SALT And LIGHT – Who are we in this world, Really?
SALT? Without salt, our bodies shut down – quit – die. These days when I go outside and work I have to take in extra salt or I suffer horrible leg cramps at night. Years ago there was a ‘Star Trek’ episode about a creature that would suck all the salt out of a person – killing them. This is what Satan (and the world system of religion) does to us Christians – Christ’s church, Christ’s bride. He’s killing us.
The Bible says we are to be salt and light. Without light, we are not just blind, but we die, too. The light (God’s TRUTH, The Christ) energizes life – creates food to sustain us. But let’s get back to the salt for now. The Bible says if the salt loses its savor, it’s good for what? NOTHING.
Matthew 5:13
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
It is thrown out and trampled by men! Sound like what is happening today to the message (our message) of Christ?
What does God mean when he says it loses its savor (taste)?
Let me read a passage:
1 Peter 2:9-10
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
And:
Romans 11
 18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
 19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.
 20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
 21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
 22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
 23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again.
 24For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
 25For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.
This passage was a warning, but in it we also see that Christians have some great roots!
We are grafted into the chosen people of God! We are now Part of that tree! We are to stand out! We are not to just blend in with the world’s religions – be they pagan or be they in the guise of Christianity – the Catholic Church for example. My family has a Roman Catholic background. Recently the Pope gave the world notice of deceased Pope John Paul II’s beatification. This is a celebration preceding an anticipated announcement of sainthood being bestowed upon this person (a previous Pope) because someone prayed to him and was healed of an illness! Read it here. If you notice, the Pope is approving of and advocating praying to dead people for healing instead of praying to God. The Bible forbids this! Why don’t the Catholic people rise up against this? Could it be because they have lost their flavor – their SALT? Has their message(and therefore their lives) become worthless, because the TRUTH (Christ) is not in them?
So how do we keep this from happening to us? Let’s ignore all the denominations and concentrate on ourselves for a moment. God says “My people perish for a lack of salt, or, knowledge.” Knowledge = Truth = Christ. We keep our flavor, our Salt, by being true to God’s word, by rightly dividing (understanding) it, and then living it. I guarantee if you do that you will indeed be considered peculiar!
God doesn’t just leave us each to ourselves, alone. He has set up His church (us) in such a way that we all can help each other stay on the path. He has given each of us different areas where God has shown us something about His Truth. We don’t have the capability to understand all of God’s Truth, and He seems to want us to depend on each other, along with the leading of the Spirit for understanding. Similarly each of us will have areas of ignorance or false understanding. When we come together we are to share with each other what God has shown us, whether it is in a large group or just two of us. We need to study. We need to pray for understanding. This is what the scripture means by our duty as the Bride of Christ: to SEEK Him! This is seeking after the kingdom of God. Paul said we are to Reprove, Rebuke, and Encourage (Exhort):
II Timothy 4:1-4
I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
He noted that when we meet together we should HAVE READY a psalm, a teaching, etc. In the Scriptures we are told “Let one teach and let the others judge”. Judge how? Can we judge if we are uneducated and aren’t familiar with the evidence?
Remember, we were warned not to be taken in by “every wind of doctrine” (NOT salt) and by evil men who would mislead us (like the Pope). It means we may have to abandon some things we have been taught since childhood or our own preconceived ideas, or what we WANT to believe. Christ said the way is HARD and NARROW that leads to salvation.
From my own experience I know how hard this can be. God has led me, kicking and screaming, to reject some things that I have always believed and to see things that have amazed and frightened me. He has shown me these things out of the scriptures in many places and without contradiction. Yet if someone blurted these things out to you or me without evidence or explanation, we might likely reject their words, since we have been misled for so long by leaders in various denominations.
Fortunately the Apostle Paul has given us the example: we are to be convinced, in all humility, using the Word of God and understanding. God knows I can’t handle much, so what He has given me is very limited. This means there are areas of His knowledge that I just don’t get. He will use you in those areas to increase my understanding: He brings us together for this reason and gives us different gifts for completing the body.
In order to be salt and light we have to be open to the Spirit, not obstinate, not unbelieving, not believing a lie because it is comfortable. How can a narrow, hard road be comfortable? Yet we rest in Him and in His Peace.
Let’s pray that the everlasting God in whom we trust will lead us into all knowledge, looking to His Word, and not to ourselves.
Christ prayed that we would be one, as He and the Father is one. The Bible tells us we should be in agreement, not in dissension.
I Corinthians 14:26
How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
I Corinthians 1:9
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
