The remainder of Matthew 5 is an exposition on various portions of the Old Testament Law. Each segment contains immense amounts of information that one could dig out through diligent study. Over the next few posts, I hope to bring an overview of the entire passage, stretching from verse 17 through verse 48.

Matthew follows up his discussion of salt and light with a look at the Law. He begins this section by explaining the purpose of Jesus — why he came — in light of the Law. In Matthew 5:17, Jesus states this purpose quite clearly: “I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”

To abolish or destroy means to break something completely. To the first century mind, this conveyed images of trampling something underfoot. By contrast, to fulfill the Law is to maintain a total sinless obedience to it. Jesus did this, making him the perfect sacrifice of atonement on our behalf. But we often get caught up in our tendency towards legalism. It bears repeating: Jesus did come to perpetuate the Law. He came to complete it, to fulfill it. He was the end of the Law.

This is the whole point behind Paul’s discussion of the Law in Galatians 3. The Law was a “schoolmaster,” and its primary purpose was to illuminate Christ. But not that faith has come, we no longer need the schoolmaster. In Galatians 3:24, Paul states, “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”

Matthew 5 began with the Beatitudes. It carries on next with the Similitudes. These are a couple of brief comparisons found in verses 13-16.

According to the dictionary, a similitude is a “likening or comparison in the form of a simile, parable, or allegory.” This is the next literary device that Jesus employs after giving the Beatitudes. These two comparisons are probably some of the most recognized passages in Scripture.

First of all, Jesus compares his followers and disciples to the salt of the earth, in Matthew 5:13. Salt is a substance that helps to prevent decay. Pure salt does not lose its savor. It helps to preserve. However, salt that has been diluted with other elements, or has been in contact with the ground, loses its ability to preserve.

This is likely what Jesus had in mind when he gave this statement. As believers, if we become so diluted by the world, we no longer have the ability to make a positive contribution. To lose our “saltiness” is to lose our opportunities to be used by God as agents of renewal and restoration.

Once salt has lost its particular qualities that allow it to be used as a flavoring agent and as a preserving agent, it is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and discarded. So too with believers. A believer who isn’t “salty” doesn’t fulfill the purposes designed and assigned by God.