Jer. 31:9 etc. reflected in Matt. 6:9) God promises to be a Father to those who by faith in the Messiah avail themselves of the privilege of becoming adopted sons and daughters of God, and further promises to be their Provider, Protector, Counsellor, Guide and Deliverer.
As a result of the believer‘s faith in Christ, the supernatural operation of the spirit of God creates new spiritual life in the believer to make him a son of God. This father – son relationship is as real and vital as the human relationship used to illustrate it. In the life of Jesus, as the son of God, we have a perfect example of the relationship that is our privilege to bear to our heavenly Father as His sons (See Luke 2:49 John 1:14; 4:34; 8:29). The key to this relationship is love, and its result is obedient trust. The essential quality of fatherhood is loving authority, as that of sonship is trust and obedience. Without these qualities there can be no father — son experience (Rom. 8:9, 19; IICor. 7:1; 1 John 1:1-7) And, God intends that they be a reality in the life of every Christian.
The Christian is to be unlike the world, but tend sincerely to the adoption as son of God. To do this, he must be like the salt – he must be unlike the world. Salt is essentially different from the material or medium in which it is applied; and in a sense, it exercises all its qualities by being different. The very characteristics of saltness proclaims a difference, for a small amount of salt in a large medium is at once apparent. The Christian is a man who is essentially different from everybody else. He is as different as the salt is from the meat into which it is rubbed. He is as different as the salt is from the wound into which it is put.
The Christian is not only to be different, he is to glory in his difference. He is to be different from other people – the unbelievers, as the Lord Jesus Christ was clearly different from the world in which He lived. The Christian is a separate, unique, outstanding kind of man; there must be in him something which marks him out clearly and distinctly. So to be “the salt of the earth” the Christian must be all this. His Christ-like influence, his saltness – in the world, is to be by his Christ-like life in the social application of Christianity. The Word of God is the salt in him, it is the power in the believer that can stem the tide of putrefaction, pollution and rottenness, evil and vice in the world. And because this power is of distinct quality from that of the world, it can permeate every aspect of human activity on earth through the principle of divine cellular infiltration.
The power to be the “salt of the earth” can only come to the believer if he is –“… not conformed to this world but is transformed by the renewing of his (the believer’s) mind, that he (the (Christian), may prove what is that good, and acceptable and perfect will of God” (see Rom.. 12:2.)
This portends that the contemplation of the image of Christ and meditation on His works and words, act upon the moral and spiritual nature of the believer and certainly draw to him the attributes of christlikeness. And, the unabetting consciousness of Christ’s nature and presence within the Christian, stimulates an upsurge of power (the salt) within him backed by strong faith, courage, and above all, the will to obey God. In this spiritual state, the Christian overlooks things of the world and is separated from every uncleanliness and filth of the world in his distinctive new nature as the “salt of the earth” to whom the perfect will God is revealed. He receives the grace to acknowledge. appreciate and perform the will of God revealed to him. This results in the believer reflecting not only Christ-like life but also the glory of God. Thus fulfilling the purpose of his creation
The Christian as the “salt of the earth” is expected to. through Christ-like character acquire awesome deportment that is capable of influencing righteous behaviour in the people around him and stem putrefaction in his immediate society by planting the Word of God in the people; water and fertilize the seed of the gospel truth planted in the people and nurture it to grow with God’s enabling grace.
APOSTASY
Just as salt can lose its savour on exposure to the elements, so the Christian who allows himself to be swayed by material things of the world, can lose his saltness. By being worldly, such a believer conforms ‘to this world and cannot be “transformed by the renewing of (the) mind…” The result is graceless profession of Christianity – salt without savour (Matt. 5:13; Mark 9:50; Luke 14:35), and such a believer becomes “unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (see IICor. 6:14) Jesus says the salt that has “lost its savour” cannot ever be used again as salt and declared: “It is henceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and be trodden underfoot of man.” (Matt. 5:13). This certainly refers to the apostate Christian, for the idea conveyed in “lost its savour” is that the savour was once there, but lost to return into the world. The Greek “cosmos” rendered “world” in the NT represents the ungodly multitude, alien and hostile to God or worldly affairs that lead away from God and in opposition to God’s Kingdom. This usage reflects concern for false teachings that later developed into Gnosticism with its dualism; its belief in the struggle between darkness and light, between matter and spirit, between demagogue and the true God.
And Apostle Peter gives the believer a solemn warning concerning the dangers and results of apostasy, using the case of those who have been deluded into following false teachers, he says in II Peter 2:20. “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the later end is worse with them than the beginning”
The Christian who after accepting Christ and experiencing personal knowledge of Christ (to flee the world and its defilements) to become the “salt of the earth” but goes back to the world, gets spiritually hardened and less responsive to spiritual appeals, and becomes like salt that has lost its savour that “will be cast out and trodden under the foot of men” – such apostate Christians will face a worse spiritual decay than they would have before they accepted Christ. And spiritual putrefaction implies an insipid life that is devoid of the grace of God, making the salvation of such a soul more difficult. This situation is graphicay taught by the Lord Himself in the parable of Matt. 12:43-45; Luke 11:24-26.
The question of apostasy among Christians can not be emphasized less than the Christian’s role in the world as “the salt of the earth” . Throughout the ages, the Hebrew Scriptures of old, as well as, the Christian doctrines of today roundly condemned apostasy. The following lessons set in the background of Hebrew Christian epistles, also applies to all Christians of all ages (irrespective of geographical location or differences) they are addressed to the “All Israel”, the Israel of God”, “the spiritual Israel.” That is the church and its members – the Christians.
(To be continued next week)
