SALTY TO THE END

Matt.5:13 – You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

One of the seldom mentioned characteristics in one whom Jesus describes as the salt of the earth is the one who perseveres to the end. During the Protestant reformation this was a doctrine commonly taught by all of the reformers; they called it the perseverance of the saints. In other words true believers don’t quit when thinks get tough, they finish the race the Lord has put before them, they walk with the Lord to the very end. This was the story of the early church, against impossible odds they persevered. How is that possible? They had tasted the other side by the grace of God and nothing could change them, they were still salt no matter what came. Here is a great quote from a teacher by the name of Matthew Henry from the early 1700’s.

“Perseverance is one of the great unromantic virtues. Most people can start well, and almost everyone can keep going intermittently. To everyone at some time or other, strength and inspiration come so that we rise above things as if we had wings; in the moment of the great effort, everyone can run and not be weary; but the greatest gift of all is to walk on steadily and not to faint.We need the memory of the end. The writer to the Hebrews quotes a passage from Habakkuk 2:3. The prophet tells his people that, if they hold fast to their loyalty, God will see them through their present situation. The victory comes only to those who hold on.
To the writer to the Hebrews, life was a journey that made its way to the presence of Christ. It was therefore never something that could be allowed to drift; it was its end which made the process of life all-important, and only those who endured to the end would be saved.”

The key to perseverance is the supernatural nature of our Christian faith. It is not just a belief in the eternal life promised to us, it is a taste of it for ourselves. It is tasting God’s goodness for ourselves that makes us the salt of the earth, it is that taste that keeps us no matter what this life throws our way. No matter what you face today or tomorrow, I am convinced that you will persevere, not because I believe in you but because I believe in the Jesus who lives in you.