Question and Answer
What did Jesus mean by earth when He said, “You are the salt of the earth”?
In context, earth is not the physical Earth but a reference to the people of earth. This means that the scope of the church’s missional and beneficial influence embraces the entire human family and should not be restricted. In keeping with the Great Commission of our Lord in Matthew 28:19–20, Christians are to be a salty witness of God’s love to all people, willing to go anywhere God leads and to share with anyone He places in our path.
BY Dr. Winfred O. Neely
Dr. Winfred Neely is Vice President and Dean of Moody Theological Seminary and Graduate School. An ordained minister, Winfred has served churches across the city of Chicago, the near west suburbs, and Senegal, West Africa. He is the author of How to Overcome Worry (Moody Publishers) and a contributor to the Moody Bible Commentary and Moody Handbook of Preaching. Winfred and his wife Stephne have been married for forty years and have four adult children and nine grandchildren.