Salt & Light in the 21st Century

This week’s passage: Matthew 5 Now that we have read through and discussed Matthew chapter 5, I want to look at how we might apply this in our lives today. In verses 1-12 we learned that being grieved by the fact that in our own power we are sinners who should thirst for righteousness, and having an attitude of meekness, mercy, pureness of heart, and peace will bring us blessings from God. We also saw that believing in God’s righteousness would cause us to be persecuted by those who don’t, which should be a reason for us to rejoice because our reward in heaven will be great and our time on earth will be short. In verses 13-16 we learned our purpose here on earth (to preserve goodness through the work of the Holy Spirit and to glorify God), and in verses 17-48 we find out that contrary to the prosperity gospel movement, Jesus did not come to the earth as a man to tell us we were free to do whatever we please and that He was here to make us all rich and happy. ...

This week’s passage: Matthew 5:21-48 Our Wonderful Counselor The emotional state of our collective beings appears to be weaker than at any point in my lifetime, and the demand for motivational speakers and counselors is skyrocketing. The thing is, while turning to others is at times helpful, the only way to pursue true emotional fitness with any success is to follow the Word of God and to lean on His understanding instead of our own. As we dig into the Sermon on the Mount it may seem like bad news because it is clear that God wants us to perfectly follow His law, yet as we continue to read what Christ told the disciples about the entire counsel of God we see that He certainly knows we are not perfect. Nearly 800 years before the birth of Christ the prophet Isaiah told Israel of their coming Messiah. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mig...

This week’s passage: Matthew 5:17-20 Christ Came to Fulfill the Law Many churches today never teach or study the Old Testament. They claim that Jesus’s fulfillment of the Old Testament laws means that we are no longer held to those laws and therefore do not need to understand them. But Jesus tells the disciples and those who are gathering that He did not come to destroy or remove the laws, but to refocus people and to provide new ways to understand and apply the original laws until such time as He accomplishes a complete fulfillment of them. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. (Matthew 5:17-18 ESV) God provided moral laws to help the Israelites to stay in His grace (Ten Commandments), knowing they were unable to follow the...

This week’s passage: Matthew 5:13-16 Salt and Light We have visited these passages previously because they are the inspiration for this blog. If you want to review my thoughts from that post, you can read it here .  As are the other lessons in the sermon, this one on salt and light gives us an illustration of how the followers of Christ should approach life and shares the consequences for believers who toss the information to the side or half-heartedly attempt to comply. “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.” (Matthew 5:13 ESV) Any seasoning you add to food during the last step of cooking adds its own distinct flavor that does not blend with but enhances the food​. As Christians we should be like this, not blending with the world but affecting others in a positive way that encourages t...

This week’s passage: Matthew 5:1-2 Teaching the Disciples After His crucifixion Jesus instructed the disciples to go and make other disciples, this instruction is known as the Great Commission and is expected of every follower of Christ until He returns for us. "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” " Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20) As we open Matthew Chapter 5, we know that Jesus had been traveling and preaching, proclaiming the gospel to all who would listen, and that many were responding. I believe the Sermon on the Mount provides an example to churches on how they cannot consider it a job well done once a perso...