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Scripture Reading: Luke 14:25-35
Luke 14 shows us God’s salvation, which brings us the enjoyment of the jubilee in this age. Then this chapter goes on to reveal the requirements for the enjoyment of the jubilee in the coming age, that is, the requirements for entering into the kingdom during the millennium. As we shall see, the Lord’s word concerning this in 14:25-35 is strong.
Luke 14:25-26 say, “Now great crowds were going along with Him, and He turned and said to them, If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and moreover, his own soul life also, he cannot be My disciple.” In verses 26 through 33 the Lord unveils to the crowds going along with Him the cost of following Him. To receive salvation is to be saved (Luke 13:23); to follow the Lord is to enjoy Him as the blessing of God’s salvation. This requires us to renounce all, even our life, and to carry our own cross (vv. 27, 33).
We may think that the Lord Jesus teaches us only to love. But in verse 26 He teaches us to hate. This is not religion; this is a matter in God’s economy. According to the Lord’s word here, we should hate those we love, not those we do not love. Especially we need to hate ourselves, even our own soul life.
What we love in ourselves is not mainly our spirit or body but our soul. For example, you may go to a restaurant not because you love your body, but because you love your soul and want to enjoy life, which is to enjoy your soul. Actually, all forms of amusement, entertainment, and pleasures are for the enjoyment of the soul. In 14:26 the Lord clearly says that if we do not hate our own soul life, we cannot be His disciples. We have received God’s salvation, but we must fulfill the requirement in verse 26 in order to receive the reward.
In verse 27 the Lord goes on to say, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me, cannot be My disciple.” The aim of the cross is not suffering; it is the termination of the person. The believers in Christ have been crucified (terminated) with Him (Gal. 2:20; Rom. 6:6). After being organically united with Him through faith, they should remain on the cross, keeping their old man in the termination of the cross (Rom. 6:3; Col. 2:20). This is to carry their own cross. Christ carried the cross first and then was crucified (John 19:17-18). But the believers in Him have been crucified first and then carry the cross so that they may remain in the termination of their old man. In this way the believers experience and enjoy Christ as their life and life supply.
We need to be impressed with the fact that to carry our own cross means that we remain on the cross and keep our old man in the termination of the cross. Christ has already crucified us. As believers, we have received Christ and have been organically united with Him. Since we are organically united with Christ, we certainly can participate in His crucifixion. As we remain in this crucifixion, this termination, we carry our own cross and experience and enjoy Christ as our jubilee.
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.
In 14:25-35 we have the Lord’s teaching concerning how to follow Him. According to His word in verse 26, we need to hate anything or anyone that would frustrate us or distract us from the proper enjoyment of Christ. It is not the Lord’s intention to teach us to hate anyone. Rather, His intention is to teach us to hate the frustrations and distractions, to hate whatever would distract us or keep us from the enjoyment of Christ. The Lord, of course, teaches us to love others. Not only should we love the members of our family; we should even love our enemies. In fact, we also need to love ourselves. Therefore, the Lord teaches us to love everyone.
Why, then, does He in verse 26 apparently teach us to hate our father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and even ourselves? The reason for His teaching here is that this kind of love often frustrates us from the proper and faithful enjoyment of Christ. What we should hate is the frustration, not any person. The Lord does not teach us to hate persons, but He does teach us to hate the distractions, frustrations, hindrances, and obstacles. He teaches us to hate whatever keeps us from following Him faithfully. If we do not have a hatred for what frustrates our enjoyment of Christ, we shall be disqualified from enjoying the jubilee in the coming age.
We should not follow the sugar-coated teachings common among today’s Christians which tell us that once we believe in the Lord Jesus we shall not have any problems. No doubt, the Lord’s salvation is eternal, complete, and perfect. Once we have been saved, we are saved eternally. Regarding eternal salvation we shall not have any problems. Nevertheless, in God’s economy there is an insertion in His eternal and perfect salvation, and this insertion is the thousand year period of the coming kingdom as a reward to the faithful believers. In His wisdom God has inserted this dispensational period of a thousand years as an incentive to encourage His children to enjoy Christ faithfully. He wants us faithfully to enjoy His rich preparation for us in Christ.
Because our Father knows that His children may be “naughty” and not faithfully enjoy Christ, He has made part of His full salvation an incentive and a reward. The reward of the millennial kingdom in the coming age should be an incentive to encourage us, warn us, and remind us to keep ourselves in the enjoyment of Christ today and to behave ourselves in this enjoyment. Otherwise, we shall be disciplined. This does not mean that we shall perish, that we shall be lost. Since we have been saved eternally, we shall never perish. Nevertheless, some of the Father’s children will need to suffer discipline during the coming age. Those children who suffer the Father’s discipline in the coming age will not cease to be His children. They will, of course, remain the Father’s children, but they will be children in need of discipline. This matter of God’s dispensational discipline of His children is clearly taught in the New Testament.
Many Christians have not seen that in 14:35 there are three places — the soil, the manure pile, and where the salt that is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile is thrown. A person who is truly saved and yet is not faithful in enjoying Christ will be fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. Where, then, will such a believer be? According to the Lord’s word, he will be thrown out, that is, put aside or outside. In this chapter the Lord Jesus does not give all the details which are found elsewhere in the New Testament. However, it is clear that the salt that has become tasteless is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile, but will be thrown out to a third place.
We have seen that the soil signifies God’s farm, which is the church, and the church will issue in the coming kingdom. The manure pile, the dirtiest place in the universe, signifies hell, the lake of fire. To be sure, no saved person would be fit for such a place. But for what place will you be fit after the Lord Jesus comes back? You certainly will not be fit for hell, the manure pile, because the Lord’s blood has washed you and you have been saved. Will you, then, be fit for the kingdom? Your conscience may not allow you to say that you are fit for the kingdom. If this is your situation, you are fit neither for hell nor for the kingdom. This means that you are fit for a third place, a place of discipline. This is clearly and exactly taught here by the Lord’s word.
We are salt, and we should keep our taste and salt this corrupted world. Wherever we are we should kill and eliminate the corruption of the world. However, it is possible for us to lose our salting taste. If this is our situation, when the Lord Jesus comes, where shall we be? We shall be fit neither for the kingdom nor for hell. Salt that is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile will be thrown out of the glory of the coming kingdom. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (v. 35b).
The Lord’s word in Luke 14 clearly reveals that in addition to God’s salvation there is the reward in the coming kingdom. Salvation is for us to enjoy today; the reward is for us to receive in the next age. There are no terms for receiving salvation, but there is a requirement for receiving the reward, and the requirement is that we enjoy Christ faithfully in this age at any cost. Otherwise, we shall be disqualified from the reward. We may be in the jubilee today, but, if we do not fulfill the requirement set down by the Lord, we shall miss the jubilee in the coming age. We need to be careful concerning this matter.
The intrinsic element of chapter fourteen is the jubilee. The jubilee has nothing to do with the old religion; rather, the jubilee breaks the regulations of religion. Next, the jubilee requires that we accept God’s invitation and take what He offers us so that we may be saved to enjoy His rich Christ. Now we need to be faithful in enjoying Christ. If we are not faithful to enjoy Christ today, we shall be disqualified from the coming jubilee, which will be a reward in the millennial kingdom.
