The Vision (3.26.21): Salt and Light

 

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Matthew 5:13-16.

“Ye are the salt of the earth…. Ye are the light of the world….” (Matthew 5:13, 14).

Following the Beatitudes, Christ presents two fundamental images or metaphors for who his disciples are in the world in his Sermon on the Mount.

“Ye are the salt of the earth” (v. 13);

“Ye are the light of the world” (v. 14).

Notice that each of these are simple propositional declarations. They are not imperatives. Christ does not say, “Become salt of the earth.” or “Become the light of the world.” They are not exhortations.  Christ does not say, “You should be the salt of the earth.” r “You should be the light of the world.”

No, he declares what we already are, merely by virtue of the fact that we are believers, saved by God’s grace thought the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and his disciples. It is a present reality. No matter how weak we may be spiritually, no matter how puny our numbers, if we are genuine disciples, we are already salt and light, and we already have an influence in the world out of all proportion to our meagre size and strength.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle