Walk in wisdom towards those without, redeeming opportunities.
Paul closes his letter with the Christian's life in public view. How do believers behave in front of people who do not know Christ? The verse ties two things together: a wise walk, and taking every opening that comes.
The word draws a line. One writer explains who stands on each side, and what that means for how believers live and speak:
Verse 5 speaks of the unconverted as "those who are outside." There are those inside the Christian circle and those outside it. It matters greatly that we are right in our dealings with those outside. We are set in a place of testimony toward them. First, wisdom is to mark our general behaviour towards them. That being so, we are sure to have opportunities for witnessing, and we are to redeem them by seizing them as they come.
This was not vague language for the first Christians. The two words described two settled spheres:
In early days every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ understood the terms "within" and "without" (1 Cor. 5:12-13; Col. 4:5), and the limits were clearly drawn. Within were all who professed to be believers in the Lord, and were so as far as anyone could judge. Without were all who had not taken Christian ground. Within was the sphere where the Spirit of God ruled and dwelt. Without was the region where the god of this world held power.
The instruction closes the practical teaching of the letter. The aim of a wise walk is not self-protection but recommendation:
As he closes the spiritual part of the letter, the apostle tells them to walk wisely toward those outside, commending Christ by their walk. They have to learn wisdom to live out their position, confessing the Lord in a world that does not know Him.
This wisdom is not natural cleverness. One writer traces it to Christ Himself, and to His word dwelling in us:
It is plain from 1 Cor. 1:24 that Christ is the "wisdom of God"; and that He is made to us wisdom (v. 30). … Christ's word — that is, the expression of Himself — is to dwell in us richly in all wisdom. The Christian, too, is urged to walk in wisdom toward those outside, that is, the world, redeeming the time (Col. 3:16; 4:5).
The ESV reads "making the best use of the time." Older translations, which these writers quote, say "redeeming the time." That phrase is often misread as catching up on wasted years:
Christians are told to "redeem the time" (Eph. 5:16; Col. 4:5). This does not mean "to make up for lost time." It means to seize every favourable opportunity. In Dan. 2:8 the king said the wise men were trying "to gain the time" — that is, to get a delay.
So the command is positive, not just a warning against waste. Someone else is competing for the attention of the people around us:
We are called, in a world that is against us, to be awaiting every opportunity to seize for Christ. To live Christ before the world, that is wisdom; "redeeming the time" is not merely not wasting it. The devil works to fill people's thoughts and affections. We want to win that time back by looking for every chance to introduce Christ.
Wisdom and opportunity can pull against each other in practice, and most of us fail on one side or the other:
A right walk calls for wisdom. It also calls for a readiness to use the openings that come for speaking for the Lord. Our danger is that we have wisdom but lack boldness, or show great boldness with little wisdom.
The verse is about walking, not only speaking. A life either backs up the message or destroys it:
Words alone are not enough to bear a true witness. People often say, So-and-so's life gives the lie to what he says! … On the other hand, we have known cases where children of God were spoken of like this: If anyone holds the right thing, they do, for they are as consistent on weekdays as they are on Sundays! That is just what it should be.
- Outside — "Those outside" are people who have not taken Christian ground. Believers stand toward them in a place of testimony.
- Wisdom — Wisdom marks the whole bearing toward them. Its aim is to commend Christ in a world that does not know Him.
- Source — That wisdom is not natural cleverness. Christ is the wisdom of God, and His word dwelling in us produces it.
- Opportunity — "Redeeming the time" is not making up for lost years. It is seizing every chance for Christ.
- Balance — Two failures are common: wisdom without boldness, and boldness without wisdom. A consistent weekday life gives the words their weight.
[Let] your word [be] always with grace, seasoned with salt, [so as] to know how ye ought to answer each one.
Paul ends his practical instructions to the believers at Colossae by turning their attention outward. He tells them how to speak among people who do not yet believe. The verse gives two ingredients for every conversation, grace and salt, and one aim: knowing how to answer each person.
The order of the words carries the sense. Grace is the substance of Christian speech; salt is what seasons it.
Grace gives us the rich glow of divine favour to the undeserving. It displays what God is in Christ to those who belong to this guilty ruined world. Salt presents the guard of holiness, the preserving power of God's rights in the middle of corruption. The verse does not say "always with salt, seasoned with grace." It says "always with grace, seasoned with salt." Grace should always be the groundwork and the spring of all we say. No matter how much we may differ, righteousness must be maintained without compromise.
The picture behind the words is the grain offering, where salt seasoned the offering but never made up the offering itself. That proportion still holds. Too much salt can spoil the dish.
In this beautiful God-given type, the grain offering was mainly in view, and the salt in it was the seasoning. So now, graciousness of speech is the main thing for those whom grace has saved. But salt must season it — the moral savour of the truth. The salt must not be missing, even though it is only the seasoning and grace is the main part… There must be grace in abundance, and the powerful salt of the truth kept within wise limits, so that it does no harm. Too much of otherwise good and useful salt can turn nourishing food sickening.
The verse names both ingredients. So speech can go wrong in two opposite directions.
We carry a message of grace, to be expressed in words of grace; at the same time our speech is to be seasoned with the salt of holiness. Speaking this way, our grace will not sink into treating sins lightly, and our faithfulness will not turn into mere hard condemnation of sinners.
In practice that shapes the tone we take and the motive we speak from.
Our words are to be always with grace. Never are we to sink to the critical, or the bitter, or the cutting remark. But then, on the other hand, our words, while full of grace, are not to aim at merely pleasing people. They are to be seasoned with what salt represents — the sharp quality of truth. Grace and truth were found in our Lord, and they should mark those who are His, even characterising their words.
The same salt appears in the Lord's words in Mark's Gospel. One writer links what salt does among believers with what it does toward outsiders.
In Mark the Lord urges us to have salt in ourselves and to "be at peace with one another." This is important. It is what should mark us inside — "with one another." What should mark us outside — "toward those outside" — is given in Colossians 4:5-6… Among the children of God, self-judgment and peace are to prevail within. Outside, graciousness of speech (preserved by the truth), wisdom and zeal should mark them. The salt of the covenant of our God is needed to keep peace inside, and to present divine grace outside. We are to apply it to ourselves first, and then let it give savour to our speech.
The verse does not say "answer every question" but "answer each person." That distinction is the point of the closing clause.
Divine love in the middle of an evil world goes together with holding, without compromise, to what is due to God's holy and righteous will. This combination teaches the Christian not merely what to answer, but how to answer each one as he ought.
Grace in the mouth is not always gentle in effect; it can carry rebuke, and the Lord Himself is the model of both sides.
The Lord Jesus showed every form of moral perfection, and this form among them. He knew how to answer every man. His words were always for the profit of the hearer's soul, whether people would listen or refuse to listen. At times He seasoned them, and seasoned them strongly, with salt.
- Grace is the body of what a Christian says — the display of what God is in Christ toward people who do not deserve it.
- Salt is the seasoning, not the meal. It is the savour of truth and holiness that keeps grace from ignoring sin.
- Balance protects both ways — no bitter or cutting word on one side, no speech aimed merely at pleasing people on the other.
- Inside and out — apply the salt to yourself first. It keeps peace among believers, and then it flavours the grace outsiders hear.
- Each one — the goal is not a stock answer to a question but the right word for the person in front of you, as the Lord Himself always gave.