You are Salt and Light — Part 1

From time to time, we go down to the pacific coast. There is a small, quaint town we like to go to just west of Monterey Bay called Pacific Grove. There’s a lighthouse there and, of course, lots of salt water. For years, the lighthouse was an important marker for those entering Monterey Bay. The lighthouse isn’t used anymore because of new technology, but for years, it was an important marker as an entry into Monterey Bay. When we go down to the water, we look for critters in the tide pools. I’m always surprised at how salty the water is. Salt and light are two things we’re reminded of in Pacific Grove.  

One of Jesus’ well-known sayings is: “You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world.”  Matthew 5:13a & 14a

Notice that we don’t become salt and light over time.  We don’t work to be the salt and light. Jesus says that we are already the salt and light.  In context, this means that we are God’s change agents on assignment.

This idea is very like a concept we often speak about in Freedom in Christ, that we are saints, holy ones (see 1 Corinthians 1:2 or Ephesians 1:1).  As believers, we are already saints; we don’t work to become saints. The righteousness of Christ has been given to us in exchange for our unrighteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). This happened the moment we embraced God’s gift of Christ’s sacrifice by faith.  

There are two other key verses that tie this concept together: Matthew 5:20 & 48. In Matthew 5:20, we are told that our righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and pharisees.  From our view, this looks like a low bar, but it was not so in Jesus’ time. The Scribes and Pharisees were the expert keepers and doers of the law.  In effect, Jesus is saying what Paul clarifies in Galatians—the Law will not make you righteous.  There has to some other way, and there is.

Matthew 5:48 is a stunning verse and can only be comprehended in light of later New Testament writings.  It says, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  Clearly, we cannot arrive at this in our own will, strength, or courage.  Yet it must be so. The only solution, it seems to me, is exactly what Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:21 (quoted above). As believers, we are given the righteousness of Christ in exchange for our unrighteousness, known as “imputed righteousness.”

I’ve found that this concept of imputed righteousness, that we are already completely holy and righteous, is very uncommon among other church attenders, especially seasoned people. I’ve shown it to them and explained it, but they refuse to accept it. On review, I think the problem is that folks think that since they keep sinning, they just must still be sinners. But as Paul points out in Romans 6, the situation is more complex.

Paul says we have died with Christ and have been raised with Christ.  What died was our old sin self / nature. What was raised was a new clean self. This is our new self, the child of God, the one in which the Holy Spirit resides.  But our habits of sin are still prevalent and, if we do not address them, will overtake us again and draw us into sinful patterns so deep that it’s hard to be sure we were set free in the first place. Paul is explicit about this. And we certainly see it in people who become believers but go astray. In a sense, that bondage is worse than the first because they have a tortured soul at war with how they live.

Friends, you are already salt and light! Don’t give up explaining “imputed righteousness” when you have the opportunity.  People need to know the truth, for this part of our identity is a key foundation upon which real transformation can happen. More to come next week!