We have four different kinds of tastes (mostly): bitter, sweet, salty, and sour. Usually the greens are bitter, fruit is sweet, fermented things are sour, and salt is… salty.
God’s Word is our food as it is written, “Man does not live by bread alone. Rather, he lives on every word that comes from the mouth of the Eternal One.” So we should ask, what is the flavor of God’s Word? As it is written, “I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter." (Revelation 10) And “I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll. He said to me, 'Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you.' Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.” (Ezekiel 3) So we see that God’s Word is sweet in the mouth and bitter in the stomach. Sin has an effect similar as spoken about in Job, “Though evil is sweet in his mouth, And he hides it under his tongue,Though he spares it and does not forsake it, But still keeps it in his mouth, Yet his food in his stomach turns sour; It becomes cobra venom within him. He swallows down riches And vomits them up again; God casts them out of his belly.” (Job 20) But how is God’s Word sweet and bitter?
The Word is sweet to us because of our obedience to the Word, otherwise it is like death with worms and a stench to us. Is there anything wrong with God’s Word? Of course not! It’s becomes this way because we are disobedient; but if we repent and hear the same Word later, it will be sweet, having obeyed His Word. “Moses told them, “Don’t save that food to eat the next day.” But some of the people did not obey Moses. They saved their food for the next day. But worms got into the food and it began to stink. Moses was angry with the people who did this.” (Exodus 16) For the bread from heaven they ate was sweet only when they ate it in obedience; as it says, “The house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.” And as one of the prophets says, “This Word would be an encouragement to you if you obeyed.” And Paul says, “The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life.” (1 Corinthians 3) Because the law through sin only condemns us but through the Spirit gives life; as James says, “The one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” (James 1) So we see there is nothing wrong with the Word, but with us, specifically our sin. Can the sin be inseparable from the sinner? No, because the sinner is judged because of the sin, but it’s sin in us that is evil, even when we want to do good. Therefore, we need the power of living bread, Jesus Christ, to separate sin from us, doing what we cannot do, by believing in Him, entrusting ourselves to Him to live according to His Spirit; and by His power we can put to death the misdeeds of the flesh.
God’s Word is bitter in our stomachs since it means we will be hated by the world by the message in us and in our stomachs; we know we will be hated because Christ was crucified being the Son of God. “Those who try to live a godly life because they believe in Christ will be persecuted.” (2 Timothy 3) But yet, we have encouragement through the Word of grace; and persecution only enhances the sweetness of God’s Word. As Peter says, “Who can harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed.” (2 Peter 3) And it says, “The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.” (Romans 14) And this is the salt, making even the bitter palatable! Since we have been accepted by God through Christ, we live acceptable to God then we will be approved of men as well. Who hates righteous deeds? But even if we are hated, we are blessed. We are not worthy to be a slave and tie the strap of His sandal, yet we can prove ourselves worthy by living an honorable and blameless life. Yes, we are not even worthy to be a slave and tie the strap of one of His slave’s sandals, but He has given us this honor of serving Him as He served us.
We get into now, the mystery of salt. Salt enhances the flavor of sweetness, reduces the bitter flavor, by itself it is sour, and added with sour becomes even more sour! Behold the mystery of salt. In the Tabernacle days, all offerings to God were salted; and now, we are the living sacrifice to God. “Everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.” (Mark 10) And it says, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” (Matthew 5) And then it says, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” (Matthew 7) “It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Luke 14) And finally,
Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces,
even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it. (…)
For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge,
And people should seek the law from his mouth;
For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
But you have departed from the way;
You have caused many to stumble at the law. (Malachi 2)
So we see if salt has lost its flavor, it is rendered useless and discarded, not even fit for the manure pile or the soil because it has no flavor. Or it could be trampled under foot because it has been given to the unclean who act like swine or dogs; in this case, the salt has flavor, but the person is impure. On the other hand, if we have flavor,
My covenant was with him, one of life and peace,
And I gave them to him that he might fear Me;
So he feared Me
And was reverent before My name.
The law of truth was in his mouth,
And injustice was not found on his lips.
He walked with Me in peace and equity,
And turned many away from iniquity. (Malachi 2)
“Let your speech should always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.” (Colossians 4) For this is how our flavor ought to be, seasoned with salt by the word of grace and truth. For table salt is also good for preserving foods and such. We also keep the truth, preserving it, through our knowledge and obedience to it. With grace, the bitterness of the Word becomes lesser and the sweetness of the Word of hope is enhanced. Salt is also good for melting the hardness of food. Likewise, we soften the hardness of human hearts by the gracious word of God.
If we have no flavor or grace in our speech, our words are useless, cast underfoot and not received by anyone. If we speak lies, our flavor is sour, if we add salt to our sour, how disgusting and repugnant our flavor! If we are bitter and add salt, we will be not so bitter. With an excess of sweets, there is cavities of all kinds and an unnatural craving and hyperactivity that is evil and demonic.
Therefore, let us not be picky, but give the full Gospel of truth, with the bitterness of tribulation and the sweetness of the hope in Christ, eating our whole meal, having craved like newborn babes pure spiritual milk and grown up to have the teeth of discernment, distinguishing between flavors with our tongues. Let us not be deceived by every wind of new doctrine, because Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Let us never lose hope, and let us keep strong in the faith, fervent in prayer, rejoicing in Spirit, and peaceful to all people. Let us eat until we are full, having removed all impurity and lawlessness, expelling it into the sewer. Let us salt the soil and manure so it will be fit for growth with good seed, breaking up also all hardness of soil with the toil of admonishment and rebuke. Be fearful lest you over salt the field and cause it to be desolate. “For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.” (1 Corinthians 3)