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times by the apostle, to suggest not merely an opportunity but rather an opportunity for
service definitely indicated by God:--
"A great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries"
(I Cor. 16: 9).
"A door was opened unto me of the Lord" (II Cor. 2: 12).
"How He had opened a door of faith unto the Gentiles" (Acts 14: 27).
Let us not pass these passages by without a glance at their message. The first passage
(I Cor. 16: 9), where the open door is associated with many adversaries, has become
almost proverbial. We seem instinctively to realize that the two things go together. This
is to be expected, for if there is an active enemy of the truth, we must not be surprised to
find him and his agents doing their utmost to block the way. This principle can be seen at
work in Acts 14: and 15:
Immediately following the opening of the door of faith to the Gentiles come certain
men from Judaea with circumcision and law to block it (Acts 15: 1-5).
While the principle we are discussing is true, we must not be misled into the belief
that all shut doors are of the devil, and that all open doors are of the Lord. The reference
to the open door in II Cor. 2: 2 speaks of Troas. Now if we read Acts 15: 1-10, we
shall find there two doors shut by the Lord--doors in Asia and in Bithynia (Acts 16: 6,
7). These were divine prohibitions with the object of forcing the apostle on to Troas, so
that there he might receive the vision of the man of Macedonia, and enter the open door
into Europe. In each case the open door was an opportunity for the ministry of the Word,
and Col. 4: 3 is no exception. In no case did the apostle open the door for himself--"Is
opened", "was opened", "He had opened" are the words used. He lived in the spirit of
the words written by John: "I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it"
(Rev. 3: 8).
It is suggestive that it is to the church of Philadelphia, to which no rebuke is
addressed, that the opened door is given. If the prayer for Paul revolves around
"the Word", that mystery of Christ for which he was in bonds, his solicitude for the
Colossians is also concerned with the same subject--for the original reads: "Let the
Word of you be always with grace." This translation--rather than the A.V.: "Let your
speech be always with grace"--makes more evident the parallel given in the structure.
The Athenians were celebrated for their elegance in conversation and discourse; such
a quality of speech was called by the ancients "Attic salt". The apostle, however,
repudiates most emphatically the mere wisdom of words (I Cor. 1: 17), and uses the figure
of salt for grace. The fact that salt adds savour to food, and is a great preservative against
corruption, is evidently in mind in the figure:--
"Let no corrupt communications proceed out of your mouth . . . . . minister grace unto
the hearers" (Eph. 4: 29).