Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
John 12:36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”
Romans 2:19-20 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—
2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness
Ephesians 5:8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
Philippians 2:15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
1 Thessalonians 5:5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.
Luke 11:33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.
Mark 4:21 And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand?
Jesus never challenged us to become salt or light. He simply said that we are – and we are either fulfilling or failing that given responsibility. A key thought in both the pictures of salt and light is distinction. Salt is needed because the world is rotting and decaying, and if our Christianity is also rotting and decaying, it won’t be any good. Light is needed because the world is in darkness, and if our Christianity imitates the darkness, we have nothing to show the world. To be effective we must seek and display the Christian distinctive. We can never affect the world for Jesus by becoming like the world.
“Poor world, poor world, it is dark, and gropes in midnight, and it cannot get light except it receives it through us!…To be the light of the world surrounds life with the most stupendous responsibilities, and so invests it with the most solemn dignity. Hear this, ye humble men and women, ye who have made no figure in society, ye are the light of the world. If ye burn dimly, dim is the world’s light, and dense its darkness.” (Spurgeon)
“Christ knew that there would be strong temptation for the men that had it in them to be lights to hide their light. It would draw the world’s attention to them, and so expose them to the ill will of such as hate the light.” (Bruce)
“Christ never contemplated the production of secret Christians, – Christians whose virtues would never be displayed, – pilgrims who would travel to heaven by night, and never be seen by their fellow-pilgrims or anyone else.” (Spurgeon)
The figures of salt and light also remind us that the life marked by the Beatitudes is not to be lived in isolation. We often assume that those inner qualities can only be developed or displayed in isolation from the world, but Jesus wants us to live them out before the world. Are you a light to those around you? Does it shine bright? Does it give illumination to those around you so that they are able to see Jesus Christ and the reason for your faith, obedience, and reliance? The light of Jesus Christ is nuclear, never needs batteries, is always charged, and always gives off light. We somehow lose our charge. The light of Jesus Christ becomes dim through us. Why???? The busyness of life will try to consume us, worldly passions will try to convince us, and selfish desires will pull at us. It is when our guiding desire is to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all we say, think, and do that we will find things of this world and its lust and passions will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.