In Colossians 3:1-2, the apostle Paul wrote, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” In light of the corruption that is present in our own society, such words are certainly needed.
The call is for Christians to comport themselves differently because of their relationship with their Savior. We have been raised with Christ. As Paul put it in Romans 6:4, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” While not explicitly stated in the text, our leaving the waters of baptism, dead to sin and alive to Christ, is a raising that parallels the resurrection of our Lord. It is a new birth, a renewal, a conversion. We should not longer be as the world, but rather “transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).
The call is accomplished in the mind. We set our minds on things above. Our focus is not on the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes, but on our eternal abode and the things of God.
Why do we do this? Back to Colossians 3:4, “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” The old man (the man of sin) is dead. Because of this, the new man is to “put to death [his] members which are on the earth” (vs. 5). This is not optional. It is what it means to belong to Him.
