Commentary - Colossians 4:5-6

Bird's-eye view

In these two verses, the Apostle Paul concludes his practical instructions to the Colossian church with a charge concerning their conduct toward the unbelieving world. Having just urged them to be steadfast in prayer for the advance of the gospel, he now turns to the personal conduct that must accompany such prayers. The Christian life is not lived in a monastic bubble; it is lived out in the open, before a watching world. This world is described as being "outside" the covenant community. Our interaction with this world must be characterized by two things: wise conduct and gracious speech. This is evangelism at street level. It is not about mastering a program or a technique, but about a way of life. The wisdom we are to walk in is a practical, godly shrewdness that understands the times and knows how to make the most of every opportunity. The speech we are to use is not bland or insipid, but full of grace and seasoned with the preserving and pungent quality of salt, enabling us to answer every individual as the specific situation requires. This is a call to be both shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves in our witness to the gospel.

The central thrust is that our lives are a platform for the gospel. If our conduct is foolish and our speech is graceless, we undermine the very message we pray for. Paul connects our daily walk and talk directly to the great mystery of Christ. The way we live among unbelievers is either an adornment to the gospel or a stumbling block. Therefore, this is a command to live with intentionality, recognizing that every moment is a potential opportunity for witness, and every conversation is a potential vehicle for grace. Our lives must have a savory, compelling quality that provokes questions, and we must be ready to give a gracious, fitting answer when those questions come.

Outline

Context In Colossians

These verses come at the end of the main body of Paul's letter to the Colossians. Chapters 1 and 2 were primarily doctrinal, establishing the absolute supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus Christ over all philosophies, rulers, and spiritual powers. Chapters 3 and 4 are primarily practical, drawing out the ethical implications of our union with the risen Christ. Paul has just instructed the believers on how to live within the Christian household, addressing wives, husbands, children, fathers, slaves, and masters (Col 3:18-4:1). He then transitions to the subject of prayer, specifically asking for prayer for his own ministry of the Word (Col 4:2-4). It is natural, then, for him to move from prayer for the gospel's advance to the personal conduct that must back up those prayers. The instructions in verses 5 and 6 are the bridge between the church's internal life and its external mission. Our witness to the "outsiders" flows directly from the reality of Christ's lordship, our new identity in Him, and our dependence on Him in prayer. This is the culmination of the "put on the new self" reality of chapter 3, applied now to our engagement with the unbelieving world.

Key Issues

The Aroma of Christ

The Christian faith is not a private hobby. It is a public declaration about the true King of the world, Jesus Christ. As such, those who bear His name are His ambassadors in a foreign land. An ambassador's job is to represent his king faithfully, not only in his formal proclamations but in his entire demeanor. Paul is telling the Colossians that their whole life is a diplomatic mission. The unbelievers around them are "outsiders," meaning they are outside the covenant of grace, outside the household of faith. But they are not to be shunned or ignored; they are the mission field.

How, then, do we conduct ourselves? With wisdom. This is not the wisdom of the world, which is foolishness to God, but the wisdom that comes from above. It is a Spirit-given ability to see the world as it truly is and to act accordingly. A key part of this wisdom is "redeeming the time," or, as some translations have it, "making the best use of the time." The Greek word is exagorazo, which has the sense of buying something up, like a savvy merchant buying up a commodity at the market because he knows its value is about to skyrocket. We are to see every moment, every interaction, as a precious, God-given opportunity that must be seized for the kingdom. The days are evil, and so the opportunities are fleeting. Wise Christians are opportunity-seizers.

Verse by Verse Commentary

5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, redeeming the time.

Paul begins with a command that governs our entire way of life: Walk in wisdom. The Christian life is a "walk," a steady, day-by-day progress, not a frantic sprint or a stationary pose. This walk is to be characterized by wisdom. But this is not an abstract, philosophical wisdom. It is a practical wisdom directed toward outsiders. This refers to everyone who is not a part of the visible covenant community, the church. Our conduct is on public display, and we must be shrewd and discerning in all our dealings with the unbelieving world. We are not to be naive, nor are we to be unnecessarily offensive or foolish. We are to be winsome, but not compromising. This wisdom is then defined by the phrase redeeming the time. This means buying up every opportunity. The world, under the sway of the evil one, is wasting time, squandering it on vanity. The Christian, knowing the true purpose of life and the shortness of our time, is to be a spiritual opportunist. Every conversation, every business dealing, every neighborly interaction is an opportunity that can be "bought up" for the glory of God. This requires attentiveness and a refusal to live a distracted, aimless life. We are to live with a holy intentionality.

6 Let your words always be with grace, seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should answer each person.

From the general conduct of our "walk," Paul moves to the specific conduct of our "talk." Our speech, he says, must always be with grace. This is a radical command. Not just sometimes, not just in church, but always. Our words should be a means of grace to those who hear them. This doesn't mean our speech must be soft, syrupy, or devoid of conviction. Grace is not the same thing as niceness. Grace is unmerited favor, and gracious speech is speech that builds up, that gives what is needed, not what is deserved. But this grace is not bland. It must be seasoned with salt. Salt in the ancient world had two primary functions: it preserved from corruption and it added flavor. Christian speech should do both. It should act as a preservative in a corrupt world, resisting the rot of profanity, gossip, and lies. And it should be flavorful, interesting, and pungent. It should have substance. Salty speech is the opposite of insipid, boring, empty talk. Salt can also sting when applied to a wound, and sometimes gracious, truthful speech will be painful to the proud sinner. The purpose of all this is intensely practical: so that you will know how you should answer each person. Evangelism is not a one-size-fits-all presentation. Every person is different, every situation is unique. The Christian who has cultivated a life of wise walking and gracious, salty speech will be given the wisdom by the Holy Spirit to tailor their answer to the specific individual they are talking to. It is a call to be discerning listeners so that we can be effective speakers.

Application

The application of these two verses is as broad as life itself. They challenge us to view every part of our lives through the lens of mission. We cannot compartmentalize our faith, separating our "spiritual life" from our work life, our neighborhood life, or our online life. Every sphere is a place where we are to walk in wisdom toward outsiders.

First, this means we must be people of integrity. The quickest way to make the gospel a laughingstock is for its proponents to be hypocrites. Our wisdom must be seen in our honesty, our work ethic, our fairness, and our kindness. We must be the best employees, the most reliable neighbors, the most honorable citizens. This is the platform from which we speak.

Second, we must reject aimlessness. "Redeeming the time" is the opposite of killing time. In an age of endless digital distraction, this is a sharp-edged command. How much time do we squander on worthless entertainment that could be "bought up" for prayer, for reading, for hospitality, for conversations with our unbelieving neighbors? We must be purposeful with the limited time God has given us.

Third, we must pay attention to our words. Our speech is one of the clearest indicators of what is in our hearts. Is our talk full of grace? Or is it full of complaining, slander, coarse joking, and anger? Is it seasoned with the salt of biblical truth and wisdom? Or is it bland, tasteless, and indistinguishable from the speech of the world? We are to be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in us, and that requires that our everyday conversation be of a quality that makes people ask the question in the first place. May God give us grace to live lives and speak words that are a savory aroma of Christ to a world that is perishing.