Biblion Bible Commentary
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Seasoned with Salt
Colossians 4:5-6
5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. · WEB
Two verses on how to deal with people outside the church, and the standard is that the answer be fitted to the person.
Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside. The phrase those who are outside is simply descriptive, and the instruction about them is wisdom rather than separation — which is worth noting in a letter that has spent two chapters refusing an ascetic withdrawal.
Redeeming the time. The verb means buying up, as one buys the whole of something scarce at market, and the noun is the word for opportunity rather than duration. What is to be bought up is the openings.
Verse 6 turns to speech, and gives two qualities. Always with grace — gracious in manner, and the word carries the sense of being winsome rather than merely polite. And seasoned with salt, which is not the same thing. Salt preserves and it gives flavor; unsalted speech is bland, and the Lord warns about salt that has lost its savor Matthew 5:13.
The two together rule out failures in both directions: speech so agreeable it says nothing, and speech so pointed it wounds. And the purpose clause sets the standard — that you may know how you ought to answer each one. The reply is fitted to the person asking, which means listening before speaking.
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