February 1, 2023

In Matthew 5:13-16, the pattern established by the Beatitudes “blessed are…” gives way to a direct statement: “you are the salt of the earth…you are the light of the world.” The application is fairly simple here - when we live, according to God’s grace, as citizens of his Kingdom, our presence in the world around us has a “salting” and illuminating effect. Not only are we graciously privileged by our undeserved entrance into the Kingdom - we are also likewise privileged to serve as missionaries of that kingdom wherever we go. Like salt, our “blessedness” in Christ conveys along with it a flavoring, preserving, convicting, and cleansing effect - similarly, the light of Christ in us conveys an illumination about how God graciously works through our transformation; revealing the glorious hope of the Gospel in our bones and through our relationships. 

When we receive extravagant gifts we occasionally find it embarrassing and try to diminish the generosity because it makes us uncomfortable - other times we presume upon it, thinking that the kindness is a sort of invitation to license and never even bother reaching for the bill. The Gospel of Matthew helps us by cutting off our first tendency in verse 16. The gift of grace is ours in Christ so that, through our lives, people might taste and see the goodness of God our Father. The second is warned about in verses 17-20; we have not been saved from righteousness…but for righteousness. The inner mess of sin and its outward chaos is no longer a necessary feature of life for the Christian, but because we are saved by grace in Christ we are also being transformed by that same grace into his likeness. Over the next several weeks we will explore the ways in which this transformation often occurs and corporately confess our struggles along the way.