Section 6
Believers in Christ are the salt of the earth used by God to kill and eliminate the earth's corruption. Their taste depends upon their re nouncing of earthly things. The more they renounce the things of the earth, the more pow erful will be their taste. They will lose their taste by not being willing to renounce all the things of the present life. If this happens, they will be fit neither for the soil, signifying the church as God's farm (1 Cor. 3:9) issuing in the coming kingdom (Rev. 11:15), nor for the manure pile, signifying hell, the dirty place in the universe (Rev. 21:8; 22:15). They will be thrown out from the kingdom of God, especially from the glory of the kingdom in the millennium. They have been saved from eternal perdition, but they did not renounce the earthly things and have lost their function in the kingdom of God. Thus, they are not fit for the coming kingdom, but need to be put aside for discipline.
We have pointed out that the "soil" refers to the church as God's farm issuing in the coming kingdom and that the manure pile signifies hell. If the believers lose their salty taste, they will not be fit for the soil of the church life today. Even the more, they will not be fit for the com ing kingdom. Therefore, such believers will be