Matthew 5:13 “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.”
This week Michael writes: Many American Christians are vulnerable to the worldly philosophies of secular humanism, materialism, and hedonism – big works meaning a Godless existence. Gallup, Inc. in a recent analysis “The Search for Faith in America” said that never before has the gospel of Christ made such inroads, yet made such little impact on the culture and the ways people live.
Jesus said, people will forsake true righteousness and instead choose the pleasures of the world over the calling of God. Their lust for material things and pleasures would prevent them from becoming disciplined followers of Jesus Christ. Weak faith would cause Christians to be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ and this would lead to God withhold His hand and prevent Him from continuing to bless their land. The sinful lifestyle of nominal Christians would discourage many from seeking the true light of Christ. The late Francis Schaeffer cited the crumbling moral foundations of the media, the government and education as major contributors. He said Americans would prefer to seek material things and so-called happiness instead of the things of God. In short, it will get tougher and tougher to be a Christian At this pace. This is an excerpt from the book “Idol Signs” coauthored by George Barna and McKay in 1985.
The ways of the world are upside down from the ways of the beatitudes. The values of the God-rejecting world are paradoxical to the values of our Heavenly Father. The world emphasizes self-confidence, self-preservation, self-actualization and self-aggrandizement ... with the emphasis on self. These selfish priorities appeal to pride and self-sufficiency. They are the tools the devil uses to turn people’s hearts away from seeking God and His righteousness through Jesus’ sacrifice for sin on our behalf. However, the beatitudes emphasize humility in mourning over sin and poverty of the Holy Spirit. These blessed attitudes prioritize meekness to receive God’s instruction in righteousness... to be blessed through the filling of the spirit of Christ in us for Jesus said, I am the bread of life and the fountain of living waters.
Those who embrace Jesus’ beatitudes are his peacemakers who deliver a peace treaty from the kingdom of heaven to reconcile with our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ those whom God has called. After Jesus taught the beatitudes he said, ye are the salt of the earth. Salt is a preservative that keeps food fresh by preventing decay and corruption. Salt represents truth. Salt preserves from degradation, decomposition and decay. The truth of word of God makes us free from the declining existence of the world. Jesus said, If you continue in my Word you shall be my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Like salt, the truth of the Word of God in the Holy Scriptures of the Bible is the antiseptic and disinfectant to free Christ followers from the world’s corruption.
Recently there has been an emphasis on mental illness of the depravity that has proliferated as our culture and society has turned its back on the truth of the Word of God. The battle field is in the mind. As the world has forsaken and forgotten true liberty in Christ, the nations are and women increasingly succumbing to the consequences of sin that holds men captive. Without the full armor of God, there is no soundness of mind ... for God has not given us (who are born-again of God’s Spirt) a spirit of fear, but of power, or love, and of a sound mind.
The secular pagan philosophies of this world lead to hopelessness and meaninglessness, without God and without hope in a world of darkness. Jesus Christ came to give sight to those born spiritually blind. It used to be that there were standards for truth and a moral compass. There was no question regarding “sexual or gender identity.” Until recently the godly prevailing standard was that a person was either male or female. Today however, many in our culture embrace the godless secular teaching that insists that gender is “fluid” and can change at the whim of the individual or doesn’t exist al all … it’s about how you “feel”. There is a proliferation of confusion regarding sexual identity and this confusion not only divides, but also pits those who believe the truth of the Word of God from the so-called atheistic politically correct who insist that truth is relative to the individual’s preference. Jesus Christ is the Word of God made flesh. He is the standard for truth and of a life worth living. He said, I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father except by me.
Without the truth of the Word of God and Jesus Christ - the Word of God made manifest, the world will sink into degradation, decay, depravity and self-destruction. Any system of order will degrade, disintegrate, and fall apart without the infusion of power directed by God’s will and purpose. He is the one who directs, orchestrates, manages, and sustains all things according to the purpose of His sovereign will. The Creator sets the rules for His creation. When we who believe in the truth of His Word delight in his Word and align our hearts with His heart, then it is God that works in us and through us to will and to do of His good pleasure.
Let's continue Michael's message on being the "salt of the earth" in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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