Blessings of Salty Believers in the Light

Matthew 5:1-16

The Beatitudes

1 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Believers Are Salt and Light

13 "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

14 "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Jesus gave a long list of blessings for those who walk in the light of Himself and all He taught that we might become salt to season and preserve the world with truth and love in His grace and mercy.  They lead to supreme blessedness and exalted happiness in living to please God in Christ by willing obedience to His word in its principles, commands, and according to its examples.  Jesus saw not just a single person to teach these to, but to a gathering multitude.  We can all learn under His under-shepherds in this way now, for that is why He gave gifts to men (Ephesians 4:7-8, 11-12) that they might preach and teach from the scriptures to the body of Christ.  The first blessing is for the humble, those who realize they are poor in heart or spirit.  This means we see ourselves as sinners needing grace and forgiveness and not imagining we are deserving or better than others due to our religious works that always fall short of God’s standards.  The second blessing is an encouragement to know we will find comfort in Christ when we mourn in sadness for our loss or failures.  He is the comforter who lives within us for this very purpose (John 14:26, 2 Corinthians 1:3-5) to bring comfort and also dispense it through us to one another.  The third blessing is hope to the meek to remind us that we will inherit the kingdom of God on earth.  Such selfless gentleness is considerate and humble as the woman who was ever thankful for the crumbs from the Master’s table (Matthew 15:27) falling for her to sustain and satisfy her every want and need.  Are we so easily satisfied with godly contentment as we know we have been given an endless kingdom with and in Christ?  The fourth blessing is for those who are filled with that contentment when they hunger and thirst for righteousness above the passing pleasures of sin (Hebrews 11:25) and temporal treasures which turn to dust (Matthew 6:19-20).  True contentment results from seeking godliness (1 Timothy 6:6) in all we think, do, and pursue.  The fifth blessing is for showing mercy as we have received such forgiveness by the grace of God in Christ while we know we deserve the consequences of what we sow with our sin.  God pours out His mercy on us when we are doing the same for one another in thankfulness as instruments in our Savior’s hand.  The sixth blessing describes how our changing hearts becoming pure as we seek to set our minds on things above (Philippians 4:8) lead us to a clearer sight of God Himself as our sin is intentionally put to death or mortified (Romans 8:13, Galatians 5:24).  Our thoughts are not to continue to pursue what the fallen world puts before us, but what the scriptures say and the Spirit in us leads us to pursue instead.  The seventh blessing is a call to make peace with others and not fight or contend with arguments and lack of love.  This is a characteristic of those who are God’s children and why we must pursue peace with one another (Romans 14:19, Hebrews 12:14).  The eighth blessing is to comfort us when we are persecuted for doing all these things of righteousness by reminding us that we are of the kingdom of God and as its permanent citizens are expected to suffer for His name’s sake and the gospel’s.  We will be spoken evil of, mocked, slandered, and even physically attacked because we are His and identity with Jesus Christ our Lord to others.  This brings a great reward to so suffer as He did.  Finally, we see how these make us salt and light to this sin-stained world groaning for redemption (Romans 8:22).  As salt, we add God’s flavor of forgiveness and grace with eternal hope for sinners and as light we show the way in Christ.  By doing the good that Christ demonstrated for us to imitate (1 Corinthians 11:1), we glorify God and bring our good works prepared for us to do (Ephesians 2:10) to bear on the sin of the world that they may also repent and give Him the due glory by faith and willing obedience to the gospel.  These are great blessings indeed for salty believers in the light of God’s love and grace!