J.C. Ryle's Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of Matthew 5:13-20

In this brief extract from the Sermon on the Mount we learn of the character which true Christians should have, and keep, in the world. The familiar references to being like 'salt' and 'light' are explained. Ryle also refers to the Lord Jesus Christ's teaching that He did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil it. In doing so he highlights the vital importance of the relation between Christ's teaching and that of the Old Testament. The Scripture tells us in Isaiah, that Christ '...magnified the law.' Therefore, we are to understand that we are not to despise the Old Testament. Ryle expains that the 'law of the Ten Commandments' continues, and are 'God's eternal measures of right and wrong.' All these things, Ryle says, tell us, that, 'The Christian who is content with a low standard of personal holiness has got much to learn.'