Tim Keller | April 22, 2012
The Beatitudes make up the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, and it defines what it means to be a Christian. A Christian is someone who has a radically new relationship with God through belief in the gospel. The Beatitudes is essentially a list of the characteristics of someone with this new relationship with God.
Today’s passage shifts to focus on the Christian’s relationship to the world. In other words, if you have a relationship with God (described in vv. 1–10), then that will mean you will have this relationship to the world (vv. 11-16). Jesus says that if you are living a Christian life, then in the world you will be salt (v. 13), you will be light (vv. 14–16), and you will be hurt. Let’s tease these out of the passage in more detail.
This Month's Featured Book
In his book, Walking with God through Pain and Suffering, Tim Keller looks at the problem of pain and suffering through a biblical lens as he works through the challenge of one of life’s most difficult questions: Why does God allow so much pain and suffering?