Verse 6
Paul turned from thinking about his readers’ walk to their talk. The most important thing to keep in mind regarding the Colossians’ own practices involved their speech. Speech most effectively expresses what is inside the believer. The Christian’s speech should mirror the gracious character and conduct of his or her God by demonstrating love, patience, sacrifice, undeserved favor, etc. Salt probably represented both attractiveness, since salt makes food appealing, and wholesomeness, since salt was a preservative that retarded corruption in food (cf. Matthew 5:13; Mark 9:50; Ephesians 4:29). Furthermore one should wisely suit his or her speech to each need. The words "seasoned with salt" refer to witty speech in classical Greek, but Paul probably meant attractive and wholesome speech in view of other biblical uses of the term salt. [Note: Johnson, 484:314-15.]
"A child of God should have a conversation that deters evil. It should withhold evil rather than promote it. I think it also means that a Christian should not be boring." [Note: McGee, 5:363.]
These three exhortations in Colossians 4:2-6 are extremely important and deserve more attention from Christians than they normally receive. [Note: See James P. Sweeney, "The Priority of Prayer in Colossians 4:2-4," Bibliotheca Sacra 159:635 (July-September 2002):318-33; and idem, "Guidelines on Christian Witness in Colossians 4:5-6," Bibliotheca Sacra 159:636 (October-December 2002):449-61.]
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