In vv. 7-17 the apostle's fellowship shows us that the new man as practiced at the apostle's time was an issue of the apostle's work, which encouraged the believers to seek after Christ, the very constituent of the new man, as their enjoyment. By means of the traffic among the churches, we experience in a practical way the living of the new man. Such a living has Christ as its reality.

Salt makes food agreeable and pleasant to the taste. Speech seasoned with salt keeps us at peace with one another (Mark 9:50).

See note Eph. 4:29^3c. Every word proceeding out of our mouth must be with Christ and must be the uttering of Christ, who is grace.

See note Eph. 5:16^1a.

This implies that we need to keep ourselves open to the word of God.

In prayer we need to be watchful and alert, not negligent. Such watchfulness should be accompanied by thanksgiving. A lack of thanksgiving is an indication of prayerlessness. The prayer life is kept by watching with thanksgiving.

Prayer preserves the grace that we received in chs. 1—3.

I.e., continue persistently, steadfastly, and earnestly.

In the Greek, stand here is in the passive voice. Hence, it implies being placed, being presented, and corresponds with present in Col. 1:28.

Or, complete.

See note Col. 1:9¹.

The church in the house of Nymphas was the local church in Laodicea, which met in Nymphas's house. Such meetings in the saints' homes afford every attending believer the opportunity to function, and they also strengthen the mutual fellowship among the saints.

Some MSS read, her; others, their.