BE A PURIFYING INFLUENCE IN A DECAYING WORLD

Proclamation:

"Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.  Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."  Colossians 4:5-6 (NIV)

Explanation:

In this passage of his letter to the believers in The Church at Colosse, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, the Apostle Paul told them to be careful in the way in which they act towards and speak to outsiders.  He told them that they should make every effort to interact with others in a Christ-like manner, displaying the grace of Christ, so that their behavior and their words were helpful and reflected positively on Christians.

Application:

As believers, we should speak with grace.  Our words should be spiritual and wholesome (Godly), fitting and sensitive (appropriate), purposeful and complimentary (helpful), kind and gentle (considerate), truthful and thoughtful (filtered by our mind before being spoken).  Our words should also be seasoned with salt.  Salt adds flavor to food, but it also prevents corruption.  It was used to prevent the bacterial contamination of meat before refrigeration in days of old.  Salt has a purifying influence by preventing decay.  By their being like salt they would have a purifying influence in a decaying world.  Jesus said that His disciples are the salt of the earth. (Matthew 5:13)  As believers, we should also know how to, and be ready to, answer people when they question us.  To do this we must read and study The Word of God. (2 Timothy 2:15)  Then, after we hear and read The Word of God, we must be doers of The Word. (James 1:22)  We must live in such a way that our Christian beliefs and our behavior are consistent.  Let us pray that God will use us to add a Christ-like flavor to this sin-sick world, and that He will use us to be a purifying influence in this decaying world.

BE LIKE THE SALT OF THE EARTH

BE LIKE THE SALT OF THE EARTH

Proclamation:

"You are the salt of the earth.  But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men."  Matthew 5:13 (NIV)

Explanation:
These are the words of Jesus, The Christ, which He spoke to His disciples, and to the crowd that surrounded them, in His Sermon on The Mount, as recorded by the Apostle Matthew.  Jesus told His disciples that they were "the salt of the earth."  Salt has a unique flavor.  It can change the taste of food.  Salt is also a preservative.  Because of its chemical properties, it has a purifying and a preserving influence.  Salt has been used to preserve meat.  Jesus told them that if they lose their "saltiness", then they were no longer good for anything.

Application:
As students of Christ, and of His Word, believers today are to be like salt.  We bring a unique "Christ-like" "flavor" to the world.  Just as salt prevents most germs from growing or surviving on meat, we should inhibit the spreading of sin, evil, and wrong-doing by our presence, principals.  Our presence, and our words and actions, can cause others to change their behavior.  People won’t say or do certain bad things around us.  We can encourage good works in the people that we come into contact with.  Our words should be "seasoned with salt" so that we speak appropriately to people, and answer their questions correctly. (Colossians 4:6)  By speaking with “salt” in our words, we add a Christ-like flavor to the world.  If we lose that ability to add a Christ-like presence in the world, then we would be good for nothing.  So, let us be like salt, and be a Christ-like purifying influence in a sin sick world.