“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.” (Colossians 4:5-6 NKJV)

Who are those who are “outside”? From a Christian perspective this would be speaking of those who are outside the faith, who are not followers of Jesus Christ, in practice. And this can include many who profess faith in Jesus Christ with their lips but whose hearts are far from God. Those outside of faith in Jesus Christ are all those who do not submit to Christ as Lord in surrender of their lives to him in obedience to his commands in holy living, as a matter of life practice. For sin is still their practice, not holy living.

And what does it mean to walk in wisdom? What is wisdom? From a spiritual perspective it is not just knowledge, but it is discernment and good insight and good judgment. It is making wise, sensible, careful, and thoughtful life choices about words spoken, and actions, and decisions. It is doing what is good and what is beneficial for oneself and for others, making right and kind and just decisions about what to do, and where to go, and what to say, and how to respond, etc. And this should be the norm in all our relationships.

For this should never be a performance, or a manipulation, or something we “put on” for certain people while we are not the same when we are with other people. We should walk in wisdom all the time, no matter who we are with, as those who are genuine followers of Jesus Christ. And this is not to say we will always do it perfectly, or that we will never fail at this, but that our lives should be consistent, no matter who we are with. But we do need a guided (of the Holy Spirit) approach with those who are outside the faith.

And this never means diluting or altering the gospel message to make it less offensive to the ungodly. For love speaks the truth that people need to hear, not the lies which make them feel good. And “grace” is not lying to people. The grace of God, in fact, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live upright, godly, and self-controlled lives during our time on this earth. So grace is kind, but lying to people to make them feel good is never kind. Speak the truth in love!

For this is what it means to let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt. We should never be nasty or hateful in our speech. We should always be loving and kind. But loving and kind means speaking the truth in love to people that they need to hear to save them from hell and to give them the truth about what Jesus did for us on that cross to redeem us. For he put our sins to death with him on that cross so we will now, by faith, turn from our sins and obey our Lord and his commands, from now forward.

And it is critical that we are obeying our Lord in sharing with all people, including professing Christians, the truth of the gospel of our salvation for their deliverance from bondage to sin so that they can now live to please God with their lives, in surrender to his will. For the Scriptures make it clear that if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, we will not have salvation from sin, and we will not have eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips profess. So we need to believe God, and then obey him.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

For By Grace

Based off Ephesians 2:8-10
An Original Work / January 27, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

For by grace we’ve been saved
Of all our sins,
So that with Christ Jesus
Our lives begin.
Cleansing us from sin,
He made pure within
All who trust in Him
As their Savior, friend,
So that with Christ Jesus
Our lives begin.

We’ve been saved through faith;
This not from ourselves,
Lest that we should boast
In our fleshly works.
Our salvation is
A gift from our God,
Who loves us so much
That He gave His Son
To die on the cross
For all of our sins.

So repent of all
Of your sins today,
And He’ll forgive you;
Wipe your sins away.
Obey all of His
Teachings given you,
So that you can walk
With Him now in truth;
So that you can walk
With Him now in truth.

Graceful, but Salty
An Original Work / May 8, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love