In Jesus’ day salt was not used primarily as a seasoning to enhance the taste of food. It was used for this, but its main use was as a preservative against decay. Salt would be rubbed into meat, and this would allow the meat to remain palatable for a longer period of time. Salt’s primary purpose was to hold off corruption and preserve whatever was good. Salt that no longer accomplished this purpose was thrown out into the trash.

But there was another use of salt in Jesus’ day which, if anything, was even more important either than its role as a seasoning or a preservative. In Hebrew religious practice all offerings brought to the Lord were to be accompanied by a measure of salt (Lev. 1.13). This salt was referred to as “the salt of the covenant,” that is, the salt which represented the relationship the people of Israel had with their God.

Salt was thus a token and sign of the divine covenant, and a way of indicating agreement with and participation in God and His promises.

Salt with God's sacrifice

The Church is the salt of the earth not only because she entices the world’s taste for the Gospel, or because she serves to hold off the advance of corruption and decay in morality and culture. These are certainly vital aspects of what it means to be the salt of the earth.

But beyond these, the Church is the salt of the earth because she is the token of the covenant, given with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, in order to open the way for the sinful world to receive the promises and blessings of God. The Church is to the world today as the rainbow was to Noah and his descendants – a reminder and witness to the grace and power and promises of God.

God’s covenant offers hope, blessing, purpose, joy, and meaning to the world. Peter described the promises of God as “precious and very great” and said that by them we become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1.4). God is not content to leave the world floundering in sin and unbelief. He sent His Son to the world, so great is His love, so that whoever believes in Him might not perish, but have everlasting life (Jn. 3.16). And the Church is the covenantal presence of the crucified and risen Savior, to bring the blessings of God’s favor and pleasure to the sinful world.

How much saltier – and how much brighter would be our light – if we were actually working to be the Church at all the levels and in all the places the New Testament commends!

Here is a presence intended to savor and preserve every area of life, to enhance all that is wholesome and good, resist everything that is corrupt and destructive, and bring forgiveness and the newness of the risen Christ to bear on the task of making all things new.

The Church is the salt of the earth! What a high calling and rich privilege, that God would make effective the sacrifice of His Son by salting a people into the world to be the catalysts by which the world is transformed and filled with the knowledge of God and His glory.

A work for the whole community

We dare not take on such a purpose alone. This is the work of a whole community, a people filled with light, committed to witness, walking as true disciples of Jesus Christ, and working together to express the resurrection life of Christ at all levels of “Church” – a people who penetrate every nook and cranny of society and culture, bringing the savor of beauty, goodness, and truth in everything they say and do.

We need one another to be strengthened for this calling. We need to be the Church in all her expressions for this high and holy calling to work. The more we work together, the more consistent will be our presence, and the more effective will be our efforts.

We are the salt of the earth, and though our savor has been diminished somewhat in recent years, we may yet respond hopefully to the Savior as He calls us to “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another” (Mk. 9.50).

Next steps

How do your church leaders understand your church’s calling to be the salt of Christ in its community? Ask some of them. Then give them a copy of today’s ViewPoint column and ask them to read it. Ask for a prayer request to aid them in their ministries.

Additional Resources

Download this week's study, Why We Need the Church.

Sign up for ViewPoint Leaders Training and start your own ViewPoint discussion group.

The Church is the flash point for revival, but only if we prepare for it as we should. Order a copy of T. M.’s book, Preparing Your Church for Revival, from our online store.

And men, download our free brief paper, “Men of the Church: A Solemn Warning,” by clicking here.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.