Matthew 5:13
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“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.
This verse follows the beatitudes which is for believers.
You are blessed because you display the actions of believers.
This all a result of our being united to Christ.
Immediately after this section of the beatitudes, he jumps right in this section regarding Salt and Light.
Some of you may even have the heading above this particular section.
It may say- Salt and Light- Or Believers are Salt and Light.
Mine says Disciples and the World.
Either way,
What jesus is doing here is explaining to His disciples what their relationship to the world is like.
The question this passage is answering is this:
What effect do believers/disciples of Jesus have on the world around them?
He is going to use metaphorical language involving salt and light.
Look what he says here in verse 13
“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- here Jesus is referencing his disciples.
This is who you are now. You are the salt of the earth.
Now what does he mean by that?
Well salt has two main functions specifically when it comes to food. Can you name them?
Salt Preserves- It prevents decay. Salt acts as a preservative.
Provides taste- unless its watermelon in which case it should not be used. (Watermelon is good enough on its own, it doesn’t need salt) Grits, not so much.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Matthew 3. Salt and Light, 5:13–16
What is good in society his followers keep wholesome. What is corrupt they oppose; they penetrate society for good and act as a kind of moral antiseptic. And they give a tang to life like salt to a dish of food.
What is good in the world, Jesus’s followers seek to keep it wholesome. What is corrupt in society, the disciples of Jesus oppose.
In other words, believers act as a preserving agent in the world.
Believers acts as a constraining agent on immorality. They speak against what is wrong. They champion that which is right.
Can you imagine for a moment if there were no Christians in America?
The influence of the church in America is really hard to overestimate.
When people look at America, they see the handprint and the influence of the church.
In 2019, 65% of people in America identified themselves as Christians. Now noticed I didn’t not say that 65% of Americans are Christians. I fear and feel like it is much lower than that, but i would say that 65% percent of people even being willing to identify with Christ probably gives you a good idea of Christianity’s impact on our country right now.
Its unmistakable.
Like salt in food, you know if its there. The worst thing in the world is getting grits without salt.
If its not salted, you know it.
Hear the metaphor here:
Like salt, The church has a major impact and influence when its there… its task is preservation and you can tell its there.
But this is if the salt is there, and if the salt is salty.
If the church is there and is faithful, then it will act as a preservative.
It will hold up and encourage the good
It will restrain sin.
John Macarthur says that God has placed three entities in the world to restrain sin.
Government- Law Enforcement
The Nuclear Family-
The Church-
The church seeks to be the influencer of both the government and the family.
And how do we do that? How is the church to be the greatest influence?
Some may say doing things for the world and the community.
Some may say its making our message political.
Some may say its joining in on protests.
But Jesus didn’t command any of the that.
How do we change the world? How do believers be salt?
“I’m going to say a brand or a popular trademark,” he told them. “I want you to answer, in only one word, the business the company represents. Let’s start here: ‘Starbucks.’” The room answered, “Coffee.” “Toyota.” “Cars.” “Rolex.” “Watches.” Krispy Kreme- “Donuts” With each brand, the attendees chimed in without hesitating, until he got to the final one. “The Church.” At that, the room fell silent. The pastors were thinking, trying to come up with a word that would describe the “business” of the church. What’s that “one word?”
We do what Jesus commanded us to do.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
We can’t abandon that mission regardless of the circumstances surrounding us.
Salt is salty. The church makes disciples.
Thats what the church does.
Are we doing that?
When we drift from the mission God has given us, what good are we?
we have lost the saltiness. Its no good at that point. We are no good at that point.
Read that verse again.
“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.
When we abandone our mission for other missions or for no mission at all, we are no good.
When we become lax in our efforts of drawing near to God in worship and prayer, the salt isn’t salty anymore.
At times, i think we have the tnedency to look outward at all the issues and problems of ou culture and blame the culture.
But maybe the culture’s godless slide is the result of an unsalty church.
We must be what we have been called to be. We must do our created purpose.
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
We need to pray for that tonight.
That our church. That we would be salt. In this world.