Salt, Light, Law, and Grace

Psalm 112 / Matthew 5:13-20

Not because of who I am, but because of what You've done Not because of what I've done, but because of who You are

- Who Am I by John Mark Hall / Casting Crowns

Salt

Salt for survival

Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”

Salt for flavor, joy

Psalm 51:12 “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”

Light

If it’s true, it cannot be hidden

Acts 5:39 Gamaliel: “but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice,”

1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.”

Evangelism - Let them see your good works

Joshua 2:9-11 [Rahab] said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. 11 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.”

Law

The Law is NOT abolished

Romans 6:14 “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”

Romans 7:12 “So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”

It is the law that not only provides a framework of ethics to build a society on, but also to reveal sin for repentance, and to reveal the character of God Himself in Holiness.

The Righteous requirements are NOT relaxed

The vengeful God of the OT v the loving Christ of the New

Acts 17:30 “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,”

Hebrews 12:29 “for our God is a consuming fire.”

Matthew 5:20 “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

The problem is that no one’s righteousness here exceeds the Scribes and the Pharisees...

Grace

You ARE salt

It is not something we must become; it is something God has made us to be.

Jeremiah 13:23 “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.”

You ARE light, therefore LET

We are the light as we reflect the light of Christ

To LET lights show indicates that someone else has placed or lit this light, and it is merely ours to uncover it!

Christ FULFILLED; HE is

Fulfilled is the key word!

Jesus IS our Righteousness!

Not because of who I am, but because of what You've done Not because of what I've done, but because of who You are

- Who Am I by John Mark Hall / Casting Crowns

This is all my hope and peace, Nothing but the blood of Jesus; This is all my righteousness, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

- Nothing But The Blood by Robert Lowry 1876

Church Family, it’s not that we aren’t to do things for God. It’s that we are who we are and will accomplish what we will for the Kingdom because of WHO Jesus IS and WHAT He HAS accomplished. So, be who you are in Christ. That’s enough!