Are You Good Salt

Or

Good For Nothing Salt?

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."

              In ancient times, salt was very valuable.  Many times wages were paid in salt.  This was called the “Salarium” and hence the term “not worth the salt that goes in his bread”.  A term “let’s go to the salt mines”, has also arrived from the mining process, which is hard work especially in days before modern equipment came on the scene.

Also in ancient times the salt that was exposed to the elements of the weather would lose its savour or potency.  This was discarded and put on the roads to be used as gravel and to

keep weeds and growth from coming up.  Christians who are exposed to the world and who have allowed the world to control them have become like the salt that has lost its savour and is good for nothing but to be trodden under foot of men.  Many are those who have lost their influence and character to the world and have become of little use to the Lord Jesus Christ and His Church.

              The Lord calls His children several things.  Sheep, brethren, little ones, and here in this verse they are called SALT.  In the next verse they are even called light, but that is another message altogether.  Let’s notice a few things about salt:

I. SALT HAS A PRESERVING ABILITY.

The remnant of God’s people on the earth is what is keeping the judgment of God from completely falling.  As salt, Christians are preserving the Biblical values and views.  Without Christians as salt there would not be any resistance to abortion, immorality, drunkenness, or any other works of darkness.  Even though we are in a dark world and ungodliness is everywhere, the people of God, as salt, are the opposing force to evil.

As a young man, I had a job in a country grocery store where they killed hogs and cured their own hams.  My job was to rub salt into the ham.  This salt would preserve the meat to keep it from rotting, stinking and spoiling.  It is amazing how salt will keep meat from ruining without refrigeration.  So likewise with the Christian in an ungodly world.

In Genesis chapter 18, verses 23 through 33, we find a Biblical account of that.  Abraham is pleading with God about the wicked city of Sodom and Gomorrah which God has told Abraham He is going to destroy for their sin.  Abraham asked God if He would spare the city for fifty righteous people.  God said He would.  Now Abraham had a nephew in Sodom and he was concerned.  He again asked God if He would spare the city for forty-five and God said He would.  Abraham asked God if He would spare for forty, then thirty, then twenty, and then for ten righteous people.  God said He would.  You know the story, there were not ten righteous in the city and God destroyed the city with fire and brimstone, after He delivered Lot of course.  If there had been just ten righteous salty Christians, God would have refrained from destroying Sodom and Gomorrah.

II. SALT HAS A PENETRATING ABILITY.

God has placed the Church in the world to be an active force in society.  He expects the church to reach the unbeliever with the Gospel.  The Gospel will penetrate the heart of the lost and convict them of their sin.  Christians, as salt, add flavor to life.

It is hard to do without salt.  Some foods are almost impossible to eat without salt.  You may try to eliminate salt in your diet but you will have to change your eating habits.  This world would like to eliminate the Christians in the world also.  No matter how much they despise them or fight them it is impossible to eliminate them completely.  This world  would be a worse place to live if it were not for the penetrating ability of Christians as salt.

Christians who have not lost their savour will add flavor to the home, the church, the job, and to the world. 

III. SALT HAS A PURIFYING ABILITY.

Salt is good to cleanse with.  In ancient times new born babies were washed in salt to give firmness to their skin.  Salt will purify or cleanse.

A Biblical example is found in II Kings chapter 2 verses nineteen through twenty-two.  Elisha was told that the water supply of the city was contaminated.  He asked for a new cruse and some salt.  He put the salt in the new cruse and sprinkled the salt in the spring of water.  The water was healed and the land ceased to be barren.

Salt will cleanse a wound and help it heal. This world needs Christians who are salty enough to heal the wounds that sin has placed upon the sinner.

Christians, as salt, have had their speech cleansed and therefore they speak the things of God.  The speech of a Child of God will be correct because of this cleansing.  The conduct of the Child of God will be right because their heart has been cleansed.  Their minds are cleansed and they think on heavenly things.  They don’t run with the wrong crowd.  They lift up and glorify God in their walk, talk, and actions. 

IV.  SALT HAS A PLEASING ABILITY.

As salt, Christians enjoy the work of God.  Some are enduring but those who are salty, are enjoying.  Notice these things about Christians who have not lost their savour:

1. They live a Christian life because they love to live that way.

2. They witness to the lost because they want to tell them about the Lord.

3. They give to the work of God because they desire to give.

4. They pray because they have a real deep desire to talk to the Lord.

5. They love the Lord and the lost because they want to not because they have to.

6. They study the Word of God because they have a desire to study it.

7. They go to church because they have a desire deep inside to attend the house of God.

V. SALT HAS A POISONING ABILITY.

              Salt will kill vegetation and keep the land from producing.  In Judges chapter nine and verse forty-five, Abimilech destroyed a city and poured salt on it to keep it from being productive.  Christians have a killing influence on sin.

              The restraints of the child of God have some control on the increase of sin in the land. 

VI.  SALT HAS A PROMOTING ABILITY.

Christians, as salt of the earth, will make those around them thirsty.  That is, a Christian who is sold out to the Lord and living for the Lord will make those they come in contact with to desire what they have.  Do you live such a life as to cause others to desire the same life style you have?  Does your life style exalt and lift up the Lord Jesus Christ?

Unbelievers are watching our lives every day.  The way we perform in front of them will turn them on or off to the Lord Jesus.  Our life will turn people to Christ or it will turn people away from the Lord.

How you face trials and troubles will have a bearing on those around you.  If the unbeliever sees you fall all to pieces when trouble comes it will bring confusion and turn them away.  If you can handle problems and troubles in the right manner and give God all the glory you will point the unbeliever to the Lord.  We are commanded in Ephesians 6:10, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might."

The way we handle wrongs in our life will have an influence on those around you.  When someone mistreats you and you react in the wrong manner it will have a bad influence on the unbeliever.  But, if you are salt that has not lost its savour, and you handle this in the correct manner, you will have a good influence on the unbeliever.

Salt changes things.  Salt will make food taste better and it will melt ice into a liquid.  So is the child of God.  We can make a change on those we come in contact with each passing day.

Have you lost your savour?  Are you a good or bad influence on those around you?  If God has shown you a problem in your life, please bow your head and call upon the Lord.  Ask Him to forgive you  and make you what He would have you to be.  Call upon Him with a repentant and sincere heart.  Allow Him to do His work in your heart right now.

Pastor Dennis Dills

Are You Good Salt Or Good For Nothing Salt?