Salt n Light (Mat 5:13-16)

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons1 of God.10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.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 that2 they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Summary Beatitudes

The Beatitudes is a passage that describes what the people of the kingdom of Heaven look like today.

My believe is that the Kingdom of God is something later! It was the kingdom promised to Abraham, and then David, God promised that one in the line of David, would reign on his Throne forever! I believe that this kingdom we are waiting for is this one, that will be after Christ returns!

My view is that these people being described do manifest this future kingdom today, and receive some of the blessing prescribed to each attitude, but they will be fulfilled once Christ Returned.

The first attitude is toward ourself – poor in spirit

The second is towards our sins – mourn and Meekness, hunger thirst for righteousness

The Third is towards God – mercy, pure in heart, peacemakers

The fourth is towards the world – persecuted, salt and light.

Salt and Light

So the verses dealt with yesterday were v.13-15.

First the salt, if it's lost its saltiness it has no purpose at all!

Secondly the Light – It is what shines in darkness. Darkness does not really exist it is just lack of light! As soon as there is light in a room there is no more darkness. Darkness cannot put up a fight against light! When light comes, the darkness goes away there is nothing more to it. It is impossible for darkness to overcome light. Which is why I find this term for Christians so huge. We are the light of the world. No sin, no dark spiritual force could possibly stop us!

How are we the salt and the light? 

(based from a John Piper Sermon)

so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

This should be key for us to understand how to interpret what being the salt and light of the world means.

How can we live in a way, that other people might give glory to our Father who is in heaven when they see us?

Many people see good deeds and this does not cause them to give glory to our Father who is in heaven! So being salt and light is more than just doing good works! We must live in a way that reveals that we have more to live for than just the stuff we own. Our life must reflect our knowledge of something, hidden but greater that all that can be seen. Our hope is more than just this life, for we know Jesus and with him we have a treasure in heaven.

When we go back to the previous verses:

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Our hope allows us to rejoice in persecution. Our Joy leads to the overflow of good deeds that would not be expected of us under the circumstances we are in and leads others to glorify our father.

We saw on one hand that doing good works was not enough because they do not necessarily cause others to glorify God. Here we have the idea of rejoicing. But it is not on it's own. It is rejoicing while being persecuted. Who does not rejoice when he prospers?

We see that because of the hope we have in our heavenly reward, even when we are persecuted, we are still able to rejoice. This is the light that will trouble outsiders to the Christian Faith. It should shock the world! This light and salt is seen when we react in a completely different way than what is expected. When we love our enemies, bless those who persecuted us, when we learn to forgive the most horrible things done to us. When we live in such a way that forces people to ask the question – What is the reason for the hope that is in you?!? (1 Pet 3:15). When we don't complain, we don't grumble, we don't criticize, but appreciate everything as gifts from God. When we don't judge anyone, because we see them through God's eyes as precious children worth dying for.

Being salt and light is about the heart we have while we do those good actions, as we rejoice because of the things to come, our reward with Jesus. We are the salt in the light, when nothing seems to be going well, but we still realize Christ is enough to rejoice for!! We are light when people realize that God must be real to us, because of our perseverance, in difficult situations, a rough marriage, challenging job, inconvenient pregnancy, when anyone in their right mind would have given up a long time ago, filing for divorce, quitting the job, getting an abortion.

God is glorified in us, as we satisfy in Him, how much more glorified is he in us, when nothing would entails us to rejoice in anything, but yet, we still do in Him, before the world?