Written by Jerry Robinson
Originally Posted on 9/23/2007
"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." - Matt. 5:13-16 (NASB)
We live in a deceptive age when the world all around us appears to be on an upward trend in many ways:
And yet, ironically, these incredible “advances” have occurred in the 20th century which is known as the bloodiest century in human history. Despite massive increases in human knowledge in almost every sphere, we still find that mankind’s nature and behavior has not improved since the days of Cain and Abel.
The Bible says that humanity without Christ is spiritually depraved. Without Christ’s redemption, humanity is completely and utterly dead. God sees the unredeemed as rotting, dead flesh.
This is due to the noxious effects of sin which affect man’s heart. The wickedness in the heart of mankind is a foul stench in the nostrils of a Holy and Righteous God.
"The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?" - Jeremiah 17:9 (NASB)
"For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders." - Matthew 15:19 (NASB)
"For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened... Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them... For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions..." - Romans 1:21,24,26 (NASB)
"...being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them." - Romans 1:29-32 (NASB)
In Matthew 5:13, Jesus tells his followers “You are the salt of the earth…” (Translated in the Greek, this phrase literally means "You, and you alone, are the salt of the earth…")
Like all of humanity, they too had been spiritually dead. But they had hope of spiritual renewal thanks to the precious mercy and grace of God.
"Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)" - Ephesians 2:3-5 (NASB)
Therefore, all who have been redeemed by the grace of God and the blood of Christ are now called by God: "The salt of the earth…"
If you are born again, God looks at you right where you are -- right now -- and says: "You, and you alone, are the salt of the earth…"
What an incredible privilege and honor to represent and reflect Christ through our brief lives. It is important to note that:
Therefore, God does not want us to live in isolation from the world. Rather, we are to engage the world for Christ.
Salt was, (and still is in some parts of the world,) placed onto dead meat as a preservative and an antiseptic. But salt will do the meat no good unless it is rubbed into it.
The Christian influence on the world is a morally pure influence. Our presence slows the moral decay of this world, just like salt slows the decay of dead meat. We are to be "in" the world, but not "of" it.
We are not called "the sugar of the world…"
Unlike sugar, when salt is placed upon a wound it serves as an antiseptic. Therefore it will initially irritate the wound, but the irritation is beneficial. In being the salt of the earth, we will unintentionally offend some through our lifestyle.
Salt provides bland food with flavor.
As Christians, we provide flavor to our surroundings. This is because there is no true flavor found in the world. As Christians, we are the only true flavor there is, regardless of what the world may think.
Salt is white, symbolizing purity.
Christians stand pure before God by justification through faith. We should glory in our difference. We are citizens of heaven inhabiting this world for its benefit.
Salt causes thirst
Our Christian lifestyle should cause some to thirst for the Jesus Christ and his Gospel. In fact, God expects our Christ-exalting lives to cause a thirst for Himself in the unredeemed. "Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.'" - John 7:37 (NASB)
When we seek to conform to this dead, depraved, and rotten world, we can lose our saltiness. If we seek to become like the world we are, in essence, seeking to become rotten, foul, and dead in the eyes of God. Are you "salt" or "dead meat?"
Let us strive to embrace our unique role in this world. Compassionately reminding ourselves of the depravity that surrounds us will help us appreciate the incredible trust that God has placed in us.
"You and you alone are the salt of the earth…"
In Matthew 5, Jesus tells his followers that they are “the light of the world.” Again in the Greek this is literally translated: "You and you alone are the light of the world."
Can you think of some ways how Christians, as "the light of the world," affect the spiritual darkness of the earth? (i.e. What are some of the ways that light affects things around it?)
Jerry Robinson is the founder of Jerry Robinson Ministries, a ministry devoted to taking the Gospel of Jesus' First Coming to the unbeliever, and the Good News of Jesus' Second Coming to the Global church. He is an ordained minister, writer, and speaker and holds university degrees in International Economics and Religious Studies. Additionally, Jerry operates jerryrobinson.org, an internationally known website that archives and analyzes global events through the lens of biblical prophecy.