The Law is something we are quite familiar with in our country. Since 1789 Congress has enacted over 30,000 statutes. When those statutes go to the Administrative Regulators, the laws increase exponentially. Our legal code is housed in over 200 volumes containing an estimated 100-300 million words. There are over 1 million individual legal restrictions which use terms like “shall” or “must”. And we as good citizens obey the law.

The Jewish People Jesus addressed in His Sermon on the Mount were familiar with the legal creep of Administrative Regulators. They started with 613 laws in the Torah and by the time Jesus started preaching, those laws had expanded into code that became known as the Midrash. Through later refinement (200 AD and after) further developments, refinements, and expansions in the Mishna, Gemara, and the Talmud produced dozens of volumes of Jewish laws containing millions of words and legal instructions too numerous to comprehend.

It is in the middle of expansion process that Jesus does a little expanding of the Law on His own. After all, He wrote it in the first place, so He has every right to say what it means. This he does in the 2nd half of Matthew 5. He sets up his discourse by assuring the people that His intention is not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. He then warns them about mishandling the Law. Finally, He informs them that those people trying to tell them what the Law means, the scribes and Pharisees, are not the people to look to for guidance because following their ways just won’t cut it. Only by trusting in Jesus through faith can we receive the righteousness which is imputed to us by Him. His righteousness is sufficient. His righteousness is the final word on the subject.

The Law is something we are quite familiar with in our country. Since 1789 Congress has enacted over 30,000 statutes. When those statutes go to the Administrative Regulators, the laws increase exponentially. Our legal code is housed in over 200 volumes containing an estimated 100-300 million words. There are over 1 million individual legal restrictions which use terms like “shall” or “must”. And we as good citizens obey the law.

The Jewish People Jesus addressed in His Sermon on the Mount were familiar with the legal creep of Administrative Regulators. They started with 613 laws in the Torah and by the time Jesus started preaching, those laws had expanded into code that became known as the Midrash. Through later refinement (200 AD and after) further developments, refinements, and expansions in the Mishna, Gemara, and the Talmud produced dozens of volumes of Jewish laws containing millions of words and legal instructions too numerous to comprehend.

It is in the middle of expansion process that Jesus does a little expanding of the Law on His own. After all, He wrote it in the first place, so He has every right to say what it means. This he does in the 2nd half of Matthew 5. He sets up his discourse by assuring the people that His intention is not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. He then warns them about mishandling the Law. Finally, He informs them that those people trying to tell them what the Law means, the scribes and Pharisees, are not the people to look to for guidance because following their ways just won’t cut it. Only by trusting in Jesus through faith can we receive the righteousness which is imputed to us by Him. His righteousness is sufficient. His righteousness is the final word on the subject.

You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

In 1st Century Galilee, salt was used commonly as a preservative, a healing and cleansing agent, and as a seasoning. However, its spiritual and ceremonial use gives us the depth of meaning found in this simple mineral. Sacrifices were brought to the altar with salt – even the grain offerings. In passages such as Numbers 18:19 and 2 Chronicles 13:5 God’s unchanging, everlasting, permanent covenant was referred to as the “covenant of salt.” In ancient Middle Eastern cultures a covenant was sealed (ratified) with various means of sharing salt (i.e.- a meal or simple exchange) with the salt representing permanence, incorruptibility, and shared fellowship. As believers we are the “salt of the earth” and, hence, we are physical agents of healing, cleansing, purification, preservation of God’s goodness, seasoning – bringing out and highlighting the glorious flavors of God’s creation, and of reminding the world of God’s “chesed” – His Everlasting Love!

The prime focus of the Romans was glory. The prime focus of the Greeks was knowledge. The prime focus of the Jews was light. The world began with God saying, “let there be light” and light has been the central theme all along. A burning bush, a pillar of fire, and numerous descriptions of the LORD and His Word being light. (Psalm 27:1; Isaiah 60:19-20; Micah 7:8) Jesus refers to Himself as the Light of the world and there is no doubt that He is “the light that shines in the darkness” as seen in Isaiah 9:2. Paul summarizes the superiority of Jesus as the Light in 2 Corinthians 4:6: For it is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

And now that Light lives within us and consequently, as believers, we are bearers of the Light, torch bearers in the darkness, lighthouses of hope in the storms of life, glowing examples of what God can do and how God can love, and reminders to the world of God’s Everlasting Light, the Light of the World!

We are the salt of the earth and the light of the world because God, through the blood of Jesus, has made us so.

This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, September 6, 2026. It is part of a series in a Bible study curriculum called Connect 360, published by the GC2 Press of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The overall title of the current set of lessons, which covers Chapters 5-7 in the Book of Matthew, is Kingdom Power: The Sermon on the Mount. You can find print and digital versions of this series online at https://gc2press.org/kingdom-power-matthew-5-7-digital-study-guide/ . Handouts with class presentation content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com . Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .

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