“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16 NASB1995)
When we are the “salt of the earth” we are those who maintain, uphold, continue in, protect, safeguard, and defend the essential character of Jesus Christ and of the truth of the gospel by what we say and by how we live our lives. But if we lose our taste, that would indicate that we are no longer doing those things. We are no longer showing forth the essential character of Jesus Christ and of the truth of the gospel of our salvation by the words that we speak and by how we live in truth and in daily practice. And this is bad!
And when we are the “light of the world,” we are to be shining forth the truth of the gospel of our salvation by the words that we speak and by the way in which we live. And we are not to be those who hide the truth of the gospel from the people of the world out of fear of rejection, persecution, or concern about what other people will think about us. We need to be more concerned about the salvation of human lives than we care about our own reputations and whether or not we are liked and/or approved or disapproved of.
Light is Jesus Christ. It is the gospel truth, and it is righteousness, holiness, and godliness. So, in essence, we are to be Jesus Christ to the people of this world, i.e. we are to be like him in character, and we are to be doing and speaking the kinds of things he did and spoke to the people. And we are to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness (sin) into his wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9), which is righteousness, Jesus Christ, the gospel, and obedience to God. And in this way we are the light of the world.
Yet we are still clay in the hands of the Potter (God) being made into the likeness of character of Jesus Christ, a work of God’s grace in our lives which will not be completed until Jesus returns and he takes us to be with him for eternity. We are not perfect as Jesus was. But lack of perfection is never to be used as an excuse for deliberate and habitual sin against our Lord. For if sin is what we obey, in practice, and not obedience to God and to his commands, then we are not saved and we don’t have eternal life with God.
The Gospel According To Christ and His Apostles
Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).
The grace of God, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for Jesus’ return. For Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (See Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:8-10)
For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).
And we learn in 1 John 1-3 that if we claim that we have fellowship with God, but yet we walk in darkness (sin), we are liars. If we claim that we know God, but we do not obey his commandments, in practice, we are liars. For it is not the one who claims he is “in Christ” who is “in Christ,” but it is the one who has denied self, died with Christ to sin, and who is now walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in practice, and no longer in sin. We have the hope and the promise of eternal life with God in heaven.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]
So, please take this to heart. Believe and live the truth of God’s Word.
The Lord’s Anointed
Based off Isaiah 61
An Original Work / December 16, 2011
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
The Spirit of the Sov’reign Lord on me;
Anointed to preach the Good News;
Sent me to bind up the brokenhearted;
Proclaim freedom for the captives.
He sent me to preach release for pris’ners
Who are walking in sin’s darkness;
Proclaim God’s grace to all men who’ll listen;
And tell them about God’s judgments;
Comfort all who mourn;
Give crowns of beauty;
Oil of gladness and thanksgiving.
They will be called oaks of God’s righteousness,
A planting of our Savior, God,
For the display of our Lord’s splendor, and
They will rebuild God’s holy church.
God will renew them, and will restore them,
And you’ll be called priests of the Lord.
You will be ministers of our God, and
You will rejoice in salvation.
The Lord loves justice;
He is faithful to
Reward those who are seeking Him.
I delight greatly in the Lord;
My soul rejoices in my Savior, God.
He has clothed me with His salvation,
And in a robe of His righteousness.
He has given me priestly garments to wear,
As the bride of Jesus Christ.
As the garden of our Lord and Savior,
He causes us to grow in Him.
He makes righteousness,
Praise, and thanksgiving
Spring up before all the nations.
Let Your Light Shine
An Original Work / October 1, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
