Light and Salt | AdventAI

Publishing Committee · Rochester, N. Y. · May 30, 1854

Light and Salt.

MATT. v, 13.—"Ye are the salt of the earth."

Christians are light and salt. Thus said Jesus Christ:—Ye are the salt of the earth. Ye are the light of the world. But salt must have saltness; and a candle to give light must burn. If the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick. Matt. v, 13-16.

We must have the grace of God in our hearts—must have salt in ourselves. Mark ix, 50. The candle must be lighted by divine grace, or it can give no light. The more salt the greater the savor; the more heat, the greater the light.

We are to keep our hearts with diligence. Prov. iv, 23. And there are two reasons why we should cultivate the christian graces in our own souls

In the first place, it is only thus that we can be prepared to do good to others. Eminent holiness is essential to great usefulness. We cannot season others, if we have no salt in ourselves; we cannot give light to others, if we have not the flame of grace burning with us. Let your light shine says the Savior; but that it may shine, it must burn. The more it burns, the more it will shine.

But, in the next place, independently of the importance of this work—this inward growth—in its relation to others, it is the duty of every Christian to make progress in the divine life. We must grow in grace.—2 Pet. iii, 18. We must run with patience the race that is set before us. Heb. xii, 1, 2. We must fight in the Christian warfare. Eph. vi, 10—20. We must press toward the mark. Phil. 3, 12—14. Our own vineyards must be cultivated. Cant. i, 6. We must not be conformed to this world, but be

transformed by the renewing of our minds. Rom. xii, 1, 2. Our aim should be to die unto sin, to live unto righteousness, and to become daily more and more like Christ.

Christians are not, and cannot be, too active; but would not their activity be more efficient for good, if they were more diligent in cultivating piety in their own hearts? And would not they thus become more prayerfully, more intelligently, and more benevolently active? Would not they thus better illustrate and justify their title, LIGHT AND SALT?—Home and Foreign Record.