Prayerful Speech and Actions
1Masters, supply your slaves with what is right and fair, since you know that you also have a Master in heaven.
2Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful, 3as you pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4Pray that I may declare it clearly, as I should.
5Act wisely toward outsiders, redeeming the time. 6Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
- COL 4:6[NOTABLE]Salt keeps food from going bad and gives it flavor. Your words should be kind, but not bland. Grace with salt means people can tell you love them and also that you mean it. Be ready with an answer, 1 Peter 3:15.
Greetings from Paul’s Fellow Workers// Romans 16:21–23
7Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a beloved brother, a faithful minister, and a fellow servant in the Lord. 8I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about us, and that he may encourage your hearts. 9With him I am sending Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you about everything here.
- COL 4:9[NOTE]ONESIMUS. A slave from Colossae who ran away from his master Philemon, met Paul, and became a believer. Paul sends him home with this letter, now a faithful and beloved brother, and writes the little letter to Philemon asking him to welcome Onesimus like Paul himself, Philemon 16 to 17.
10My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you greetings, as does Mark the cousin of Barnabas. You have already received instructions about him: If he comes to you, welcome him. 11Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.
- COL 4:10[NOTE]MARK IS BACK. Paul once refused to take Mark on a trip because he had quit on them, and Paul and Barnabas split over it, Acts 15:37 to 39. Now Mark is on Paul's team, and Paul tells the church to welcome him. Later Paul says he is useful to me, 2 Timothy 4:11. Quitting once does not have to be the end.
12Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, so that you may stand mature and fully assured in the full will of God. 13For I testify about him that he goes to great pains for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis.
- COL 4:13[FIELD NOTES]See the Hierapolis Field Notes page.
14Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas send you greetings.
Signature and Final Instructions// 1 Corinthians 16:19–24; 2 Thessalonians 3:16–18
15Greet the brothers in Laodicea, as well as Nympha and the church that meets at her house.
16After this letter has been read among you, make sure that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.
- COL 4:16[NOTE]THE LETTER FROM LAODICEA. It is lost, or it is a letter we already have. Many think it is Ephesians, because in Ephesus is missing from 1:1 in the oldest copies. A fake Letter to the Laodiceans, 20 verses pieced together from Philippians and Galatians, later got into many Latin Bibles, like Codex Fuldensis about AD 546. The church never accepted it as Scripture.
17Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord.”
18This greeting is in my own hand—Paul.
Remember my chains.
Grace be with you.