Covenant of Salt, Baptism of Fire

Below is an excerpt from a teaching by Dr. Henry W. Wright on a teaching called Covenant of Salt. What is the Covenant of Salt mentioned in the Bible, and why is it significant? And how does it relate to the Baptism of Fire?

You Need to be Salted

We are being changed from glory to glory into His image, a work of the Holy Spirit called sanctification. This precept is found beginning in the Old Testament. Let’s read Leviticus 2:13

And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt. Leviticus 2:13 KJV

The subject of this verse is salt is to be used in all offerings. Are you a living sacrifice? Are you an offering unto the Lord? Then you need to be salted.

Now let’s go to Numbers.

All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee. Numbers 18:19 KJV

The Significance of Salt

In my research, I found that salt, in the olden days, was very scarce and a precious commodity. It was also used as a preservative. In Palestine and other Middle Eastern countries, salt was used in the making of covenants. In fact, when two men ate a meal together with salt in it, they became friends—even though before the meal they were enemies.

This is one of the customs coming out of the Middle East. If you sat down with your enemy and had a meal with salt between you, it would mean you were now friends. Isn’t that powerful? There is an Arab expression, “There is salt between us,” or “He has eaten of my salt,” which means partaking of the hospitality that cements friendship.

The Covenant of Salt

Covenants were usually performed at meals, and salt was always present. The Covenant of Salt is pictured as an everlasting friendship between God and His People except for one factor: sin will break the covenant.

You see, God’s love for you is as a finished product through Christ at the cross. But, as it says in the Scriptures, your sins have separated you from whom? Your God.

But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. Isaiah 59:2 KJV

Isaiah tells us when the Israelites were worshipping the Lord, they were covenant people who took delight in approaching Him and knowing His ways as righteousness at the vertical level. But at the horizontal level, they were eating each other alive. They were fighting with fists of wickedness. They were pointing the finger, and they were filled with strife on the horizontal level.

So the skies were brazen even to their fasting and prayer. Why? They did not understand covenant. They did not understand that the covenant included not just relationship with God, but a relationship equally with each other and with God.

Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Isaiah 58:4 KJV

We Will Face the Fire

Let’s go now to Mark.

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 KJV

You will face one of two fires as a human being. You will face the purging fire of the Holy Spirit or you will face the completed fire of the second death, which is hell, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire.

You will either find and face God’s fire or find and face Satan’s fire. I have decided to submit to the fire of God so that I can avoid the fire of Satan’s final destination. If I am going to go into fire, I want the one that will save my life, not destroy it. Are you listening? If I have to go into fire, I want to go to the one where there is mercy, not judgment.

Every man is destined to go through fire. It is a scriptural precept. You may say, “I don’t want to; I want to keep my sin.” It will be purged somewhere and every man shall face the testifier. One will lead into blessing and eternal salvation, and the other will lead into eternal separation and banishment from the presence of God forever.

The Fire of God

I want you to understand the fire of God is a fire that does not burn forever. It just burns long enough to burn out the chaff and the impurity, and then the fire is over. The other fire burns forever and there is no end. It is everlasting and eternal.

I will submit to you something that is really hell. Hell is ending up in the second death in eternal fire and having the knowledge of truth. That is hell. Can you imagine ending up in eternal banishment from the presence of God and knowing all truth? You talk about torment! That will be torment!

Since I have read every many must go through fire, whether it is God’s fire or Satan’s fire, I’ll choose God’s fire. It is like a blow torch that only lasts long enough to burn out those impurities, but the fire of hell lasts forever.

Remove What is Causing You to Sin

Mark says,

⁴⁵And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: ⁴⁶Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Mark 9:45-46 KJV

“And if thy foot offend thee” means where your feet take you. If your foot takes you into sin instead of into righteousness, if your foot offends you, cut it off. Now this is not literal. It means you must remove your foot from what is causing you to sin.

And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Mark 9:47 KJV

This does not mean to literally pluck out your eye. It means if what you are putting your eye to produces sin in your life, it would be better to pluck the eye out and enter the Kingdom of God with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.

Salted with Salt

Mark states,

For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Mark 9:49 KJV

“Everyone one” means saint or sinner. One shall be salted with the fire of God, and the other shall be salted with the fire of God, and the other shall be salted with the fire of sin.

Remember covenant and salt were mentioned back in Leviticus 2:13 and Numbers 18:19. Now here we have Jesus quoting the law. He is saying every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Wait a minute! Do we still have animal sacrifices? It is not necessary because a sacrificial Lamb died for us once and for all. So this sacrifice salted with salt was noted in the days of Christ when he has there in the Old Testament Church.

What Jesus is saying here, looking ahead unto redemption and the beginning of the New Testament Church, knowing He would shed His blood as a sacrificial Lamb, is you are the sacrifice. Isn’t that true? You are offering yourself as a living sacrifice, and if you are a living sacrifice, then you shall be salted with salt.

Salt is Good

In the Word it says that salt is good.

Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another. Mark 9:50 KJV

Now we are changing gears from salt, represented by fire, to the conclusion of fire as who you are after purging. You are not only going to be the light of the world; you are going to be the salt of the earth. You are supposed to be giving this plant flavor, not blandness.

¹³Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. ¹⁴Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Matthew 5:13-14 KJV

The Covenant of Salt is a covenant between you and God in a relationship where you are purified with the salting of fire in your life. It makes you ready as cleaned-up sons of God, not those who are unclean.

The Baptism of Fire

Luke says,

¹⁵And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not; ¹⁶John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: Luke 3:15-16 KJV

That is the third baptism—the baptism of fire. There is the “salting” of the sacrifice with fire. There is the “salting” of the living sacrifice unto God with fire. The purification of the living sacrifice means the purging of sin in you and me.