Reasoning Through the Bible
Taking a cue from Paul, Reasoning Through the Bible is an expository style walk through the Scriptures that tells you what the Bible says. Reviewing both Old and New Testament books, as well as topical subjects, we methodically teach verse by verse, even phrase by phrase.
We have completed many books of the Bible and offer free lesson plans for teachers. If you want to browse our entire library by book or topic, see our website www.ReasoningThroughTheBible.com.
We primarily do expository teaching but also include a good bit of theology and apologetics. Just like Paul on Mars Hill, Christianity must address both the ancient truths and the questions of the people today. Join Glenn and Steve every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as they reason with you through the Bible.
Reasoning Through the Bible
S31 || Jesus' Blueprint for Unity in a Fractured Church || Mark 9:40-50 || Session 31 || Verse by Verse Bible Study
Tackling one of Jesus' most challenging teachings on unity, rewards, and the radical removal of sin, Mark records Jesus' statement that "he who is not against us is for us." In unpacking how this applies to modern church divisions and unnecessary doctrinal disputes we carefully analyze distinguishes between essential and non-essential doctrines, showing how believers can maintain biblical convictions without fragmenting the Body of Believers over secondary issues.
The conversation takes an intriguing turn when examining Jesus' promise of rewards for those who support fellow believers—even through acts as small as offering a cup of water. Through our discussion, we clarify the often-misunderstood purpose of the church: not merely social justice or feeding the hungry but introducing people to salvation through Christ while also meeting physical needs.
The episode concludes with an illuminating discussion of what it means to be "salted with fire" and how trials purify believers, making them more effective witnesses. Their practical application helps listeners understand how spiritual growth often comes through difficult seasons, ultimately producing both personal holiness and peaceful relationships with others.
Join this verse-by-verse journey through Mark's Gospel and discover why distinguishing between primary and secondary doctrines, protecting children's faith, and taking sin seriously are essential aspects of authentic Christian faith. Visit ReasoningThroughTheBible.com for free resources to help teach God's Word in your church.
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May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve
Hello and welcome to Reasoning Through the Bible. My name's Glenn. I'm here with Steve. We have a ministry where we go verse by verse and even phrase by phrase, through the Word of God. If you want to find out more about us, go to our website, reasoningthroughthebiblecom. There you'll find information about us, you'll find lesson plans, you'll find student materials, you'll find helps that your church can use to teach the Word of God, many of them for free. So that's why we're really here is to help you and your church teach the Word of God.
Speaker 1:Today we are in the Gospel of Mark, starting in verse 9. Last time we were talking about when John came up to Jesus and said there's people over there doing work in your name, but they're not part of the 12. They're not following us as the disciples. Jesus says let them be. We'll pick up in verse 40. He says, for he who is not against us is for us.
Speaker 1:Now, with this, one of the main purposes for this verse is legalists in the church who hold that everyone must agree with every single bit of their doctrine or they're not Christian. We've experienced these people and what they are is a failure to distinguish between more important and less important doctrines. Here we had one in this case where again there was the apostles, the disciples that will be apostles, that were the twelve, and there's people that weren't following that group and they could easily have said and that's what they're saying, those guys are over there pretending to speak for Christ, for Jesus, but they're not following the apostles' tradition. Jesus says let them be, don't stop them, because he who is not against us is for us. This applies to churches today that cannot distinguish between more important and less important doctrines. We have people today that hold all doctrines to be equally critical. I've experienced people that have said if they don't agree with me in every single little thing, then they're not Christian.
Speaker 1:I was in a church that split over the continuation or not continuation over spiritual gifts and people were saying the other side is wrong. The Bible says we are to worship in spirit and truth and those people are not in truth. My friend, things like the continuation of spiritual gifts or a thousand other things in the Scriptures are not valid biblically to split a church over. We're told this in Romans 14. We're told in Romans 14 that there's at least two things Sabbath-keeping and the dietary laws. That even though there is a correct biblical position and even though people are wrong on those biblical positions, we are commanded by the Lord to not divide over them.
Speaker 1:Here in Mark 9, we are told to not stop people even though they are not in the apostolic secession. When we have this passage here, he who is not against us is for us. And we compare that to a parallel passage in Matthew 12.30 that says, quote he who is not with me is against me and he who does not gather with me scatters. Then we come to a conclusion from those verses people are either for Jesus or they're against him. The next thing we can conclude is we can correct false teaching, but if they're preaching Jesus, we should not stop them. We should not go out and say that they are non-Christian. We can correct false teaching we're told to do that many times in the Scripture but we don't split churches over it. We must discern between major issues that are reasons to split churches over and minor issues of which we are commanded not to split churches over, even though they might be incorrect, and do not divide over minor doctrinal issues. Steve, what else do you get from that verse? He who is not against us is for us.
Speaker 2:The inference here goes back to the last session, in verses where the apostles were wanting to stop this person casting out demons in the name of Jesus. Jesus explains that, look, don't stop them, because somebody that's doing that, if they're truly a believer, they're not going to turn around and speak evil against me. So just let them do what they're doing. They will expose themselves. If they're a true believer, then what they're doing is okay. If they're not a true believer, they will speak evil about me at some time. So that's the criteria. Jesus is saying if they're not against us, they're for us. God has the ability to do all things, as he noted to the father with the boy possessed with a deaf and mute demon. So let the things go and let the people expose themselves, rather than you, john, and the disciples trying to expose this person as not being a follower. Let them expose themselves.
Speaker 1:I'm reminded, over in the book of Acts, of the seven sons of Sceva who were casting out demons by the Jesus that Paul preaches. They weren't really following Paul. Well, what happened? Well, the demon turned on them and they didn't do that again. That's part of, I think, what Jesus is saying here. If they're going out doing ministry in Jesus' name and they're not really Christians, then it'll fail, and if they are Christians, then we shouldn't divide churches over minor doctrinal issues.
Speaker 1:The other major category that I think we can get out of this and I think this is equally important there are many people in the world that name the name of Jesus, but they are following a Jesus that is a watered-down caricature of Jesus, of the real Jesus. Many people are not against Jesus, but the Jesus they're not against is a mild-mannered Jesus that puts no demands on us. There's churches that will say we follow Jesus, but the Jesus they follow is a mild-mannered Jesus that never talks about sin, never condemns anybody and accepts everybody, even sinners, even false teachers. That Jesus, my friend, is not the one that we're talking about here. Once these people get a picture of the real Jesus, suddenly they change their minds. They're not preaching that Jesus, they're not for the real Jesus that puts demands on our lives Go and sin no more. Jesus told many people. The real Jesus says in verse 43 of this same chapter that we need to do radical surgery to cut out all the sin in our life, and that's the Jesus that we need to preach. We can correct false teachers we're told to do that many times in Scripture but the people that are out there preaching Jesus we should let them be. Don't try to claim they're non-Christian, and God will shake out in the end those that are his children and who that are not.
Speaker 1:The next verse also has some important things. Let me read Mark 9, 41. For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward. Steve, he says there, gives you a cup of water to drink. What? What's the last part of that?
Speaker 2:Well, to paraphrase it, you could say for whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you're a Christian, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward. So there's a couple of inferences that are there, glenn. One is that you can lose a reward. Second is if you're helping a Christian in what they're doing and the illustration that Jesus gives here is if you just give them a cup of water along the way, that you will get a reward.
Speaker 2:Now, this is something that isn't spoken of very much or preached from the pulpit very much. This is something that isn't spoken of very much or preached from the pulpit very much. But through our lives, of serving Jesus in the things that we do, we are garnering rewards. Here Jesus uses this simple illustration of just giving a cup of water, helping a fellow Christian in whatever they are doing. That that gets a reward. In whatever they are doing, that that gets a reward. So I think there's a lot of people that are not getting rewards or maybe that are losing rewards because they're hindering fellow Christians from doing Christian things. So this is something that I think people just read through this real quickly as they go through Scripture, because I read three chapters of the Bible every morning? No, this is something that we should ponder. Simple acts of helping fellow Christians can garner rewards for us.
Speaker 1:Christianity today and throughout church history, has always been very big at helping those in need. Christians have always fed the poor and reached out to those in need, helped families, helped various causes around social justice and things of this nature. All those are good. We should be doing those things. Matter of fact. If we're not trying to promote social justice and feed the poor and help those in need, then we're not doing what we should, and there's many Bible passages that tell us this. This one, in Mark 9, verse 41, is not one of those verses. This is not talking about giving a cup of water to a thirsty person. That's not the point of this passage. It's not telling us that we're going to get a reward because we're eliminating a thirst or someone out there that doesn't have water. We should give water to thirsty people by all means, but that's not what this is saying. Again, the verse whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as of Christ. The key there is because you're a Christian, because of your name as followers of Christ. It's talking about helping people that are in Christ. The point is there to give the cup of water because you're in Christ, in Jesus. That's the point he's saying it has to be in me. Giving water to thirsty people is good. We should be doing that. In fact, if we see thirsty people and don't give them water, then that's a sin. But this verse is speaking of following Jesus, not eliminating thirsty people.
Speaker 1:Too many people have gotten their eye off of the ball and conclude that yes, because the church should indeed feed the poor and promote social justice, then they think that that's the purpose of the church. My friend, the purpose of the church is to follow Christ. The purpose of the church is to introduce the Word of God to lost people so that they can have their sins washed and they can become followers of Jesus. And then they can go out and do that to others. Then, along the way, we can give some water to some thirsty people and feed some hungry people and help some people in need. That's what we are to do.
Speaker 1:But we don't get the reward because we give food to people and don't introduce them to Jesus, because we give food to people and don't introduce them to Jesus. That's not the point of the exercise. I was in a church where our pastor would go on Thanksgiving and help promote meals and when the group stopped praying and talking about Jesus for this food outreach. Then my pastor stopped participating in the food outreach Because if you're not going to introduce them to Jesus, then feeding them for a day is not going to eliminate their true need. That's what this passage is saying. Here's the next question, steve Does this promise guarantee salvation to anyone who gives away a cup of water or does a good deed?
Speaker 2:No, salvation isn't mentioned anywhere in here. It's talking about a reward. What is actually said is as a follower of Christ. That means this is somebody that is already a believer. They already have salvation because they have changed their mind about Jesus, of who he is and what he has done, and they're following Jesus Christ. This is all in connection with people who are already believers. The rewards are for those. This doesn't say anything about doing. This act will lead you to salvation.
Speaker 1:Those verses were about following Christ, and so are the next ones, Steve. Can you read verses 42 to 48? We find out more about following Christ.
Speaker 2:Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble. It would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than having your two hands to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than having your two feet to be cast into hell, where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes to be cast into hell, where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.
Speaker 1:There's a pattern to this short little speech here from Jesus Verse 41, those who support other Christians will be blessed. The next verse 42, if you hinder a child from believing, you'll be cursed. And the next verse 43, if part of you causes you to sin, cut it off. That's the pattern he's saying if you promote Christianity, you'll be blessed, if you hinder Christianity, be cursed. This walk that we do in Christ needs to be as righteous and sinless as possible, and if we have anything that's hindering us, we need to cut it out of our lives. In this verse, especially verse 42, steve, he's again speaking of children. How important are children to Christ?
Speaker 2:They're very important. A child has an innocence about them. They're dependent on the adults. Jesus is very clearly saying if you cause this child to stumble, if you cause this child to not believe in me, if there's something that you do to teach them the wrong thing about following God, therefore causing them to stumble, then it'd be better if that person had a millstone around their neck and cast into the sea. This is all in this scene of Jesus inside of a room talking to his inner 12 and teaching them.
Speaker 2:In the previous verses they were talking about who was the greatest. Jesus pulled a child over to him and had him in front of him as he told them you need to be just like this little child and to serve others and have a servant heart. Here he is giving this illustration of a child. Either he still has the child standing there with him or maybe he's released the child and the child is over there playing with other children and he motions to the child in his illustration. But it's very clear here that children are important because they're innocent and they're dependent upon the adults to lead them through life and to teach them the proper ways of how to have a good relationship with God, teach them the proper ways of how to have a good relationship with.
Speaker 1:God. Notice again what he's saying here in Mark 9, 42. Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, that's who he's talking about. He's talking about somebody that would go up to a child that's already a believer in Christ and cause that person to stumble, what's going to happen to that person? It would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he'd been cast into the sea. So there will be a great, grand and terrible judgment against people that pull away the faith of a child. That's what he's saying here. God takes the faith of children very seriously and he holds them to great standards. Those that would cause a child to stumble in their faith would undergo severe judgment from the Lord and we need to all take that very soberly and very seriously. The next phase, starting in verse 43 and following, he talks about righteousness and avoiding sin. Steve, in this section, how important is it for people to be righteous before God?
Speaker 2:The first thing we should establish is you only have two hands, two feet and two eyes. This is obviously, from the plain language, hyperbole. Jesus is using this as an illustration, because if it's literally, if your hand offends to cut it off, well, then you would only have two chances in either of these scenarios that he's talking about. Once you run out of hands and eyes and feet, what would you do? So let's establish that he's using this as an illustration to talk about how serious it is, though that's how serious it is that, if these things occur, that you need to get them out of your life. You need to cut them out of your life so that they're not a hindrance between you and God, the relationship that you have with him.
Speaker 1:According to these passages. Of course he's quite graphic in the descriptions. How radical should we be in eliminating sin from our lives?
Speaker 2:We should be very radical. This is something that's not a gradual thing. The illustration that he's using to cut it off means that you need to get it out of your life. You need to excise it out of your life. If you have cancer or something that is a malady of an organ that has gone infectious and has a chance of killing you, you need to get it out of your body and excise it away. So that's how serious that he is that he's talking about this.
Speaker 1:In that passage we just read, he mentions hell three times. He mentions it all three times when he talks about cutting off sin from your life. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off, for it's better for you to enter life crippled than having two hands to go into hell, the unquenchable fire. And he uses that again in verse 45 and again in verse 47. He's quite radical here about avoiding sin. But what does that tell us about hell? What can we conclude about hell from these passages?
Speaker 2:Well, in this illustration he's saying is that the person would rather not cut these things out of their life and would rather keep continuing to do them.
Speaker 2:These are things that are separating them from God, and it's an illustration of people that don't want to have a relationship with God because they don't want to get rid of the things that are separating them from God. He's saying it's better for you to change your mind about what you're doing, get it out of your life, become a believer in Jesus Christ and acknowledge that you are a sinner and that you need to repent from those sins. Change your mind so that you could have salvation, believe on Jesus Christ and go into the kingdom and have life without these things in your life, with the covering of Jesus Christ, rather than continuing to do them and not have a relationship with God. It's very clear here If you're going to be stubborn, hard-hearted and not want to get these things that are separating you from God out of your life through the covering of Jesus Christ and the payment of the sin that you have through his death on the cross and his resurrection, then you're going to have an outcome of hell versus an outcome of eternal life with Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:I had a seminary professor that said he wrote a magazine article, a journal article, about the doctrine of hell and in subsequent editions of that magazine, letters to the editor had been written in criticizing his article and disagreeing with the doctrine of hell. And he called the magazine and said how come you didn't publish any articles in favor of my article? All the letters to the editor were against my article. How come you didn't put any in their letters that were for it? And the editor says well, there weren't any that was in favor of hell. My professor said well, you know, I think if I were to vote for it I wouldn't vote for hell either. So it's really easy for us to say I don't like the idea of the doctrine of hell or I find the idea distasteful. But, my friends, it's right here in red and white, three times In Mark, chapter 9, the Lord Jesus believed in hell and the Lord Jesus believed that it was a very real place and the Lord Jesus believed that our actions will send us to hell.
Speaker 1:The Lord Jesus taught that hell is an unquenchable fire, like experiencing parasitic worms. That's in this passage. In this passage the Lord Jesus also said that if God is life and good, then being away from God is death and evil. That's what he's saying here and that's what he's teaching. Hell is a very real place. We don't get to vote whether we think it's a good idea, god says. Jesus says that we'll go there based on our sin and that the only way to avoid hell is to avoid sin. And we need to be very radical at getting sin out of our lives. You know, Steve, you were talking earlier it's hyperbole about cutting off your hand and plucking out your eye and cutting off your foot. I hope nobody's out there doing those things physically. But what he's saying is very real. The application is very real. If that sin is not dealt with, you will go to hell. That's what Jesus says. I'm not saying that I'd vote for everybody having a nice time after you die, but Jesus says there is a place called hell and our sin will get us there and the only way we can radically get rid of it. I can't chop off my hand or cut off my foot, but I can go to Jesus and he will do radical surgery on eliminating the sin from my life. If I but merely fall at his feet, then he will cleanse me, he will take the sin away, he will take the desire for sin away. That's what we find here in the Gospel of Mark. Jesus talks about hell more than anyone in the Bible. There's more red ink in the Bible talking about hell than there is black ink in the Bible talking about hell. People think of Jesus as being gentle and soft. Jesus talked a great deal about hell. A lot of the teaching about hell comes from the Lord Jesus. Christ Love and mercy are mentioned more in the Old Testament than the New Testament. Christ, love and mercy are mentioned more in the Old Testament than the New Testament and Jesus talks more about hell. Jesus says hell is a very real place and people will go there.
Speaker 1:Then, lastly, in this section, verse 44 and 46, in many Greek manuscripts, but in some they're not there. If you'll notice in our New American Standard that we read, verses 44 and 46 were in brackets. Some of the English translations leave it out. It's not really an issue, because the same phrase, the same sentence, is also in verse 48. There's no lost teachings. It's just whether or not the translators hold that those verses were actually there, or was it a copy mistake from a copyist after the original? Okay, steve, can you read verses 49 and 50?
Speaker 2:For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.
Speaker 1:This passage is very interesting. It talks about saltiness and losing the saltiness and what happens if salt loses its saltiness. Steve, over the years I've heard a good number of sermons on this and it always focuses on that. And that is a good lesson that, if we are Christians focuses on that. And that is a good lesson, that if we are Christians, we must have salt. And what does salt do? It adds taste, it adds flavor, it adds preservation to meat. So that's a great lesson on this. But, steve, all the times I think I've heard sermons on this, I don't think I've ever heard anyone talk about verse 49. And verse 49 says for everyone will be salted with fire. Now, steve, what do you think that means? Everyone will be salted with fire if first of all, fire's in there and fire kind of hurts. So it's saying there that there's going to be some degree of instilling salt in us through a trial. Wouldn't you agree, steve McLaughlin?
Speaker 2:Salt was used in the sacrifice process. It was used in every sacrifice of a burnt offering. It was to represent the covenant relationship God had with Israel and Israel was to be a blessing to all the other nations, to be salt. In a way it was a reminder. So I think that's part of what he's talking about here. The people would know what he's mentioning because it was used in those sacrifices.
Speaker 2:The other thing about becoming unsalty there are people that say, well, this doesn't make sense because salt can't become unsalty. But the salt that they would use was from the Dead Sea, and the Dead Sea salt has the property where it could become insipid, it could lose its flavor. The things that he's talking about here is in conjunction again of helping a fellow Christian Don't hinder a fellow Christian and that you are to be salt for them, I think is what it's talking about, and that you are to help them, just like you're giving them a drink of water. That all of this section here he's talking about is to help fellow Christians and to not hinder them. The talking about going to hell was hindering a child who is a believer. So I think that's the general gist. That's here, but I think you have some other things that it's talking about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the main point is what you said I mean he's saying this here is that if salt loses its saltiness, then what good is it? If salt's not salty, then it doesn't have a purpose. In Matthew, I think it is they say you throw it out and use it to fill holes in the sidewalk. So yes, that's the point. But again, don't miss just before that, everyone will be salted with fire. There will be fiery trials. That's not a surprise either. There's many sections of the New Testament that says that. Let me read one out of 1 Peter Quote Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you. But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing. Also, ephesians 6.16 says that the shield of faith will quench the fiery darts from the evil one.
Speaker 1:What is taught in the New Testament is that New Testament Christians will go through fiery trials and these fiery trials will test us, will make us salty. That's what he's saying here. The good qualities of the salt will get into us through fiery trials. It's going to hurt a little bit. It's going to go through some situations that aren't just real pleasant. It's not all downhill. On greased grooves there's going to be some fire, but on the other side of that fire the chaff is going to be burned away. We're going to be salty, we'll taste good, we'll have some preservation qualities in us and we're going to be seasoned with salt. That's a good thing. Food is bland without flavor in it. How can fire make us savory?
Speaker 1:Jesus is looking at things from God's perspective, not man's perspective. Our perspective is I don't want to hurt, I want to have easiness. I want to have a life of ease. God says I need to bring some fire in here to burn off all the unnecessary things and leave us with purity. When we're pure, then we can glorify God. When they put gold through a fire, they can take away the impurities and make the gold better.
Speaker 1:In verse 50, quote have salt in yourselves and have peace with one another. What he's saying there is that we need to live a life that tastes good, that's salty, don't be sour and no fun all the time. Live life, have fun. Don't be at war with family members all the time. If we have godly salt in us, then we're going to have fun, we're going to make peace with those around us, we'll live a good life. We'll make those around us thirsty. They'll say what do you have? Well, let me tell you about it. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. He says be at peace with one another. And, steve, that is what we get on the other side of the fiery trials. We end up with a pure life, where the sin is gone and we're a little bit salty, we taste good to those around us and then we can be at peace. If we're at war with people, then maybe we need to go through God's fiery trials and burn off some chaff.
Speaker 2:Paul also picks this up a little bit in his epistles that we are also to treat fellow Christians differently from the standpoint that we're to love them. We're to love them for who they are. They're fellow persons in the body of Christ and that's the way that we should treat them. So have salt, like you said, Make the people thirsty, Tell them about Jesus Christ and what he's done for them and to live in peace with other people, but also, especially if they're fellow believers, be at peace with them.
Speaker 1:Well, that's all for today, but tune in next time because, starting in chapter 10, there's going to be a section where the religious leaders come and ask about divorce and remarriage.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for watching and listening. May God bless you.
