Worth Your Salt by Apostle Emmanuel Iren: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

What Did Salt Mean in the Ancient World?

Matthew 5:13: "You are the salt of the earth." To understand this, you must read it through the lens of the time. Salt in the ancient world was strategic wealth — currency, preservation agent, and political power. Trade routes were built around salt. It was taxed by governments. The word salary derives from the Latin salarium, connected to salt payment.

In modern terms: "You are the crude oil of the earth." That is the weight of what Jesus is saying.

Intrinsic Value — Not Earned, Not Inherited

Jesus was not speaking to wealthy Romans. He looked at poor Jewish citizens — believers — and said, "You are." He is declaring intrinsic value: value that has nothing to do with how much money you have, how famous you are, or how much political influence you carry.

As long as you are in Christ, you have something to offer the world. Every unbeliever, no matter how rich, has something they need from you. Heaven is counting on you.

Preservation — The Church's Unseen Role

Salt preserves meat from corruption. The church's presence in a nation prevents moral collapse.

Genesis 19:22 — the angel said to Lot: "Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there." The righteous were the reason judgment was held back. Luke 17:29: "But on the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from heaven."

The moment Noah and his family entered the ark — that same day, the flood began. The removal of the righteous triggered judgment. At the rapture of the church, the restrainer will be removed and the world will know what it lost.

Identity Before Activity

Jesus did not say you will be, you should be, you ought to be. He said you are. This is ontological — it speaks to nature before action. Before you act like salt, you are salt. Embrace the identity first.

This is also why you must not hide your faith. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. If you have been in an office for three years and nobody is challenged, curious, or even mildly uncomfortable about God because of your presence — salt has lost its savour.

Salvation by Faith — Fruit by Transformed Nature

Good behaviour is the result of salvation, not the prerequisite. It is true that it is by grace you are saved through faith, not of yourselves — lest any man should boast. But it is also true that you ought to be His workmanship, created in Christ to do good works.

The degree of visible change differs because people begin from different starting points. Someone who grew up in a stable home and someone who was exploited and trafficked as a child — both saved, both improving — but at very different baselines. The consistent truth: anyone genuinely in Christ will behave better than they would have without Him.

Don't make it only an identity matter. It must show in your character that you are saved.