# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1910_S7
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

of the Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America. 1910. 7

In connection with this title one may think that, just as salt is white
and pure, though not by nature but through processing, so also
Christians, who are sinners by nature, are nevertheless washed clean by the blood of Christ
and, through the forgiveness of their sins, wholly cleansed and
sanctified. "But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit
of our God," 1 Cor. 6:11. Also by the sanctification of life
Christians strive, though in great weakness and imperfection,
to become, like salt, ever whiter and purer.

In connection with this title one may also think that, just as salt
was used in sacrifice (cf. Lev. 2:13; Mark 9:49), so
Christians, as the salt of the earth, are to present their bodies to God as a well-pleasing
sacrifice in reasonable service, Rom. 12:1;
14:7, 8.

Salt has above all the property of preserving.
Of itself salt is good for nothing; it exists only to preserve other
things. It keeps meat from decay and keeps
foods fresh during the heat of summer and on long journeys.

That God preserves the world also in a bodily way for the sake of his Christians
is shown by many examples. For the sake of only ten righteous, God was ready
to spare the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Gen.
18:32. For Paul's sake 276 souls were preserved in a violent
storm and kept from a watery grave, Acts 27.
Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and
his maidservants, Gen. 20:17. And even today the prayer of a righteous man
availeth much, if it is earnest, James 5:16. — Even unbelievers admit that through Christianity humanity is regenerated and
raised to a higher level of culture. (Cf. Kidd, Social
Evolution.) — Above all, however, Christians are to be spiritually
a salt, to preserve humanity spiritually, by
winning people for the Savior through their testimony against unbelief, through their testimony of Christ
and through their conduct, and making them
Christians.

Salt seasons. Without salt food is tasteless and
repulsive; with salt it becomes edible, pleasant to the taste, and wholesome to the
body.

The world is insipid and tasteless through sin. This shows itself
in all fields: in the field of art and literature, of
science, of education and learning. The sinner cannot rightly use any
earthly good; he misuses them all to his own curse
and ruin. Think of money. The insatiable greed for
money adulterates the milk for the little ones and the medicine for the sick.
Christians are a salt of the earth. They use their money to do good with it,
to give alms, so that a person together with all his work
is seasoned and ennobled, and his workshop becomes a temple of God. —