“Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.”
“toward those who are outside”
“Outside” speaks to our testimony to those who do not know Christ. Note the phrase “those who are outside.” This idea occurs again in
1 Thessalonians 4:12: “That you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.”
A similar phrase occurs in
1 Timothy 3:7: “Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside.”
Ephesians 2:12-13 says that non-Christians are “without Christ,”
“without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
They are “without,” but what are they outside? They are outside Christ because they have not been “brought near” to God “by the blood of Christ.”
Principle:
Those who do not trust the blood of Christ as sufficient to pay for their sin are outside God.
Application:
Are you outside God? Do you know how to get inside? If you depend upon your well-heeled life, you stand outside God.
The sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross is the only way to get on the inside with God. We must come to trust His death for our sins if we are going to be right with God. If we do this, God will let us into His heaven.
Here is a summary of getting on the inside with God:
Recognize that you have not measured up to the standard of God’s righteousness (Rom. 3:10,23).
Accept by faith that Jesus died on the cross for your and forgave you eternally (Rom. 4:5; 5:1).
