The Salt of the Earth
Matthew 5v13
8th November 2024
After the Beatitudes, Jesus told His disciples:
Matthew 5v13
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be
made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and
trampled underfoot.
The Sermon on the Mount is not a collection of random ideas. It has a logical order, in which each idea follows on from the last. All of the Beatitudes in verses 3-10 are in such a sequence, and this passage follows on from that passage. "You are the salt of the earth" because you're a Christian. If you're a Christian, you will be poor in spirit, you will mourn for sin and its consequences. You will develop meekness. You will hunger and thirst for righteousness. You will be merciful, because you know that God has shown you mercy. You will be pure in heart, putting to death all sinful thoughts, and committing yourself to God and His kingdom. You will be peacemakers. You will accept persecution, and keep going. Such a person is "the salt of the earth".
You are the salt of the earth and therefore you're nothing like the earth. A serious Christian is as unlike the ungodly society around him as a grain of salt is unlike a slice of meat. The difference should be obvious to all. Your attitudes, your behaviour, your gentleness and unselfishness, should be quite unlike anything a worldly person has experienced before. When you go to the supermarket, you should be the nicest person the checkout girl has met all day.
You are the salt of the earth and therefore you preserve the society around you. Salt preserves meat. Christians preserve society. The world is getting more sinful. In my home country of England, people are becoming more judgemental, argumentative, selfish and loud. The nation’s ideas about ethics are becoming more unbiblical. Language is getting coarser. Society is growing rotten. A Christian, because he is the salt of the earth, will tend to reduce the rate at which society putrefies. He will achieve this not through political action (although Christians should be involved in politics) but by being who he is. Some conversations should change when a Christian joins them. There should be less filthy joking, less anger, less hatred, expressed because a Christian has joined the group, even if he doesn’t speak.
You are the salt of the earth and therefore you will make life on earth a more pleasant experience for others. Salt brings flavour. This world can be a grey and depressing old place, but the presence of a true Christian, with his God-given joy, peace and love can transform it.
Do not underestimate the difference that you can make just by being who you are in Christ.
You are the salt of the earth and you should be becoming more salty over time. By that I mean that the work of sanctification in you and the fruits of the Holy Spirit in you should be making you more and more Christian as days and years go by. But Jesus warns us, "if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot."
If a Christian becomes less poor in spirit, if he ceases to care very much about sin and its consequences, if he ceases to be meek, if he no longer hungers and thirsts for righteousness, if he is judgemental, unforgiving and cruel instead of merciful, if his heart is not becoming purer in heart, if he brings conflict instead of peace to those around him, if he increasingly resents persecution, then he has ceased to live the Christian life. Indeed, we must question whether he ever was genuinely converted.
If all you have is religion, and you’ve never been born again as a child of God, never been filled with the Holy Spirit, never had your heart transformed by God’s love, then you are not what the Bible calls a Christian. Jesus – not I, but Jesus – says you are no longer good for anything, and will be thrown out. On the day of judgement, Jesus will say to you, "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25v41). But it’s not too late! Trade in your religion for a real, personal, living relationship with God almighty. Accept His Gospel – His Good News – acknowledge your sins and your spiritual poverty, accept the forgiveness of your sins, and know the joy of salvation to eternal life.