Salt And Light Or Decay And Darkness

Salt and Light OR Decay and Darkness

Matthew 5:13-16 (ESV)

13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Jesus calls us “salt and light” when we follow Him. Salt, of course has many qualities. It was used in preserving meats; seasoning; healing; purifying; a part of sacrifices (Leviticus 2:13); a symbol of covenant (Numbers 18:19); and it represents value as people were often paid in salt among other things.

I read that salt is a kind of miracle. It’s composed of 2 poisons: chloride and sodium. If you ingest either by itself, you’ll die. One is a reactive element, the other is unstable. But put them together and you have common, ordinary salt, and that which separately could bring death somehow comes together to bring life, and that’s a miracle! The followers of Jesus can be like the salt compound. Separate we can be reactive and unstable, but together we can bring life with the good news of Jesus. It’s another type of miracle.

The very coming of Jesus was a miracle. He existed in the beginning as the word and as God (John 1). He came through the virgin birth to live a sinless life. Yet, He took on Himself the sins of humanity and died on our behalf. He was then resurrected to life and invites us to join Him. Sin and death should lead to our deaths but there is a miracle here. Jesus’ death produces life.

Let me show you an important verse, 1 Corinthians 2:8 (ESV):

8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Did you catch that? If the rulers of the age had understood the resurrection of Jesus, they would not have put Him to death. They thought they had won. They thought that when that tomb was closed and the stone was sealed it was all over. They did not grasp the third day. They did not know He would return from the dead.

This miracle of resurrection brings death and life to us. Let me show you another passage. Romans 5:20-6:4 (ESV):

20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 1What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Jesus came to increase grace because the Law points out our sins. He lived the Law 100% where we could not. We don’t abuse the grace of God by sinning to get more grace, but we die to sin by the death of Jesus and we live in newness of life by His resurrection.

What does that newness of life look like? It certainly isn’t going back to the old things that separated us from God. There is something new that Jesus describes as “salt and light.”

How would you describe the culture we are living in? Would you describe it as “salt and light” or something else? Maybe it’s just my imagination but would you say there is a spiritual war going on? Would you say our society is darker and is decaying more than it used to?

If you take away the “salt of the earth” from a society the preservative powers of that salt go away. As a result, decay comes in and a culture is ruined. If you take away the “light of the world” you will have darkness (whether that light comprises the disciples of Jesus or Jesus Himself as in John 9:5).

It is not a stretch to see that we have not been preserving our culture or shedding light on truth. Marxists have been chipping away at the foundations of America for years and have just about brought down the nation. Maybe we thought that what we have had would always be without having to be vigilant in its protection.