What is an "Open Door"?

When Christians speak about open doors, we often mean something different than when Scripture uses this phrase. In Scripture, “open doors” usually refers to – well, um – open doors, as in actual doors opening to a temple, house, tent, prison, or even a bathroom. But Paul uses this concept four times as a metaphor to describe something else, something more abstract. What would that be?

• Luke describes the outcome of Paul’s first missionary journey as though “God had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles” (Acts 14:27).
• When Paul described his work in Ephesus after his next missionary journey, he said, “A great and effective door has opened to me” (1 Cor 16:9).
• At Troas, another juncture in Paul’s travels, Paul said, “A door was opened to me by the Lord” (2 Cor 2:12).
• While he was incarcerated in Rome, he requested prayers that “God would open to [him] a door for the word” (Col 4:3).

From these four statements we can see that Paul used “open doors” to describe a special set of circumstances, about which we can make at least four important observations.

God had opened these doors.

Paul or some other person had not opened these doors himself by coercion, clever strategies, or force. God himself had opened these doors on their behalf. These were circumstances arranged by the providence of God, not the ingenuity or tenacity of people.

These doors had opened only after Paul had taken some initial action.

Paul planned, traveled, and engaged in ministry endeavors first, then God opened the doors (or special circumstances) afterwards. This scenario differs from the way we normally understand “open doors” today. We tend to wait for doors to open for us before we take action, not after. Before we take action, we believe that “open doors” will show us what decisions to make, what to do, or which way to go.

But Paul presents a different scenario. He made decisions and took action first, then God would open doors afterward, somewhere along the way. These “doors” opened after Paul went on his first or second missionary journeys, for instance, not before. In other words, open doors did not determine Paul’s actions, but his actions led to God opening doors. Though it was God who had opened these doors, he did so sometime after Paul had made some initial choices and performed some initial actions.

These doors pertain to gospel opportunity.

When Paul spoke about open doors, he wasn’t referring to opportunities for self-advancement and major personal life decisions (like finding a spouse, choosing a college, making a career change, etc.). He referred to something specific, namely opportunities to advance the gospel and to mentor followers of Christ instead.

• God “had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles” (Acts 14:27).
• The Lord opened a door to “preach Christ’s gospel” (2 Cor 2:12).
• He requested that God open a door “for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ” (Col 4:3).

For Paul, “open doors” were special opportunities that God had arranged for the purpose of promoting the message of Christ, nothing else.

These opportunities were strategic but not necessarily favorable.

When we speak about “open doors,” we usually envision a set of favorable or unusually optimal circumstances which make our decision or situation easier, leading to “smoother sailing” moving forward in our endeavors. Yet the doors that God opened to Paul were not always favorable or ideal.

• Though God “had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles” on Paul’s first missionary journey, that trip was not without problems (Acts 14:27; cf. Acts 13:4-14:27).
• Though God had opened “a great and effective door” in Ephesus, there were also “many adversaries” (1 Cor 16:9; cf. Acts 19:21-41).
• When Paul requested God to “open a door for the word,” he was speaking while incarcerated in a prison cell (Col 4:3). Yet he did not request an open door from which to escape his prison. He requested an opportunity to spread the gospel within the prison, instead.

From these examples we see that “open doors” to Paul were special opportunities for spreading the gospel message which God had opened sometime after Paul had taken initial actions for that purpose. Paul did not sit around waiting for gospel opportunities to present themselves. He took action and then looked for God’s special intervention along the way, looking for opportunities to advance the gospel in particular rather than his own personal agenda or goals.

How does this brief study challenge your thinking about the role of “open doors” in making decisions? Do you have a biblical view? Do you view open doors as a set of favorable circumstances that help you make major personal decisions or as special opportunities to advance the gospel, though often accompanied by serious difficulties as well?