Verse from Matthew

““你们是地上的盐；如果盐失了味，怎能使它再咸呢？结果毫无用处，唯有丢在外面任人践踏。”

‭‭马太福音‬ ‭5:13‬ ‭

““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 underfoot.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5:13‬ ‭

In the ancient world, with no refrigeration, salt’s most common use was to preserve food and keep it from spoiling. When Jesus said His followers were “the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13), He was calling them to stand as obstacles to the inevitable corruption in society.

Salt in Jesus’ day was often impure—coming from salt marshes where many impurities corrupted the important mineral. When those impurities dominated the salt used in preservation, the salt failed to do its job and the meat would spoil. Jesus’ challenge to His listeners was to avoid the very impurities they were tasked with preventing in the world around them.

Christ’s description of His faithful followers in the Sermon on the Mount challenges even believers today to live counter–culturally, staving off corruption in the world and living a life of purity and faith.