In verses 28 through 30 the Lord continues, “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, will not first sit down and calculate the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all those looking on will begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish.” This word and that in verse 31 indicate that to follow the Lord as a career requires us to give all we have and all we can do to it. Otherwise, we shall be a failure and become the tasteless salt to be thrown out of the glorious realm to a sphere of shame (vv. 34-35).
We should not think that following the Lord Jesus is an insignificant matter. Following Him should be a lifelong career. As our career, following the Lord requires that we give all we have and all we can do to it.
In verses 31 and 32 the Lord says, “Or what king, going to engage another king in war, will not first sit down and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Otherwise, while he is yet at a distance, he will send an envoy and ask for the terms of peace.” This illustration is also related to the cost of following the Lord. In following Him, we need to pour out whatever we have.
In verse 33 the Lord says, “So therefore, everyone of you who does not renounce all his own possessions cannot be My disciple.” The problem is not how much we have. The crucial matter is that in following the Lord we must pour out whatever we have. In order to be His disciples, we must renounce all our possessions.
In 14:34 and 35 the Lord goes on to speak of salt: “Therefore, salt is good; but if even the salt becomes tasteless, with what will you restore its saltness? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they will throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Salt by nature is an element that kills and eliminates the germs of corruption. To the corrupted earth, the followers of the Lord Jesus should be such an element keeping the earth from being fully corrupted.
The Lord indicates that it is possible for salt to become tasteless. For the followers of the Lord to become tasteless means that they have lost their salting function. They have become the same as earthly people, with no distinction from the unbelievers.
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 renouncing of earthly things. The more they renounce the things of the earth, the more powerful 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 coming kingdom. Therefore, such believers will be cast out from the kingdom of God during the millennium.
Chapter fourteen opens with an incident of the breaking of the old religious regulations (vv. 1-6). In 14:15-24 we have the Lord’s teaching concerning God’s salvation. Salvation is our receiving God’s invitation and our acceptance of whatever He offers. After we have been saved, we need to keep ourselves in the enjoyment of Christ properly and faithfully.