The Watchman
December 19, 1905
Salt that has Lost Its Savor
Christ has presented in figures the plans which we are to study, and upon which we are to act. The fifth chapter of Matthew is full of precious instruction. Read this chapter, and write it upon the tablets of the soul. SW December 19, 1905, par. 1
The Saviour declares. “Ye are the light of the world .... Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven .... Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and trodden underfoot of men.” SW December 19, 1905, par. 2
All who would present themselves “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,” must receive the saving salt, the righteousness of our Saviour. Then they become “the salt of the earth,” restraining evil among men, as salt preserves from corruption. But if the salt has lost its savor; if there is only a profession of godliness, without the love of Christ, there is no power for good. The life can exert no saving influence upon the world. Your energy and efficiency in the upbuilding of my kingdom, Jesus says, depend upon your receiving of my Spirit. You must be partakers of my grace, in order to be a savor of life unto life. SW December 19, 1905, par. 3
If the character is not under the molding influence of the Holy Spirit, if we have not that faith which works by love and purifies the life from all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong, what does our profession avail? If the truth that is professed is not allowed to sanctify the temper, the disposition, the words and acts, if there is a constant denial of faith, God is greatly dishonored. Where there should be seen the sweetness of humility, combined with firmness and integrity, there is seen a hard spirit, that is not a savor of life unto life, but of death unto death. SW December 19, 1905, par. 4
God requires us to exercise toward our brethren the compassion that we desire them to exercise toward us. God expects those who claim to believe in him to bring the Christlikeness into all their service. The mind and heart are to be cleansed from all sin, all unlikeness to Christ. God has duties for every church-member to perform. His people are to exalt the power of his law above human judgment. By bringing themselves, body, soul, and spirit, into harmony with the law, they are to magnify it, and make it honorable. SW December 19, 1905, par. 5
God will open the way for his subjects to perform unselfish deeds in all their associations, in all their business transactions. By acts of kindness and love they are to show that they are representing the kingdom of heaven. By self-denial, by sacrificing the gain they might obtain, they will present the truth in its beauty. SW December 19, 1905, par. 6
But if their words and acts are unchristlike; if the spirit they cherish is not helpful; if they retain the old, unsavory traits of character; if they study how they may get the best of a bargain, to the disadvantage of some one else; if they care little whether they hurt and destroy a brother's feelings, they are as salt that has lost its savor. They are a hindrance to God's work. SW December 19, 1905, par. 7
How can we be as salt that retains its savor? How can we exert a saving influence?—By obeying, in every transaction of life, the plain commands of God; by being kind, benevolent, generous; by seeing the necessities of the cause of God and trying to relieve them; by doing the work that Christ did. SW December 19, 1905, par. 8
Read the fifty-first psalm. Let its lessons be practiced. Not a tithe of what we should be are we in word, in spirit, in purity, in Christlikeness. This is why we have not more power with God. We profess to believe the most sacred truth, which God declares will refine and sanctify those who believe, leading them to live lives in marked contrast to the lives of worldlings. But if our profession is merely nominal, we may be sure that our influence is not exerted on Christ's side. We are as salt without savor, fit only to be cast out as worthless. SW December 19, 1905, par. 9
Without the help that comes from God, even those who are looked upon as the most eminent believers are in danger of falling into the sins which Satan has prepared to dishonor God. Let all who claim to be believers remember that it is only when they have the joy of Christ's salvation in the heart that they are qualified to guide sinners to repentance and reformation. It is the genuine believer, the one who not only assents to the truth, but believes and practices the truth, who is not satisfied unless he has with him the presence of God, that is a power for good in the world. SW December 19, 1905, par. 10