Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Colossians
Chapter 4: Continue in Prayer
Colossians 4 brings the letter to its warm and practical close. Masters are charged to give their servants 'that which is just and equal,' remembering 'ye also have a Master in heaven.' Paul calls the church to devoted prayer, 'continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving,' asking prayer for himself, that 'God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ.' He urges wise, gracious witness to outsiders: 'walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time,' and 'let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt.' Then follows a rich roll call of fellow workers, Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Mark, Justus, Epaphras, Luke, and others, real people laboring together for the gospel, and a final word in Paul's own hand: 'Remember my bonds. Grace be with you.' This chapter shows us a praying, gracious, gospel-hearted community, bound together in the work of the Lord.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Colossians chapter 4, the final chapter of the epistle. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Greek words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Here Paul calls the church to steadfast prayer and gracious witness, and closes with warm greetings to his many fellow workers in the gospel. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Continue in Prayer
Watchful, thankful, praying for open doors.
Speech Seasoned with Salt
Walk in wisdom, redeeming the time, full of grace.
Fellow Workers
A roll call of laborers for the kingdom of God.
Remember My Bonds
Paul's own hand, and grace to the church.
Let Your Speech Be Alway with Grace (Colossians 4:1-9)
Masters deal justly under their heavenly Master, the church devotes itself to watchful prayer, and believers walk wisely with gracious speech toward those outside.
Continue in Prayer, and Watch in the Same
"Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven. Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother, and a faithful minister and fellowservant in the Lord: Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that he might know your estate, and comfort your hearts; With Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They shall make known unto you all things which are done here."
Word Study
"redeeming," Greek exagorazo (ἐξαγοράζω). The word means to buy up, to purchase out of the marketplace, to redeem; it pictures a merchant seizing an opportunity to buy while it lasts. "Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time." Time here is presented as a market stall with limited stock: the wise believer buys it up, snapping up every opportunity before it is gone. The phrase "them that are without" means those outside the faith, and the point is evangelistic: the days are short and precious, so we make the most of every chance to live wisely before unbelievers and to speak for Christ. To exagorazo the time is to treat each opportunity as a bargain not to be missed, redeeming it out of a wasted, evil age and spending it for the gospel. Paul pairs this with gracious speech, "let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt", so that redeeming the time is not pushy or careless but wise, winsome, and ready "to answer every man." The Christian, then, does not drift through his days; he buys them up for Christ, walking wisely and speaking graciously to a watching world.
Explanation
The household code closes with a word to masters: give servants "that which is just and equal," remembering "ye also have a Master in heaven" — earthly authority is always accountable to a higher one. Then Paul turns to prayer and witness: "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving," and "walk in wisdom toward them that are without," with speech "alway with grace, seasoned with salt." Persistent, watchful prayer and gracious, winsome speech are the church's two arms toward the world. He commends the messengers Tychicus and Onesimus, "a faithful and beloved brother."
Gospel Focus
Paul completes the household instructions from chapter 3 with a final word to masters: "give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven." The one who holds authority over others answers to a higher Master, and must therefore be fair and just. Then Paul turns to the whole church and to the engine of the Christian life: prayer. "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving." Prayer is to be persistent ("continue"), alert ("watch"), and grateful ("with thanksgiving"). And he asks them to pray for his mission: "that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds." Even from prison, Paul's great desire is not release but an open door to preach Christ; he asks prayer not for comfort but for boldness and clarity, "that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak." Then he addresses their witness to the world. "Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time." Believers are watched by unbelievers, so they must live wisely and seize every gospel opportunity while the days last. And their words matter: "let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." Christian speech should always carry grace, and be "seasoned with salt", tasteful, wholesome, arresting, never bland or corrupt, so that the believer is ready to give a fitting answer to each person. Paul closes this section by commending two men who will carry news between him and the church: "Tychicus... a beloved brother, and a faithful minister and fellowservant in the Lord," and "Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you." Onesimus, once a runaway slave, is now a trusted brother, a living picture of the gospel that makes "Christ all, and in all." So the closing charge is clear: pray without ceasing, pray for open doors for the gospel, live wisely before the world, and let every word be full of grace, for a praying, gracious church is a witnessing church.
Grace Be with You (Colossians 4:10-18)
Paul greets his fellow laborers by name, commends Epaphras' fervent prayers, and signs the letter in his own hand with a plea to remember his bonds.
Always Labouring Fervently for You in Prayers
"Aristarchus my fellowprisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister's son to Barnabas, (touching whom ye received commandments: if he come unto you, receive him;) And Jesus, which is called Justus, who are of the circumcision. These only are my fellowworkers unto the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort unto me. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. For I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis. Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you. Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house. And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea. And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it. The salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen."
Word Study
"labouring fervently," Greek agonizomai (ἀγωνίζομαι). The word means to struggle, to contend, to strive as in a contest or battle; it is the language of the athlete straining in the arena and the soldier fighting for his life, and it gives us our word "agonize." "Epaphras... always labouring fervently for you in prayers." This tells us what real intercession is. Epaphras did not pray for the Colossians with a few idle words; he wrestled for them, agonized in prayer, contending for their spiritual good as an athlete contends for the prize. And notice the goal of his striving: "that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God." He labored in prayer that they would be mature, established, and fully assured in God's will. Prayer, then, is not always calm and easy; the deepest prayer is a labor, a holy striving, a spending of oneself before God on behalf of others. Paul himself used this same word for his own agonizing concern for these believers (Colossians 2:1). So Epaphras stands as a model of the praying Christian: not merely mentioning others to God, but toiling and contending for them in earnest, persevering prayer, that they might stand complete in Christ.
Explanation
The letter ends with a warm roll of coworkers that shows the fellowship behind the mission — Aristarchus the fellowprisoner, Mark, Justus, Luke "the beloved physician," and Demas. One stands out: Epaphras, "always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete." The word pictures a man wrestling in intercession as in a contest. Paul directs that this letter be shared with Laodicea, greets the church that meets in a home, and signs with his own hand: "Remember my bonds." The chains of the apostle are the seal on his every word of grace.
Gospel Focus
Paul closes the letter with a warm roll call of names, and every one is a reminder that the gospel is carried by real people bound together in real fellowship. He sends greetings from "Aristarchus my fellowprisoner," from "Marcus, sister's son to Barnabas", the same Mark who once turned back but is now restored and useful, and from "Jesus, which is called Justus." These Jewish believers, "of the circumcision," had been "a comfort" to Paul and "fellowworkers unto the kingdom of God." Then he lingers over Epaphras, the one who had first brought the gospel to Colossae. Though far from them, Epaphras is "always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God." Here is a pastor's heart: he wrestles in prayer for his people's maturity, with "a great zeal" for them and for the neighboring churches. Paul also greets "Luke, the beloved physician," and, with a note that would later turn sad, "Demas," who in time "forsook" Paul, "having loved this present world" (2 Timothy 4:10), a sober reminder that being named among the workers is not the same as finishing well. He directs that the letter be shared with the church at Laodicea, and stirs up Archippus: "take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it." God gives a ministry, and each servant must take heed to complete it. Finally, Paul takes the pen himself: "the salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen." The great apostle, who has just unveiled the fullness of God in Christ, ends in chains, asking only that they remember his imprisonment and receive the grace of God. So the letter that soars to the heights of Christ's deity closes on the ground, among ordinary saints who pray, labor, and suffer together, all sustained by the same grace. The mystery of God in flesh is not lived out in isolation but in a praying, laboring, grace-kept fellowship, and grace has the last word.
Chapter 4 in Review
Colossians 4 closes the letter with prayer, witness, and fellowship. Masters are to be just, "knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven." The church is to "continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving," praying that God would "open... a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ." Believers are to "walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time," with speech "alway with grace, seasoned with salt." Then Paul greets a company of fellow workers, Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Mark, Justus, Epaphras, Luke, and others, commending Epaphras as "always labouring fervently for you in prayers," and charging Archippus to fulfil his ministry. He signs it in his own hand: "Remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen."
For the Apostolic reader this final chapter grounds the towering doctrine of Colossians in a living, praying community. The letter that declared "all the fulness of the Godhead" in Christ ends among named, ordinary believers who pray, labor, witness, and suffer together. It presses home that the Christian life is sustained by persistent, watchful, thankful prayer, that it seizes every opportunity to speak Christ to a watching world with gracious, well-seasoned speech, and that it is lived out in real fellowship, workers standing shoulder to shoulder for the kingdom of God, some wrestling in prayer like Epaphras, each charged to fulfil the ministry received "in the Lord." And it ends where all must end, in grace: "Grace be with you." So we pray without ceasing, redeem the time, speak with grace, labor together, finish our ministry, and rest in the grace of the God who has filled us with all His fullness in Christ.
- Those in authority answer to "a Master in heaven" and must be just (4:1).
- "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving" (4:2).
- Pray for open doors "to speak the mystery of Christ" (4:3).
- "Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time" (4:5).
- "Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt" (4:6).
- Epaphras was "always labouring fervently for you in prayers" (4:12).
Questions for Reflection
- Is your prayer life marked by persistence, watchfulness, and thanksgiving?
- Are you "redeeming the time," seizing opportunities to live and speak for Christ?
- Is your everyday speech "with grace, seasoned with salt"?
- Like Epaphras, do you labor fervently in prayer for others to stand complete in Christ?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. Masters and the heavenly Master; steadfast prayer: Colossians 4:1-4; Ephesians 6:9; Luke 18:1; Ephesians 6:18-20. Wise walk and gracious speech toward outsiders: Colossians 4:5-6; Ephesians 5:15-16; 1 Peter 3:15; Mark 9:50. Fellow workers and Epaphras' fervent prayer: Colossians 4:7-13; Colossians 1:7-8; Colossians 2:1; Philemon 23-24. Final greetings and the charge to Archippus: Colossians 4:14-18; 2 Timothy 4:10-11; 2 Timothy 4:5. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The heavenly Master; continue in prayer for open doors: Colossians 4:1-4; Ephesians 6:18-20.
- Walk in wisdom; speech with grace, seasoned with salt: Colossians 4:5-6; 1 Peter 3:15.
- Fellow workers; Epaphras labouring fervently in prayer: Colossians 4:7-13; Colossians 2:1.
- Final greetings; fulfil the ministry; grace be with you: Colossians 4:14-18; 2 Timothy 4:5.