Key Verse: Matt 5:16
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I. The World Can Be Divided into Two
Kinds of People
A. First, there are the believers who in the
Beatitudes are called blessed, indwelt by God because of Christ (Matt 5:3-12).
They are the people who realize their spiritual helplessness, show sorrow over
sin, and who are meek (or balanced between extremes), hungry for God's
righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, ridiculed, persecuted, or
slandered because of Christ. Jesus compares them to salt and light.
B. The other group consists of the unbelievers of
this world. They are proud, self-sufficient, and do not understand their own
unrighteousness before a Holy God.
II. The Believer Influences the
Unbeliever by What He Is, Not by What He Has
A. Christ did not say, "You have salt and light
to dispense," but rather "Ye are the salt. . . . Ye are the light of
the world" (Matt 5:13,14). The believer's very presence in the world acts
as salt and light, preventing corruption and exposing error.
B. Being blessed means having God's nature within (2
Peter 1:4). Because of Christ, the believers are no longer "fornicators,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with
mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners"
(1 Cor. 6:9,10). Rather, they "are washed . . . sanctified . . . justified
in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor.
6:11). Indeed, they are "a peculiar people" (Titus 2:14) who are
observed by unbelievers. The word translated "peculiar" which means
"who constitute His possession." It is the difference in their
character which distinguishes them.
C. The adjective (blessed) means not only indwelt by
God because of Christ, but also being fully satisfied. Having obtained peace
with God through Christ, the believer is more fulfilled than if he had all the
world as his possession (Matt 16:26; Mark 8:36; Luke 9:25). Seeing the
believers' contentment despite poverty and physical suffering, the unbelievers
are amazed (2 Cor. 6:10). It may even cause them to see their own lack of
spiritual security in spite of worldly goods (Rev 3:17).
III. The Believer Must Interact with
This World of Corruption and Darkness in Order to Act as Salt and Light
A. Just as salt is derived from the earth, so every
believer is to remember that he is earthly, (2 Cor. 5:1). However, in Christ he
becomes "free from the law of sin and death" (Rom 8:2). Thereby, he
acts as a preservative in the decaying world around him. Should he lose his
Christ-likeness, "his savor" (Matt 5:13), he would no longer be of
any use.
B. Likewise, the believer is light because Christ is
the "light of the world" (John 8:12). He can only reflect Christ's
light. Therefore, Jesus admonishes him, "Let your light so shine before
men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in
heaven" (Matt 5:16). One day the total universe, (John 8:12), will be
completely transformed by Christ. The believer's life should manifest the
beginning of that transformation.
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