Salt, Light, & Glory - Part II

In Part One of this “mini-series” on the famous ‘Salt & Light’ Verses (Matt. 5:13-16) last week, we took a slight step backwards in our thoughts as we set the stage for the Verses themselves. Yes, we could have very easily dove right in, explaining the metaphors that Christ used (which we will do in the coming weeks), but because all of us hunger and thirst for righteousness, we should do all we can to go as deep as we can. 

We spent a majority of our time together last week “setting the stage” as it were, to prepare us for the actual text. We discussed two different dangers that we can fall to when questions of “how we are supposed to live” arise. Over-spiritualizing or over-physicalizing our faith. All works, or no works. 

We saw how this was a “false dichotomy” because those whom Christ has brought back to life, will automatically begin to live in accordance with that new life. To feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, house the orphan, and protect the innocent; is the reflex of a redeemed heart. When God lives within us, we want to go to Church; receive the elements of Communion; read our Bibles; and sing loud as we join our voices with those to our left and right. Our works flow outward from our faith, and if we don't have a deep, deep desire to actually do such a thing…we should be asking ourselves some very uncomfortable questions.

As it stands, however, when God gives us a new heart, and that new heart begins to act like one, it has an effect on the world around us. To repeat something from last week: our salvation affects others.

Ten righteous people, living like the redeemed ought live, would have saved Sodom from the sulfur (Gen. 18:32); because when the righteous let their light shine before men, God is glorified by those who saw your works. With that, let us stand and read the word of the Lord together.

Reading → Matthew 5:13-16 & Opening Prayer

Going through these short but powerful Verses, we will inevitably continue to mention The Beatitudes, because the kind of person that we are needs to be expressed in every area of our life. We are the poor in spirit, not simply on a Sunday morning as we feed from the long written down words. We are merciful and meek whether we are among crowds of believers or non-believers; and we hunger for righteousness at the voting booth, the family dinner table, the classroom, the playing field, or when filling out our taxes. And we do not set out faith to the side whether we are at the bank, or in the bedroom.

Yes, an argument could be made about the mannerisms and language we use being tailored to the context we are in, of course. Of course the Christian standing outside of an abortion clinic is going to speak with a level of decorum fit for that context as opposed to standing before a Legislature, even though he is arguing for the same truth. Of course the Christian is going to make jokes and be relaxed when with her friends on a Friday, as opposed to standing in line to receive the Bread and Wine. 

But regardless of whatever context God has providentially placed you inside of…you are still you. We mentioned this last week, but to revisit and expand it; God made you, to be the brother, father, husband, and son; or sister, mother, wife, and daughter that you are…to be part of the means that He uses to save His children. God made you to be the employee or employer that you are, for the same purpose. In fact, we can spread this principle across every facet of our entire life.

Whatever role you find yourself in, be it a student or senior citizen; blue or white collar; down on your luck and unemployed, or blessed with so much wealth that you’ll never have to work a day in your life; regardless of the context you are in…God put you there to be part of the means He uses to save His children who have not yet come home. 

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“Time-Out”

This teaching (that God uses “means”) might be something new to you this morning, so to briefly explain it:

There are times in Scripture that we see God using things or people inside of the created order (anything He created), to accomplish His will. Be it the destruction of Israel by the means of Babylon (Jer. 52); the institution of Marriage to be the means that humanity can learn about the relationship between Christ and the Church (Eph. 4:22-33); or the preaching of the Gospel as the only means by which faith is planted (Rom. 10:17).

God uses means, not exclusively, and not every single time; but He still does. The 1689 LBCF (which we are going through in our weekly Bible Study) says it this way: “All things come to pass unchangeably and certainly in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, who is the first cause. Thus, nothing happens to anyone by chance or outside of God’s providence. Yet by the same providence God arranges all things to occur according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or in response to other causes.”

Plainly stated: God uses “stuff” to accomplish His will.

“Time-In”

And in our Verses this morning, you, oh Christian, and the good works that you do, are the “stuff” that He uses to glorify Himself. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (v.16) When the people in your sphere of influence see your good works…God sees them as well, and then uses them. He has seen and used every song, book, poem or painting His children have created. He has seen and used every single hot meal given to the hungry; every penny placed in the offering plate; every hug given to those suffering; and every ounce of love you have shown to your enemies is seen by an all-powerful and unchanging God…who then uses them all to carry out His will.

He didn't put your dear friend, that you would trust with your life, in your family…He put you there. For His reasons and His alone (Eph. 1:11), God put you where He has you, foreordaining the psychological, physical, and spiritual make-up of your family.

Is it any wonder, oh Christian, that you are the type of son or daughter that you are, to the type of parents that you have? Did God not foresee and account for all the various intricacies of your marriage or lack there of; your employment or lack there of; or your school, hobbies, friends, and every other sphere in which His providence has placed you? To use my own life as an illustration; is it simply some random coincidence that a fatherless son with a brother and sister…is now a father to two sons and a daughter?

God made you intentionally, saved you intentionally, and placed you intentionally; to be the means that He uses to glorify Himself.

When Christians go about their day-to-day life, living out the contents of their redeemed hearts; helping the helpless, feeding the hungry, loving the enemy, preaching the Gospel to the lost, and on and on; it causes praise and honor and gratitude to explode upward from creation in glowing arcs of glory.

Do you want God to be glorified in your friendships and relationships?

Do you want your relative or friend to see and know God?

Then live like a Christian ought to live, everywhere God has placed you.

In every context, be the salt that preserves and the light that illuminates.

How?

By not simply believing, and not simply acting;

but acting because you believe. 

Do you believe that God has saved you from the fires of Hell through no effort of your own? If you do…then live and speak and act that way. Do not tell others to behave and act in a certain way if they want to go to Heaven; because you weren't saved based on your behavior. 

Do you believe that you were dead in your sins, unable to escape the hellfire you earned?

Do you believe that your sin is cosmic treason against the King of the Universe?

Then do not boast as if you saved yourself, or act like you had a headstart into eternity.

Do you believe that a marriage between one man and one woman exists to teach us about the relationship between Christ and the Church (Eph. 5:22-33)? If you do…then act, vote, and speak that way. In other words, it's not: “Homosexuality is a sin because the Bible says so” (which is true); it's: “Homosexuality is a sin because it distorts what God says about the relationship between Christ and the Church.”

Do you believe that abortion is the unjustified murder of someone who hasn’t committed any crimes? If you do…then act, vote, and speak that way. In other words, it's not: “Abortion is a sin because the Bible says so” (which, again, is true); it’s: “Abortion is a sin because it asserts that human life belongs to us and not God.” or “It asserts that Jesus Himself wasn't fully human in Mary’s womb, and is therefore a Christological heresy.”

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Now, a word of caution.

Living and speaking in such a way…is going to cost you. If your heart has been replaced by God at a certain point in your life, then the relationships you have spent that life building, will change. Some for the better, some for the worse. Friendships will dissolve over time; break apart in a burst of emotion; or grow so strong that your names will be listed side by side in the registers of Heaven. Family members will draw back from you; outright abandon you; or the red blood you share with them will take on tints of shining gold as you push each other closer and closer to the Throne.

And this cost does not stop at your relationships…it encompasses your entire life.

The types of hobbies you enjoy will grow, change, or deepen. Your work ethic, your wardrobe; your interests and loves; or the way you spend your money or your free time, will be a direct reflection of who you believe they actually belong to.

Everything about your life is affected by the type of heart that you have.

Is it a heart that loves God? Or one that hates Him? Do you have the type of heart, like David before you, that finds delight in the laws and commandments of God (Ps. 119:24, 47, 70, 77, 92, 143, & 174)? Do you love everything He does or doesn't do? Who He saves or who He doesn't save? Who He hardens and who He softens? That alone is hard to come to terms with, right? But to take it a step deeper…do you love the way in which He chooses to do so?

Do you love that everything He does is according to the counsel of His own will? (Eph. 1:11) Or would you rather have Him go about His work according to your will?

Furthermore, as you seek to answer this here and now if you haven't yet…and you find yourself questioning if you really do love God; 

“Am I really saved?”

“Is my past, or even my present…too dark, too evil?”

“Can God really forgive someone like me?”

“Do I really love God?”

I would ask if you want to love Him?

Do you, like Paul before you, cry out “...I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see inside of me another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells within me.” (Rom. 7:22&23 - paraphrased) Brothers and sisters, if you want to love God, or want to love Him more…it is evidence that you already do.

The “want” is the love, because a dead heart

doesn't want anything apart from sin.

To live like the salt of the earth and the light of the World, is to live, act, speak, behave, work, vote, think, interact with others, and love and hate, differently than everyone who isn't. It is to, like Abraham before us; lay that which we love more than anything else upon the altar atop Mount Moriah (Gen. 22), trusting that God will either return it to us (Gen. 22:5; Heb. 11:19) or provide for us in its absence (Ps. 34:10; Mt. 7:11). Be it your job, your friendships, your skills or giftings, your family, your art, your money, your home or body. Carry everything up the craggy paths of Moriah, ready to lay it all down.

This is what it means to live like light and salt. To have a life of singular dedication to God…and nothing else. Not your bills, not your children, not your spouse, or your stomach. Do not orient your life around your career, hobbies, bank account, or nation. No gifts, no power, no wisdom. Neither fame, family, fortune, or friends.

Every penny you have ever earned will be gone in a few generations; your hobbies will build the ash heap of history to staggering heights; and your bloodline will come to an end. If you knew how soon after your death you would be forgotten, you would not seek to please anyone but God.

Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also,

because His kingdom is forever.  

To be salt and light, is to keep Him and Him alone as the focus of everything about your life, knowing and trusting that everything outside of Him will land as close to your heart as is good for you…regardless of how far away it may be.(Rom. 8:28).

Now, another word of caution.

Not only will living this way cost us, it will set us apart from those who don’t. We will be seen as different and strange. They will look at us as odd, dumbfounded that we want to live a life so different from everyone else. Or, we will be seen as the squeaky wheel. The troublemaker. Those who refuse to get along, who intentionally live against the current. Isn't it strange that those who resisted the 2020 attempt at tyranny, were mostly Christians?

And…this difference between us and them…is a good thing. We are to be unique among the inhabitants of Earth. Living different lives, perpendicular to those beside us. Different loves, hates, and priorities.

Could the reason behind why pews across America have been shrinking; or why anyone can call themselves a Christian…be because the world sees nothing but superficial differences between us and themselves?

Is the only difference between you and the non-Christian, the fact that you set an alarm clock on a Sunday morning? Is that it? Or maybe it's your behavior, right? You don’t sleep around, you don't get drunk, you don't do drugs, but they do. You spend your money this way, they spend it that way (if in fact you do spend your money differently than people who hate God. If you don’t…why?) You vote this way, they vote that way; you watch these kinds of movies and listen to these kinds of songs, and they watch those kinds of movies, and listen to those kinds of songs. 

Are those our only daily differences from those bound for Hell?

Just separate but equal categories of interests? Really?

If the differences between those with a dead heart and those with a living heart, can be summed up as nothing but normal variations seen amongst people in general…then something is wrong.

We are to be set apart, and set apart for nothing but the glory of God. 

Jesus speaks of this truth in His “High Priestly Prayer” from John 17:14-19 → “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. [15] I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. [16] They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. [17] Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. [18] As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. [19] And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.”

To be in the world but not of it, describes those whom Jesus has sent out for the same reasons that The Father sent Him out. And…why did The Father send The Son? 

To bear witness to the truth (Jn 18:37)

To preach the Kingdom of God (Lk. 4:43)

To serve (Mt. 20:28)

To save the lost (Lk. 19:10)

To destroy the works of the devil (1 Jn. 3:8)

To reveal The Father (Jn. 14:9)

To do the will of His Father (Jn. 6:38)

To glorify His Father (Jn. 12:27; 17:1 & 4)

To be salt and light is to live your entire life for nothing but the glory of God. Everything you do, and the manner in which you do it, for no other reason than to bring Him honor and praise. Along with everything you don't do, and the reasons why you don't do it. 

I understand this might seem a bit extreme, right? Why are we to be set apart to such a profound level? Well…I'm glad you asked, because I'm not done yet. Not only must every action and word be for the glory of God, but every thought…and even the way those thoughts are formed must be as well. We need to not only act and speak differently, we need to think differently as well. 

“But…why? How? My actions and words were hard, but aren't my thoughts my own? Can’t we just, not get drunk and sleep around? Isn't that different enough?”

We need to be wholly different from the world around us because we “...are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that (we) may proclaim the praises of Him who called (us) out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.” (1st Pet. 2:9-11 - emphasis mine)

Is your light shining in such a way that when unbelievers see it,

they glorify the God who turned His enemy into His friend

by the redeeming death of His Son?

 “Do not enter the path of the wicked, And do not walk in the way of evil. [15] Avoid it, do not travel on it; Turn away from it and pass on. [16] For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; And their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall. [17] For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence. [18] But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.” Proverbs 4:14-18

Brothers and sisters, being wholly and totally different from the World you illuminate, sets you on a path filled with doors into the souls of those around you. Some God will open, and some He’ll pass by. Are you content with each? Do you know which will open or not?

Do you want to speak words of life to your unbelieving friend or relative? Do you want to love your enemies? Do you want to warn people in your life about the Hell their sins have earned them? And about the blood of Christ which can save them? Then live like the salt He says you are, as beams of light erupt from you and watch in wonder as they travel as far as He chooses to send them.

Rev. Jacob Marchitell

February 1st 2026