Albert Barnes Commentary Luke 14:34-35

"Salt therefore is good: but if even the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill: [men] cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." — Luke 14:34-35 (ASV)

Salt is good (Luke 14:34). It is useful. It is good to preserve life and health, and to keep from putrefaction.

His savour (Luke 14:34). This refers to its saltiness; that is, it becomes tasteless or insipid.

Be seasoned (Luke 14:34). This means to be salted again.

Fit for the land . Rather, it is not fit for land—that is, it will not bear fruit of itself. You cannot sow or plant on it.

Nor for the dunghill (Luke 14:35). It is not good for manure; it will not enrich the land.

Cast it out (Luke 14:35). They throw it away as useless.

He that hath ears to hear, let him hear (Luke 14:35). You are to understand that the one who does not have grace in his heart; who merely makes a profession of religion, and who sustains the same relation to true piety that this insipid and useless mass does to good salt, is useless in the church and will be rejected.

Real piety, true religion, is of vast value in the world. It keeps the world pure and saves it from corruption, just as salt preserves meat. In contrast, a mere profession of religion is fit for nothing; it does no good.

Such a profession is a mere encumbrance, and all such professors are fit only to be cast out and rejected. All such professors must be rejected by the Son of God and cast into a world of wretchedness and despair.

Compare Matthew 7:22-23; Matthew 8:12; Matthew 23:30; Matthew 25:30; Revelation 3:16; Job 8:13; Job 26:13.