Jesus often used common substances to teach spiritual lessons. He told his disciples, “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the world”.
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how Shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” Matthew 5:13
The first reference to salt is in the Bible is Job 6:6, “Can an unsavory thing be eaten that is not seasoned with salt?” Job is describing a very important use of salt to flavor food. Salt was once so scarce and precious that it was used as money, and Roman soldiers received part of their pay in common salt.
The first thing that we think of when we think of salt is that salt provides flavor. It is salt which makes our food tasty. Food without salt is often bland.Christianity is to life what salt is for food. It makes life worth living.
Without Christianity our Western society would not be anything like what it is (although it has degenerated) was it not for the Christian influence in the founding of our nation.
The second thing that stands out about salt is that it preserves from corruption. Salt is an antiseptic necessary to prevent corruption. Salt kills some types of bacteria, effectively by sucking water out of them. Before the days of refrigeration or icehouses salt was used to preserve meat. Beef was salted and dried and eaten as beef jerky and pork put in barrels with a salt brine to keep it from spoiling.
The reason for having salt pork was certainly not because anyone liked salt that well, or that much of it, but because the salt kept the pork fresh. And so salt prevents corruption and decay. The statement that the Lord makes has interesting implications. “You are the salt of the earth.” That suggests that were it not for the Christians who are present in society we would see a great deal more corruption in the world than we do. This truth preserves us from two important errors that people have:
First the world is basically not good. The world is basically rotten. If it was not for the Bible and the testimony of Jesus Christ to it, then what would happen is that the microbes of sin would eventually reduce this earth to a stinking, unlivable mass. So when the Lord Jesus says, “you are the salt of the earth”, he intends that the believer should be an influence in the world to retard its moral decay.
Secondly there is another error that Christians should be preserved from, and that is that the believer should
isolate himself because the world is so evil. But Jesus does not preach isolation. A salt cannot be a preservative if it is kept on the shelf in the pantry. We are to be separate, but not in isolation, and are to have the effect in our society to help slow it from becoming corrupt.
Ana is a missionary in Uruguay who has an outreach ministry with other women at a hospital in Montevideo. She and these women go to the hospital to encourage un-wed Moms not to abort their babies but to preserve their lives. They bring them blankets, baby’s diapers, and clothes and brochures to help them with the job of caring for their babies. They also give them gospel tracts so they might also become Christians.
Ana and her friends are like “salt” and are using their influence to preserve the lives of babies who otherwise might be aborted and also using that service to bring the gospel to their mothers.
A third thing about salt is that it creates a thirst. The apostle Paul said in Colossians 4:6, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt”. Believers should talk to unbelievers in such a way that they will have a thirst for the gospel. Jesus kindly asked a Samaritan woman in John 4 for a drink of water. She responded, ““How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” Jesus then used this conversation to tell her about a more important thirst, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is
who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” John 4:10
Lastly, how does salt lose its flavor and become good for nothing. The salt we obtain in the modern world is extracted from salt ponds or underground deposits of salt and is very pure. In Bible times salt was not that pure. It was often found in swamps mixed with dirt and other impurities. It was not uncommon for it to be washed away by the surrounding water leaving only the dirt behind. This is a warning to Christians to not slip and let the influences of the world corrupt their Christian testimony. If that happens, their Christian witness will be “thrown out and trampled underfoot by men”
Jesus also said, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:13-16
This is a great compliment paid to believers by the Lord Jesus. He says that we are the light of the world,
because that’s what He is. And so, He has in effect told us that we are to be what he himself said that he was. “I am the light of the world. He that follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12. Jesus is saying that we should be a spiritual illumination in a dark world because light removes darkness.
Because Christians are to be lights of the world, they must have some understanding of the gospel of the Lord Jesus. In other words, it is because they have been saved that they are able to be lights. They are in Him, which makes it possible for them to be lights in the Lord,
The world is in darkness and it needs the light of the gospel. The world thinks that a man can save himself. It does not accept the Bible teaching of original sin. It does not believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God came into the world. It believes He was a great teacher but does not believe He is God in human flesh. It does not believe that the only way of salvation is through the Lord Jesus Christ. It does not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It does not accept His work on the cross as the only way of salvation. It does not believe He will come again to judge all mankind.
Jesus told his disciples they were like a city set on a high hill that cannot be hidden. Christians are to be like a
lighthouse beaming the light of the gospel to all mankind. A lighthouse is placed on a high spot to keep ships from running aground. The gospel is a warning that all men are in danger of sin destroying their lives. But Jesus is the true light who can save them from destruction because he said, “I am the Light of the world, he that follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the Light of Life”. John 8:12
Jesus then warns believers not to hide their Christian testimony by putting their light under a “bushel” so it cannot be seen. This happens when we make the things of the world such as business or a career get in the way of giving the light of the gospel to unbelievers. Jesus said for believers to put their light on a lamp stand which suggests that each of us have some means of communicating the gospel. It can be by personal witnessing, handing out Bibles, conducting a Bible study, etc.
Finally, the communication of the gospel is to be backed up by good works in the lives of believers, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven”. Often times it is the Christian’s life that is the most powerful “light” convincing un-believers to accept the truth of the gospel.
My brother was all dressed to go to a wedding and had a neighbor lady who lived across the street who came over and said her car had a front wheel problem. Her husband was at work and so he was unable to help. My brother took off his wedding clothes and put on work clothes and took several hours to repair the front axle of the lady’s car. She had just become a Christian but her husband had not. When he came home from work, he was so impressed that he said to himself, “This must be the way the early Christians lived”. He went to his room and prayed, “God, I want to know the truth”, and a few months later he became a Christian because he saw the “light” in my brother’s life.
Author ~ John Spence