In Regard to the Salt Business

In regard to the "salt" business, the Gospel of Mark has the enigmatic passage:

"For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt" (9:49, KJV).

That verse might seem to make little sense, until it is seen as a fulcrum between the two bracketing passages.  The preceding passage:

"And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched" (9:47-48).

That passage speaks of the suffering of those under the punishment of God.  And the passage subsequent to 49:

"Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it?  Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another" (9:50).

That passage speaks of the possible beneficent power of the person.  The cumulative implication seems clear: the "salt" of the Gospels is the potency--the "fire"--of humanity, a potency that can be lost through dissipation.

Verse 49 says, "For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt"--but that power can be lost:

"Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men" (Matthew 5:13).