1. THE VITALITY OF THE CHRIST LIFE ( #Matt 5:13-16 )
a. This world is hopelessly corrupt: it needs salt {The text Matt 5:13}
.
2. AS SHEEP GOING ASTRAY ( # 1Pet 2:25 )
1 Pet 2:25
For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (NIV)

3. AS NEWBORN BABES ( # 1Pet 2:2 )
1 Pet 2:2
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, (NIV)

4. AS OBEDIENT CHILDREN ( # 1Pet 1:14 )
1 Pet 1:14
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. (NIV)

5. AS STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS ( # 1Pet 2:11 )
1 Pet 2:11
Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. (NIV)

6. AS LIVING STONES ( # 1Pet 2:5 )
1 Pet 2:5
You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (NIV)

7. AS GOOD STEWARDS ( # 1Pet 3:10 )
1 Pet 3:10
For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. (NIV)

The different kinds of ways salt is used
217 halas hal'-as}
from 251; TDNT - 1:228,36; n n
AV - salt 8; 8
1) salt with which food is seasoned and sacrifices are sprinkled
2) those kinds of saline matter used to fertilize cultivable land
3) salt is a symbol of lasting covenant, because it protects food from pollution and preserves it unchanged. Accordingly, in the solemn ratification of compacts, the Orientals were, and are to this day, accustomed to partake of salt together with wisdom and grace exhibited in speech

Jesus urges us to have salt in ourselves
Mark 9:50
"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other."

What does it mean to have salt in ourselves?
It includes all the parts of a godly, righteous, and sober life. To walk with God, is to set God always before us, to act as always under his eye. It is constantly to care, in all things to please Him, and in nothing to offend Him. It is to be followers of him as dear children.

*We should not strive to find favor in the sight of man nor should we try to find eternal comfort in this world. The world will hate you because you do not belong to it, and will persecute you and even kill you for the sake of his name. The Lord pleads with us to have salt in ourselves, to be the flavor of his life and love to a dying world. We are the only preservative in this world, so let us not lose our taste. Let Christ be our chief desire and may we please him in every way. JA

*Let us look at the word GOOD here in this passage of scripture*
2570 kalos kal-os'}
of uncertain affinity; TDNT - 3:536,402; adj
AV - good 83, better 7, honest 5, meet 2, goodly 2, misc 3; 102
1) beautiful, handsome, excellent, eminent, choice, surpassing, precious, useful, suitable, commendable, admirable
1a) beautiful to look at, shapely, magnificent
1b) good, excellent in its nature and characteristics, and therefore well adapted to its ends
1b1) genuine, approved
1b2) precious
1b3) joined to names of men designated by their office, competent, able, such as one ought to be
1b4) praiseworthy, noble
1c) beautiful by reason of purity of heart and life, and hence praiseworthy
1c1) morally good, noble
1d) honourable, conferring honour
1e) affecting the mind agreeably, comforting and confirming
In other words the Christ like life is beautiful to look at, its excellent in nature, its approve by God, precious and profitable. JA

Let's look at the term [IF IT LOSES ITS SALTINESS OR TASTE]
3471 moraino mo-rah'-ee-no}
from 3474; TDNT - 4:832,620; v
AV - lose savour 2, become a fool 1, make foolish 1; 4
1) to be foolish, to act foolishly
2a) to make foolish
2a1) to prove a person or a thing foolish
2b) to make flat and tasteless
2b1) of salt that has lost its strength and flavor

THINGS THAT MAKE THE CHISTIAN TASTELESS AND FLAT
A life without prayer
A life without worship
A life without church
A life without fellowship
A life without witness
A life without Bible study

THE DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF SALT IN THE BIBLE

MINERALS OF THE BIBLE
Salt. This mineral is sodium chloride, a white crystalline substance used mainly for seasoning and as a preservative <Job 6:6>. Salt is not only one of the most important substances mentioned in the Bible, but it is a necessity of life.
· The Hebrew people were well aware of the importance of salt to health
Job 6:6
Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg? (NIV)

High concentrations of salt exist in the Dead Sea, a body of water that is nine times saltier than the ocean. The ancient cities of Sodom and Gommorah may have been located near the south end of the Dead Sea.
· Here Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt
Gen 19:26
But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. (NIV)

· An ancient method of extracting salt from sea water was to collect salt water in saltpits-- holes dug in the sand; the water evaporated, leaving the salt behind <Zeph. 2:9>. Saltpans were later used for this purpose.

Zeph 2:9
Therefore, as surely as I live," declares the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, "surely Moab will become like Sodom, the Ammonites like Gomorrah-- a place of weeds and salt pits, a wasteland forever. The remnant of my people will plunder them; the survivors of my nation will inherit their land." (NIV)

· Salt had a significant place in Hebrew worship. It was included in the grain offering
Lev. 2:13
Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings. (NIV)

· The burnt offering
Ezek 43:24
You are to offer them before the LORD, and the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the LORD. (NIV)

· And the incense
Exod 30:35
and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and sacred. (NIV)

· Part of the Temple offering included salt
Ezra 6:9
Whatever is needed-- young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem-- must be given them daily without fail, (NIV)

· It was also used to establish covenants
2 Chr 13:5
Don't you know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?

· Newborn babies were rubbed with salt in the belief that this promoted good health
Ezek 16:4
On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. (NIV)

· During times of war, the enemies' lands were sown with salt to render them barren
Judg 9:45
All that day Abimelech pressed his attack against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he destroyed the city and scattered salt over it. (NIV)

· Jesus described His disciples as the salt of the earth, urging them to imitate the
usefulness of salt
Matt 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 by men. (NIV)

Our conversation must be season with salt
Col 4:6
Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (NIV)

Our stream cannot produce two different kind of water
James 3:11-12
11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?
12 My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. (NIV)
We are called to preserve the world from corruption, to season its insipidity, to freshen and sweeten it.

The uniqueness of salt
· There are no two grains of salt the same
· Salt makes you thirst
· Salt can blind
· Salt causes pain on an open wound
· Our bodies need salt
· The tongue has a section where it tastes salt

*Our flavor of salt goes much beyond the borders of the prophets who was before us, simply because they were the salt of all the land of Canaan but we are the salt of all the earth. For we must go into all the world to be a witness of the love of God. This working of the Spirit in our lives is a divine intervention that allows us to influence others to make a commitment to Christ. We must do all that is possible to present with attractiveness the Lord Jesus Christ as the only hope to all mankind.

How should our lives reflect the life of Jesus Christ
1. It should be reflected in our character.
Please keep in mind that character is made in the anvil [sorrow, pain] and is a by-product of trials and tribulation. Everyone who claims to be a Christian must under go the fire in order to build character.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines character as:
(1) The combination of qualities or features that distinguishes one person, group, or thing from another. (2) A distinguishing feature or attribute, as of an individual, a group, or a category. (3) Public estimation of someone; reputation.

Thesaurus definition
(n.) An essential and distinctive element:
o savor o affection o feature o quality o trait o virtue o aspect o mannerism

· Ruth a noble women of character
The Bible speaks very loudly about a lot of Christians; one in particular is a woman by the name of Ruth. She was one of such a noble character that rang throughout the town.
Ruth 3:11
And now, my daughter, don't be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character. (NIV)

· The Bible speaks about a wife of noble character
Prov 31:10
A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. (NIV)
* You cannot put a price on nobility * JA

· One that is noble receive the truth
Acts 17:11
Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (NIV)
* Truth shows character for what it is * JA

Character comes from perseverance
Rom 5:1-5
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

The Greek word for CHARACTER in Roman 5:4 is dokime
1382 (dok-ee-may');
from the same as 1384; test (abstractly or concretely); by implication, trustiness:
KJV-- experience (-riment), proof, trial.

We should have salt in our speech life [conversation] The GK. communication
· God wants us to be powerful in speech
Acts 7:22
Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action. (NIV)

· In truthful speech
2 Cor 6:4-7
4 Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; 5 in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; 6 in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; 7 in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;

· God desires that we excel in speech
2 Cor 8:7
But just as you excel in everything-- in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us-- see that you also excel in this grace of giving. (NIV)

· We are to be the example of good speech
1 Tim 4:12
Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. (NIV)

· We are to teach with soundness of speech
Titus 2:7-8
7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. (NIV)

LAST BUT NOT LEAST
Let us be an example of love to all
1 Cor 13:4-8
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

God`s love preserved the world through his son
John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)
* Love is the greatest preservative in the ingredient of life because it binds all things together*