Matthew 5:13-15

Written ~ 10-21-2023

Matthew 5:13-15

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.

¹⁵ No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.

It came up in a conversation the other day about how our testimony comes across to the non-believer. Suppose we are living our lives wholeheartedly for the Lord, but get caught up with heightened desires presented by this darkened world, then fueled by our sinful nature we give into temptation, what happens to our testimony? Does it stay intact? Or does the Lord and what it means to be a believer and follower of the Lord lose credibility?

Verse 5:13a and verse 5:14a,

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth…”

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world…”

In this passage Jesus is speaking to the believer. He is making sure we understand our purpose on earth, to be salt and light. Our influence, our testimony should be one that brings flavor to who the Lord is and what it means to follow Him, in Psalm 34:8 it says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good…” We are drawing non-believers to Salvation by sharing the wonderful flavor of knowing the Lord personally. In the Tony Evans Study Bible it says this… “Christians are to be salt in this decaying world. But if you become too mixed up with the world and allow its values to affect you, you will lose your uniqueness as a Christian and your ability to make a kingdom difference. In Scripture, the world is pictured as a dark place that requires illumination. Jesus is “the light of the world,” so He expects His followers to be lights too. We are not to be secret agent saints.”

In the days while Jesus walked the earth “the primary value of salt was not as a flavoring but as a preservative. Disciples (followers of Jesus Christ) are to hinder the world’s corruption.” (Taken from the ESV Study Bible). In the KJV Study Bible Notes it says, “The word “you” indicates that only the genuinely born-again person is salt and can help meet the needs of the world. Salt adds flavoring, acts as a preservative, melts coldness, and heals wounds. So, it is a very appropriate description of the believer in their relationship to the world in which they live. “You are the light of the world” describes the essential mission of the Christian to the world. They are the condition (salt) to meet the world’s needs and they have a mission (light) to the world. Their light is to clearly shine forth into the darkness of human depravity. They are to set their light upon a candlestick, not hide it under a basket. Darkness is the absence of light; and darkness alone cannot dispel the light, but the smallest light can dispel the greatest darkness.”

The last quote I will use comes from the NIV Woman’s Study Bible, “Both salt and light are forces that change an alien environment permanently. Salt enhances flavor and preserves or slows decay only if the salt itself stays pure. Sodium chloride, a stable compound, cannot lose its saltiness, but it can lose its effectiveness by being diluted. This point is the application for Christians. Light symbolizes purity and divine revelation. If Christians were only slowing the decay, their mission would seem rather bleak, but they are also to be beacons of light to those who will respond.”

Sometimes, as we study the Word of God it’s great to use other resources for further explanation of  Scripture. There is a simplicity to what it means for the believer to be the salt and light to this dying world, but I hope the Study Bible references that I shared bring clarity to you as it did for me.

As we go out into the world, seeking new relationships, or strengthening the ones we already have, let’s keep in mind the saltiness of our testimony and whether or not we are shining the light of Jesus brightly to all those we come in contact with.

We mustn’t become watered down to where our testimony becomes tasteless or even obsolete. It might be that people are looking to us, specifically, to share the purity we have in the Lord. What would happen if we decided to make an exception and our “salt” was washed away. It could be that our effectiveness to share the Gospel with that particular person will be forever tarnished. No matter what you do or say, from that point forward nothing will change their minds. They may only focus on our wrongdoing and disregard the message of Jesus Christ.

As we shine brightly with the illumination given to us by Jesus Christ Himself, we again mustn’t hide who we are in Christ! When we study the Word of God and develop a relationship with Jesus, our light, our joy should be so pronounced, so emboldened that nothing we encounter could extinguish it’s beacon.

My wholehearted prayer is that I would always remain salty, to do god in the world and bring healing with the Word of God. And I pray that the light I have shining through me would become an inescapable source to draw those who don’t know the Lord into His beautiful, glorious light. Thank you, Jesus, for giving me salt and light to help further Your Kingdom.

~AMEN~

Isaiah 60:1-3

¹“Arise, ‘BELIEVER!’ Let your light shine for all to see.
    For the glory of the Lord rises to shine on you.
² Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth,
    but the glory of the Lord rises and appears over you.
³ All nations will come to your light;
    mighty kings will come to see your radiance.”