“Let your speech always be with grace!”

“Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” (Col. 4:5-6 ESV)

The first verse of Chapter 4, “Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven,” seems to fit better at the end of Chapter 3, where Paul uses verses 18-25 to discuss how a Christian wife, husband, child, and slave are to live their lives to honor Jesus. In verse 23, Paul says, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.” This is some of the best practical advice that Paul gives.

Once we refocus our efforts from pleasing ourselves and others and focus solely on pleasing our Savior, the whole world changes for us. No longer are we worn down from trying to please everyone else, no longer do we get resentful because our efforts to help go unnoticed and unappreciated, no longer are we envious of what someone else receives, we are free to live our lives in the glory and grace of our Savior knowing that He knows our heart and that He does indeed appreciate our love and obedience. So, with verse 1 of this chapter being directed to “masters” and telling them to remember they too have a Master in heaven, therefore treat their slaves as our Lord treats us, it does seem that verse 1 goes better with chapter 3 rather than starting a new chapter. 

Paul starts his concluding chapter to the Colossians with this command “Devote yourselves to prayer, keep alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; so that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.”(vv. 1-3). One thing we can never accuse Paul of is writing in short, choppy sentences. When Paul expresses an idea, he ensures we understand what to do, how to do it, and the why behind his command. You’ll notice that I said Paul “commands” us to pray. In Greek, the author expresses that what he is saying is a “command to be followed” and not just a request or a statement of fact by using the “Imperative” mood. A general statement of fact is shown using the “Indicative” mood. It’s interesting when you study the actual original languages to make note of the author’s intent to simply state a fact (like “God is love” John 4:16) or to issue a command that is expected to be obeyed “Devote yourselves to prayer Col. 4:2). It makes a difference on how we interpret what the author intends and makes a big difference on how we apply the passage that we are reading.

Paul uses the Imperative mood twice in verses 1-5 1. Devote yourselves to prayer, 2. Conduct yourselves with wisdom. Both commands have a major impact on how we are to live our lives for our Savior.

First, he says we are to “devote ourselves to prayer with an attitude of thanksgiving”. One thing I think is missing from a lot of our prayers is thanksgiving. All too often, we are so hurried to explain our need for God’s intervention in a particular situation and to tell Him how to best resolve the problem that we forget to be thankful for what He has already done for us. Now I’m as guilty of this as anyone, but I know that when I start my prayers remembering our God's goodness, mercy, and grace and how He has proven His faithfulness to me over these past days, years, and decades, my prayer attitude changes. I become more intent on asking for God’s will to be done than for my will to be done.

In verse 5, Paul tells us to “Conduct ourselves with wisdom toward outsiders…”. The actual word that Paul uses in Greek literally means “to walk around”; he commands us to be careful how we present our lives to the outside world. One of the things I think we need to start adding to our diligent prayers is for our witness to the outside world. I know you’ve heard it said that “The only Bible many people will ever read is you.” And there is some truth to that. People are influenced by how we live our lives; they watch Christians to see if they live out what they say they believe, and sadly, many times, we don’t.

In 3:8-9 Paul told us to “put aside” anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive speech, to stop lying to one another and to put on the new self He meant precisely what he said, we need to be sure that as we “walk around” living our lives that we “put on the new self” and keep in mind exactly what it is that our Savior has done for us, and for a non-believing world.

Paul’s “commands” aren’t suggestions; they are indeed commands that we need to follow, not for Salvation or to make us more pleasing to our God, but so that others will not only hear the good news of God’s grace but also be able to experience it through our actions as we “walk around.”

Paul concludes this short letter to the church in Colossae by naming many of his fellow Jewish workers who were spreading the gospel to the Gentiles and requesting that the Colossian believers remember him in their prayers so that he may speak clearly of the saving grace of our Lord Jesus.

What a wonderful letter! We saw Paul’s thankful heart for the faithfulness of these believers and instructed them to show the grace of our Lord and Savior in a more excellent way. God’s grace was always at the forefront of Paul’s mind and life. He knew that once someone understood God’s love for them, once they saw how God could change lives, that they, too, would come to saving faith in the blessed Son of God, our Savior, the Lord Jesus.

"Living in Grace is not about what I can do, but about what Jesus has already done!"