Christians are Salt & Light

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

SUMMARY: The Church is the salt of earth. There are important characteristics about salt, that it stings and disinfects. More importantly, the Lord warns us that the salt can lose its saltiness. Salt preserves meat as Christians preserves the world. We are commanded therefore to be salted, since we will be convicted by our savor. Our good works make us the light of the world. The light of the world is the church. We give light by proclaiming the Lord's teachings. Since God made man a free agent, possessing his own power, to obey the commands of God voluntarily, we ought to let our light shine by doing good. Let your “works” shine. Ignatius: Be salted in Him, lest any one among you should be corrupted, since by your savor you shall be convicted.

IRENAEUS: Lot's wife remained in the territory of Sodom, no longer corruptible flesh, but a pillar of salt which endures forever; and by those natural processes which apply to the human race, indicating that the Church also, which is the salt of the earth, has been left behind within the confines of the earth, and subject to human sufferings; and while entire members are often taken away from it, the pillar of salt still endures, thus typifying the foundation of the faith which makes strong, and sends forward, children to their Father.

TATIAN: To you do I say, you which hear, You are the salt of the earth: if then the salt become tasteless, how shall it be salted? For any purpose it is of no use, but is thrown outside, and men tread upon it. You are the light of the world. It is impossible that a city built on a mountain should be hid. Neither do they light a lamp and place it under a basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. So shall your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. There is nothing secret that shall not be revealed, or hidden that shall not be known. Whoever has ears that hear, let him hear.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: We are the salt of the earth.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: “There are,” he says, “many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers.” Therefore it was not said to all, “You are the salt of the earth.” For there are some even of the hearers of the word who are like the fishes of the sea, which, reared from their birth in saltwater, yet need salt to dress them for food.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: All the faithful, then, are good and godlike, and worthy of the name by which they are encircled as with a diadem. There are, besides, some, the elect of the elect, and so much more or less distinguished by drawing themselves, like ships to the strand, out of the surge of the world and bringing themselves to safety; not wishing to seem holy, and ashamed if one call them so; hiding in the depth of their mind the ineffable mysteries, and disdaining to let their nobleness be seen in the world; whom the Word calls “the light of the world, and the salt of the earth.”

ORIGEN: If all the Romans . . . embrace the Christian faith, they will, when they pray, overcome their enemies; or rather, they will not war at all, being guarded by that divine power which promised to save five entire cities for the sake of fifty just persons. For men of God are assuredly the salt of the earth: they preserve the order of the world; and society is held together as long as the salt is uncorrupted: for “if the salt has lost its savor, it is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill; but it shall be cast out, and trodden under foot of men. He that has ears, let him hear” the meaning of these words. When God gives to the tempter permission to persecute us, then we suffer persecution; and when God wishes us to be free from suffering, even in the midst of a world that hates us, we enjoy a wonderful peace, trusting in the protection of Him who said, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” And truly He has overcome the world. Therefore the world prevails only so long as it is the pleasure of Him who received from the Father power to overcome the world; and from His victory we take courage. Should He even wish us again to contend and struggle for our religion, let the enemy come against us, and we will say to them, “I can do all things, through Christ Jesus our Lord, which strengthens me.” For of “two sparrows which are sold for a farthing,” as the Scripture says, “not one of them falls on the ground without our Father in heaven.” And so completely does the Divine Providence embrace all things, that not even the hairs of our head fail to be numbered by Him.

ORIGEN: Salt is useful for so many purposes in human life! What need is there to speak about this? Now is the proper time to say why Jesus’ disciples are compared with salt. Salt preserves meats from decaying into stench and worms. It makes them edible for a longer period. They would not last through time and be found useful without salt. So also Christ’s disciples, standing in the way of the stench that comes from the sins of idolatry and fornication, support and hold together this whole earthly realm.

ORIGEN: “You,” it is said, “are the salt of the earth,” the rest of mankind being conceived as the earth, and believers are their salt; it is because they believe that the earth is preserved. For the end will come if the salt loses its savor, and ceases to salt and preserve the earth, since it is clear that if iniquity is multiplied and love waxes cold upon the earth, as the Savior Himself uttered an expression of doubt as to those who would witness His coming, saying, “When the Son of man comes, shall He find faith upon the earth?” Then the end of the age will come. Supposing, then, the Church to be called the world, since the Savior’s light shines on it—we have to ask in connection with the text, “Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world,” whether the world here is to be taken intellectually of the Church, and the taking away of sin is limited to the Church. In that case what are we to make of the saying of the same disciple with regard to the Savior, as the propitiation for sin? “If any man sin,” we read, “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world?” Paul’s dictum appears to me to be to the same effect, when he says, “Who is the Savior of all men, especially of the faithful.”

CYPRIAN: And it may be thus understood, beloved brothers and sisters, that since the Lord commands and admonishes us even to love our enemies, and to pray even for those who persecute us, we should ask, moreover, for those who are still earth, and have not yet begun to be heavenly, that even in respect of these God’s will should be done, which Christ accomplished in preserving and renewing humanity. For since the disciples are not now called by Him earth, but the salt of the earth, and the apostle designates the first man as being from the dust of the earth, but the second from heaven, we reasonably, who ought to be like God our Father, who makes His sun to rise upon the good and bad, and sends rain upon the just and the unjust, so pray and ask by the admonition of Christ as to make our prayer for the salvation of all men; that as in heaven—that is, in us by our faith—the will of God has been done, so that we might be of heaven; so also in earth—that is, in those who do not believe—God’s will may be done, that they who as yet are by their first birth of earth, may, being born of water and of the Spirit, begin to be of heaven.

METHODIUS: Now the whole spiritual meditation of the Scriptures is given to us as salt which stings in order to benefit, and which disinfects, without which it is impossible for a soul, by means of reason, to be brought to the Almighty; for “you are the salt of the earth,” said the Lord to the apostles. The Didache: Watch for your life’s sake. Do not let your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ready, for you do not know the hour in which our Lord comes. But often you shall come together, seeking the things which are befitting to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you, if you are not made perfect in the last time.

IRENAEUS: He is therefore one and the same God, who called Abraham and gave him the promise. But He is the Creator, who also through Christ prepares lights in the world, namely those who believe from among the Gentiles. And He says, “You are the light of the world;” that is, as the stars of heaven. Him, therefore, I have rightly shown to be known by no man, unless by the Son, and to whomever the Son shall reveal Him. But the Son reveals the Father to all to whom He wills that He should be known; and neither without the goodwill of the Father nor without the agency of the Son, can any man know God. Therefore the Lord said to His disciples, “I am the way, the truth, and the life and no man comes to the Father but by Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also: and from this time on you have both known Him, and have seen Him.” From these words it is evident, that He is known by the Son, that is, by the Word.

ORIGEN: Our earnest desire is both to see for ourselves, and to be leaders of the blind, to bring them to the Word of God, that He may take away from their minds the blindness of ignorance. And if our actions are worthy of Him who taught His disciples, “You are the light of the world,” and of the Word, who says, “The light shines in darkness,” then we shall be light to those who are in darkness; we shall give wisdom to those who are without it, and we shall instruct the ignorant.

ORIGEN: The reader will do well to consider what was said above and illustrated from various quarters on the question what is meant in Scripture by the word “world;” and I think it proper to repeat this. I am aware that a certain scholar understands by the world the Church alone, since the Church is the adornment of the world, and is said to be the light of the world. “You,” he says, “are the light of the world.” Now, the adornment of the world is the Church, Christ being her adornment, who is the first light of the world. We must consider if Christ is said to be the light of the same world as His disciples. Should any one consider that the Church is called the light of the world, meaning thereby of the rest of the race of men, including unbelievers, this may be true if the assertion is taken prophetically and theologically; but if it is to be taken of the present, we remind him that the light of a thing illuminates that thing, and would ask him to show how the remainder of the race is illuminated by the Church’s presence in the world. If those who hold the view in question cannot show this, then let them consider if our interpretation is not a sound one, that the light is the Church, and the world those others who call on the Name.

TERTULLIAN: Openly did the Lord speak, without any indication of a hidden mystery. He had Himself commanded that, “whatsoever they had heard in darkness” and in secret, they should “declare in the light and on the house-tops.” He had Himself foreshown, by means of a parable, that they should not keep back in secret, fruitless of interest, a single pound, that is, one word of His. He used Himself to tell them that a candle was not usually “pushed away under a bushel, but placed on a candlestick,” in order to “give light to all who are in the house.” Irenaeus: This expression of our Lord, “How often would I have gathered your children together, and you were not willing,” set forth the ancient law of human liberty, because God made man a free agent from the beginning, possessing his own power, even as he does his own soul, to obey the commands of God voluntarily, and not by compulsion of God. For there is no coercion with God, but a good will towards us is present with Him continually. And therefore He gives good counsel to all. And in man, as well as in angels, He has placed the power of choice, for angels are rational beings, so that those who had yielded obedience might justly possess what is good, given indeed by God, but preserved by themselves. On the other hand, they who have not obeyed shall, with justice, not be found in possession of the good, and shall receive deserved punishment: for God did kindly bestow on them what was good; but they themselves did not diligently keep it, nor deem it something precious, but poured contempt upon His super-eminent goodness. Rejecting therefore the good, and as it were spewing it out, they shall all deservedly incur the just judgment of God, which also the Apostle Paul testifies in his Epistle to the Romans, where he says, “But do you despise the riches of His goodness, and patience, and long-suffering, being ignorant that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But according to your hardness and impenitent heart, you are treasuring up for yourself wrath against the day of wrath, and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” “But glory and honor,” he says, “to every one that does good.” God therefore has given that which is good, as the apostle tells us in this Epistle, and they who work it shall receive glory and honor, because they have done that which is good when they had it in their power not to do it; but those who do not shall receive the just judgment of God, because they did not work good when they had it in their power to do so. But if some had been made by nature bad, and others good, these latter would not be deserving of praise for being good, for such were they created; nor would the former be reprehensible, for thus they were made originally. But since all men are of the same nature, able both to hold fast and to do what is good; and, on the other hand, having also the power to cast it from them and not to do it,—some do justly receive praise even among men who are under the control of good laws, and much more from God, and obtain deserved testimony of their choice of good in general, and of persevering therein; but the others are blamed, and receive a just condemnation, because of their rejection of what is fair and good. And therefore the prophets used to exhort men to what was good, to act justly and to work righteousness, as I have so largely demonstrated, because it is in our power to do so, and because by excessive negligence we might become forgetful, and thus stand in need of that good counsel which the good God has given us to know by means of the prophets. For this reason the Lord also said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good deeds, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” And, “Take heed to yourselves, lest perhaps your hearts be overcharged with excess, and drunkenness, and worldly cares.” And, “Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning, and be like men that wait for their Lord, when He returns from the wedding, that when He comes and knocks, they may open to Him. Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when He comes, shall find so doing.” And again, “The servant who knows his Lord’s will, and does not do it, shall be beaten with many stripes.” And, “Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not do the things which I say?” And again, “But if the servant say in his heart, 'The Lord delays,' and begin to beat his fellow-servants, and to eat, and drink, and to be drunken, his Lord will come in a day on which he does not expect Him, and shall cut him in two, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites.” All such passages demonstrate the independent will of man, and at the same time the counsel which God conveys to him, by which He exhorts us to submit ourselves to Him, and seeks to turn us away from the sin of unbelief against Him, without, however, in any way coercing us.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: But we ought to have works that cry aloud, as becoming “those who walk in the day.” “Let your works shine,” and behold a man and his works before his face. “For behold God and His works.” For the Christian must, as far as is possible, imitate God.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: Do you not realize, my worthy friends, I speak as if you were present with me, that by conflict with these excellent commandments you fight against your own salvation? You overturn yourselves, not these beneficial instructions. The Lord said, “Let your good works shine out.” But you make your licentiousness manifest to all. Besides, if your aim is to destroy the lawgiver's commands, why is it the commands, “You shall not commit adultery,” and, “You shall not corrupt boys,” and all the commandments enjoining purity, which through your lack of self-restraint you seek to destroy?

TERTULLIAN: But “let your works shine,” he says.

TERTULLIAN: Perhaps some woman will say: “To me it is not necessary to be approved by men; for I do not require the testimony of men: God is the inspector of the heart.” We all know that; provided, however, we remember what the same God has said through the apostle: “Let your integrity appear before men.” For what purpose, except that malice may have no access at all to you, or that you may be an example and testimony to the evil? Else, what is that: “Let your works shine?” Why does the Lord call us the light of the world; why has He compared us to a city built upon a mountain; if we do not shine in the midst of darkness, and stand eminent amid them who are sunk down? If you hide your lamp beneath a bushel, you must necessarily be left quite in darkness, and be run against by many. The things which make us luminaries of the world are these—our good works.

ORIGEN: “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.” It was not therefore in harmony to reason that those who had been taught sublimely to ascend above all created things, and to hope for the enjoyment of the most glorious rewards with God on account of their virtuous lives, and who had heard the words, “You are the light of the world,” and, “Let your light so shine before men, that they, seeing your good works, may glorify your Father who is in heaven,” and who possessed through practice this brilliant and unfading wisdom, or who had secured even the “very reflection of everlasting light,” should be so impressed with the mere visible light of sun, and moon, and stars, that, on account of that sensible light of theirs, they should deem themselves . . . to be somehow inferior to them, and to bow down to them; seeing they ought to be worshipped, if they are to receive worship at all, not for the sake of the sensible light which is admired by the multitude, but because of the rational and true light, if indeed the stars in heaven are rational and virtuous beings, and have been illuminated with the light of knowledge by that wisdom which is the “reflection of everlasting light.” For that sensible light of theirs is the work of the Creator of all things, while that rational light is derived perhaps from the principle of free will within them.

ORIGEN: If we fail to walk as the sons of light and sons of God, if we do not behave as God's people, “so that men who see our good works may glorify our Father in heaven,” it has to be feared lest we fall upon that word of the Apostle when he says, “For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you.”

ORIGEN: Let everyone in the Church consider these same things in relation to himself so that in whatever position he stands, whether in the clergy or among the people, he should make the ministry of his faith illustrious and do such deeds “that men, by seeing his good works, will glorify the Father who is in heaven.”

ORIGEN: “Let your light shine before men and when they see your good works may they glorify your Father in heaven.” Through this surely he is not exhorting the disciples to seek glory from men; but that, as they live honestly and uprightly, they should bestow edification to those who see, and God, who has disclosed to men the way of amendment and salvation, may be glorified.

CYPRIAN: “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Also Paul to the Philippians: “Shine as lights in the world.”

METHODIUS: “The kingdom of heaven is likened to ten virgins, which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom.” . . . By profession they had equally proposed the same end, and therefore they are called ten, since, as I have said, they chose the same profession; but they did not, for all that, go forth in the same way to meet the bridegroom. For some provided abundant future nourishment for their lamps which were fed with oil, but others were careless, thinking only of the present. . . . For whether, on the one hand, we do right, or, on the other, do wrong through these senses, our habits of good and evil are confirmed. . . . Now the oil represents wisdom and righteousness; for while the soul rains down unsparingly, and pours forth these things upon the body, the light of virtue is kindled unquenchably, making its good actions to shine before men, so that our Father which is in heaven may be glorified.