(4.1) Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair: As Christians put on the new man, they will be just and fair to those who work for them. It is a terrible thing for a boss to cheat or mistreat his workers, but far worse for a Christian to do it.
i. Just and fair: This is even more powerful than a command for masters to be kind or pleasant to slaves. One can be kind or pleasant to animals or pets; but we are only just and fair to fellow human beings. Paul asked masters to make a recognition that would undermine the very foundations of slavery.
ii. Through the history of Christianity, there have been some who used these passages where Paul speaks to slaves and their masters to justify or even promote the practice of slavery. Others have blamed these passages for the practice of slavery. Yet one can never blame Christianity for slavery; it was a universal practice that pre-dated both Christianity and the Jewish nation. Instead, one should see that the abolition of slavery came from Christian people and impulses, and not from any other major religion and certainly not from secularism.
iii. Without making an overt protest against slavery, Paul seemed to understand that if he could establish the point that slaves were equals in the body of Christ, full human beings with both responsibilities and rights (that they should be treated in a manner both just and fair), then in time the whole structure of slavery in the Roman Empire would crumble – and it did.
A. The inner life of prayer and the outer life of witness.
1. (2-4) The inner life of prayer.
Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; 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, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.
a. Continue earnestly in prayer: Paul supported the Colossian church through His prayers for them (Colossians 1:3-8). Their life and ministry would continue to prosper through continued vigilance in prayer, including prayer on their part.
i. The ancient Greek word translated continue is “Built on a root meaning ‘to be strong,’ it always connotes earnest adherence to a person or thing. In this passage it implies persistence and fervor.” (Vaughan)
ii. This sort of earnest prayer is important, but does not come easy. Earnestly in prayer speaks of great effort steadily applied. “Heaven’s gate is not to be stormed by one weapon but by many. Spare no arrows, Christian. Watch and see that none of the arms in thy armoury are rusty. Besiege the throne of God with a hundred hands, and look at the promise with a hundred eyes. You have a great work on hand for you have to move the arm that moves the world; watch, then, for every means of moving that arm. See to it that you ply every promise; that you use every argument; that you wrestle with all might.” (Spurgeon)
b. Being vigilant in it with thanksgiving: We are to be vigilant in prayer, but always praying with thanksgiving for the great things God has done.
i. Barclay on vigilant: “Literally the Greek means to be wakeful. The phrase could well mean that Paul is telling them not to go to sleep when they pray.” Sometimes, because of the tiredness of our body or mind, we struggle against sleep when we pray. Other times we pray as if we were asleep, and our prayers simply sound and feel tired and sleepy.
ii. “Prayer should be mingled with praise. I have heard that in New England after the Puritans had settled there a long while, they used to have very often a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer, till they had so many days of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, that at last a good senator proposed that they should change it for once, and have a day of thanksgiving.” (Spurgeon)
iii. “The connection here with thanksgiving may suggest the threefold rhythm: intercession, ‘watching’ for answers to prayer, and thanksgiving when answers appear.” (Wright)
c. Meanwhile praying also for us: Paul seemed to say, “As long as we are on the subject of prayer, please pray for us!” But Paul didn’t ask for prayer for his personal needs (which were many), but that God would open to us a door for the word.
i. The same word picture of an open door as an open opportunity for the gospel is seen in passages such as Acts 14:27, 1 Corinthians 16:9, and 2 Corinthians 2:12.
d. As I ought to speak: Even though Paul was in chains for his faithfulness to the gospel, he knew that he ought to speak it in a way that would make it manifest (clearly evident). Paul wanted prayer that he would continue to make the gospel clear and evident, even if it meant more chains.
i. Robertson comments on Paul’s words, as I ought to speak: “Wonderful as Paul’s preaching was to his hearers and seems to us, he was never satisfied with it. What preacher can be?”
2. (5-6) The outer life of witness.
Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
a. Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside: The Christian life isn’t only lived in the prayer closet. There also must be practical, lived-out Christianity, which lives wisely toward those who are outside. How we speak has a lot to do with this, so we must let our speech always be with grace.
i. “Distorted accounts of Christian conduct and belief were in circulation; it was important that Christians should give no color to these calumnies, but should rather give the lie to them by their regular manner of life.” (Bruce)
ii. Let your speech always be with grace: “The word ‘grace’ has, in Greek as in English, the possible double meaning of God’s grace and human graciousness.” (Wright)
iii. “In classical writers ‘salt’ expressed the wit with which conversation was flavoured.” (Peake) “Grace and salt (wit, sense) make an ideal combination.” (Robertson)
b. That you may know how you ought to answer each one: Paul believed that Christians would answer others from Biblical truth, and that they would work at knowing how to communicate those answers to those who are outside.
i. Barclay translates Colossians 4:6 this way: Let your speech always be with gracious charm, seasoned with the salt of wit, so that you will know the right answer to give in every case. He explains: “Here is an interesting injunction. It is all too true that Christianity in the minds of many is connected with a kind of sanctimonious dullness and an outlook in which laughter is almost a heresy… The Christian must commend his message with the charm and the wit which were in Jesus himself.”
ii. “They must strive to cultivate the gift of pleasant and wise conversation, so that they may be able to speak appropriately to each individual (with his peculiar needs) with whom they come in contact.” (Peake)
iii. Colossians 4:2-6 shows that God is concerned both about our personal prayer life and our interaction with the world. He cares both about the prayer closet and the public street, and He wants us to care about both also.
iv. This is also an important idea to connect with the earlier passages of Colossians. Paul spent considerable time in this letter explaining the truth and refuting bad doctrine. Yet all the correct knowledge was of little good until it was applied in both the prayer closet and the public street of daily life. We could say that here, Paul genuinely completes his letter.
B. Personal notes concluding the letter.
1. (7-9) Regarding Tychicus and Onesimus, messengers of the letter.
Tychicus, a beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts, with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you all things which are happening here.
a. Tychicus, a beloved brother: Apparently, the Colossian Christians didn’t know who Tychicus was. He would carry this letter to them (will tell you all the news about me).
i. Apparently Epaphras, who brought the news from Colosse to Paul in Rome (Colossians 1:7), would not return to Colosse soon; so Paul sent Tychicus instead.
ii. Tychicus is mentioned in Acts 20:4 as one of the men who came with Paul from the Roman province of Asia to Jerusalem, to carry the offering of those believers to the needy Christians of Jerusalem and Judea.
iii. “The reference to Tychicus is almost word for word identical with Ephesians 6:21-22. He was evidently the bearer of the letter to the Ephesians as well as this one.” (Bruce)
b. With Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother: Onesimus was a slave owned by a believer in Colosse, but he ran away and came into contact with Paul in Rome. There, Onesimus became a Christian and a dedicated helper to Paul. His story is continued in Paul’s letter to Philemon.
i. Paul could have wrote about Onesimus, “the escaped slave who I am sending back to his master.” Instead, he called him a faithful and beloved brother, and let the Colossian Christians know that Onesimus was now one of you.