“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.” Matthew 5:13
The Lord tells the listeners on the Sermon on the Mount that true believers, those who live out the beatitudes are the salt of the earth. In other words, they are the only salt the word has. Without them this world has no hope for God has placed the responsibility to evangelize the world on believers.
Then we learn that some who are salt can lose the flavor, they are no
longer distinguishable as children of God. Instead they take on the
impurities of the world and become more like the world than like Christ. This reminds us of Lot, living in Sodom but making no impact on a city that is slated for God’s judgment. In that city, the salt had lost its saltiness – no one listened to Lot anymore. The homosexuals trying to crash his door down mocked his attempt to tell them to do right and Lot’s sons-in law mocked him when he warned them that judgment was coming. The salt was not salty, it had no
influence or impact on the world around it.
As we come to the last phrase in Matthew 5:13 we read the consequences of not fulfilling the responsibility to be salt in this life. It is then good for nothing The Lord leaves His followers on this earth after their salvation for a reason. He has chosen to reach this world through His word carried by believers who will give testimony to the reality of God and to the truth of His world.
When the Lord leaves this earth, He reminds us of our responsibility to be salt. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Being salty, worshiping God by obeying Him and acting as a preservative to a dying world is presenting the Gospel. In Matthew 28 we are told “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” In Mark 16 the Lord
says the same thing. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Here in The Sermon on the Mount the Lord tells His listeners that Israel has forsaken its responsibility to reach the world with the message of God. What is the result? The Lord tells us this religion and this life amount to nothing. It had one purpose, to be salt, and it was not fulfilled. Nothing the Lord values was accomplished.
Nothing To make His point the Lord uses a word that “categorically excludes and declares as a fact that no valid example exists.”
But The Lord says there is one use for unsalty salt.
To be thrown out The word for thrown has been used already in Matthew 3. There John the Baptist says, “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Here the Lord is talking bout Judaism which is failing to do what God had intended.
And trampled underfoot The salt is worthless and is walked on. Any value it had has been lost.
By men The Lord’s words are striking. The salt is discarded by men – the believer has lost his reputation, testimony and purpose with
the ones it was intended to influence.
What can we learn? John McArthur makes these comments on this passage, “So the point here is not that you lose your salvation, but like 1 Corinthians 9:27, you become a castaway; you forfeit your influence; you lose your impact. A Christian loses his saltiness, it’s a sad situation. You can lose it. You just be sinful at work and you’ll lose your reputation. You be sinful at school, listen to the things people say that aren’t right, go along with the dirty talk or whatever, be involved in
the things they do that you know aren’t right, and you’ll lose your saltiness. You’ll make no contribution to retard their corruption…The point is, God needs your influence; and you are to be salt; and to be
salt, you’ve got to stay away from that which corrupts you.