As we’ve walked through Colossians, we’ve been doing more than studying one letter Paul wrote almost 2,000 years ago. We’ve been learning how to study the Bible. We’ve looked at context, asked hard questions, compared Scripture with Scripture, seen Jesus throughout the Bible, followed Paul’s flow of thought, recognized types and shadows, and learned to read through the lens of the New Covenant.
Last week, we saw that our identity in Christ is supposed to affect everyday life. It should change the way we handle marriage, parenting, work, leadership, and relationships. Now, as Paul begins closing the letter, he gives us an even broader picture of the lifestyle of a Christian.
This brings us to another really important Bible study principle: the goal is not just to know more. The goal is to live differently.
It’s possible to know a lot about the Bible and still not look very much like Jesus. We can have information without transformation. Paul won’t let us stay there. In Colossians 4:2–6, he shows us that Christianity is not just a belief system. It’s a lifestyle of prayer, wisdom, grace, and influence.
The word Christian first shows up in Acts 11:26, where the Bible says, “And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” The word means someone who belongs to Christ or resembles Christ. Most scholars believe outsiders gave them that name. These believers talked about Jesus, loved like Jesus, served like Jesus, and carried His message everywhere they went. Whether the name was meant as a compliment or an insult, people could not separate them from Christ.
Honestly, that is still a pretty good definition of a Christian. Our lives should make Jesus visible.
Paul begins in Colossians 4:2 (NKJV):
“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.”
I love that Paul says to continue in prayer. We can’t continue something we never started. Prayer was never meant to be an emergency button we push when everything falls apart. It should be part of our everyday relationship with God.
The disciples continued in prayer before Pentecost. Elijah kept praying until the cloud appeared. Jesus taught us to keep asking, seeking, and knocking. Sometimes prayer is not one quick request followed by an immediate answer. Sometimes we continue until we see the breakthrough.
Our prayer life also needs to be bigger than giving God a list of things we need. Prayer includes worship, fellowship, and thanksgiving. In fact, when our prayer begins shifting from asking to thanking, that is often a sign that faith is rising. We stop trying to convince God to move and begin thanking Him because we believe His Word.
Paul then asks the church to pray for something specific.
Colossians 4:3 (NKJV) says:
“Meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains.”
Notice what Paul asks for. He doesn’t primarily ask for comfort. He doesn’t ask for easier circumstances. He doesn’t even begin by asking to get out of prison. He asks for an open door to preach Jesus.
That challenges me. How often do we pray for an opportunity instead of only praying for relief?
Throughout the book of Acts, prayer opened doors for the Gospel. On the Day of Pentecost, the disciples prayed, the Holy Spirit came, Peter preached, and three thousand people were saved. Prayer was not the final destination. Prayer prepared the way for Jesus to be revealed.
Paul continues in Colossians 4:4 (NKJV):
“That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.”
The word manifest means to make something clear, apparent, or visible. Paul was not asking God to help him impress people. He wanted people to clearly see Jesus.
Most people don’t need another religious argument. They need to encounter the real Jesus. A lot of people think Christianity is nothing more than rules, religion, and trying harder to be good. But when they encounter His grace, kindness, peace, power, and love, Jesus becomes real to them.
This is why illustrations can be so powerful. Jesus constantly used stories people understood to reveal spiritual truth. I’ve had times when I explained something several ways and could tell the person still wasn’t getting it. Then the Holy Spirit gave me the right illustration, and suddenly the light came on. The truth didn’t change, but now they could see it.
That is what Paul was praying for. He wanted more than information. He wanted revelation.
Paul then gives one of the most practical instructions in the entire letter.
Colossians 4:5 (NKJV) says:
“Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.”
Every day, we spend three valuable resources: time, energy, and money. We can invest them wisely, or we can waste them.
People often say, “I don’t have time.” Sometimes that is true, but sometimes the issue is not that we don’t have time. It’s that we’re not using it wisely. Wisdom helps us recognize what matters most. Sometimes wisdom tells us to spend money to redeem time. Other times it tells us to say no to something good so we can say yes to what God has actually called us to do.
The Greek word translated time is kairos. It means a proper or opportune moment. Paul is not just telling us to manage our calendar better. He is telling us to recognize the opportunities God puts in front of us.
Wisdom doesn’t just help us manage our time. It helps us recognize our moment.
Finally, Paul deals with the way we speak.
Colossians 4:6 (NKJV) says:
“Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”
Our words should be full of grace, but that doesn’t happen automatically. Paul says we have to let our speech be this way.
Grace is God’s divine influence and empowerment working through us. Salt preserves what is good, but it also adds flavor. Our words should do both. We should preserve truth, but we should also make the world around us better.
Throughout history, Christians started schools, hospitals, orphanages, and ministries that blessed entire communities. Our conversations should carry that same kind of influence. When people finish talking with us, they should feel helped, encouraged, wisely challenged, and pointed toward Jesus.
Of course, Paul says our words should be seasoned with salt. That matters. A little salt makes food better. Too much salt ruins the whole meal. Wisdom doesn’t just know what to say. Wisdom knows how much to say, how to say it, and when it’s time to stop talking.
As Paul closes this section, he reminds us that the Bible was never written just to fill our heads. It was written to transform our lives. Good Bible study should eventually make us ask, “How should this change the way I live?”
Christianity is not just something we believe. It’s something we live. As we stay rooted in prayer, depend on the Holy Spirit, walk in wisdom, and speak with grace, people should begin seeing Jesus through us. Maybe that is still one of the best definitions of a Christian: someone whose everyday life reminds people of Christ.
