"If ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world,
are ye subject to ordinances? … If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things
on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our
life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory" (Col. 2:20; 3:1-4).

When a man dies, he leaves behind him the wealth, rank, ease, reputation, and energy that
constituted his enjoyment in this life. So does the Christian die by virtue of Christ’s death and
resurrection. Thus it is a great truth on which he is called to act while he is still on the earth. In
Christ he is now dead to the world. Many Christians entirely overlook this truth either as a
privilege for enjoyment or as a reality for practice. To them it is a mere mysticism, the idea of
being dead and risen with Christ, which they are too humble and reverent to look on and think
about.

In Christ we are dead from the elements of the world and consequently have nothing to do with
ordinances. These might be all well enough for men alive in the world, but necessarily cannot
apply to dead men. It is a total spiritual contradiction. Now the Christian is dead by virtue of the
cross of Christ. This is all a matter of faith. Of course, he is alive naturally; he is disposed also,
if not occupied with Christ as his life, to have old thoughts and habits revived. As a believer I
ought to distrust every judgment, every feeling I have had as a natural man, remembering that the
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.

In Chapter 3 we advance a step farther. The apostle reasons from our being risen with Christ. It
is not merely that we shall die and rise, but that we are dead and risen. Even many Christians who
use the words constantly do not really enter into the meaning of this language, and for an obvious
reason:they are not living in the truth of it practically. They are too habitually mixed up with the
world to understand such absolute separation from it. It is not that they are dull of understanding
in the things and interests of nature. But their speech and their ways betray them, proving how
far they are from intelligence of the Scripture itself. They substitute mysticism for the truth.

"Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." It is very
beautiful to note the allusion to Christ’s place on high outside the world. Thus His settled peace
in glory is our keynote. The resurrection of Christ, or rather, our being risen with Him, is urged
as the ground for our seeking the things above.

"Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." Who can loyally have divided
affections? As our Lord Himself said, "Ye cannot serve God and mammon." The Lord put it as
a moral impossibility. But here it is urged as an exhortation founded on the immense grace that
has raised us up with Christ risen. In vain do you try to be occupied at the same time with things
heavenly and earthly. Our calling is to have our mind on the things above, not merely now and
again, but at all times. Suppose a person is engaged in business; is he not to attend to it? Surely;
yet not to set his mind on it, but simply to go through all as a duty to the Lord. Ought he not to
do it better than another man who has not Christ? I am assured that such would be the fruit of

looking to the Lord, while the same faith and singleness of eye would preserve him from the
snares of covetousness, as well as the desire to have a high place in the world. The Christian thus
taught and walking has an object before his soul which alone is adequate to raise a man above self
and the world. Of course, if he is thus laboring day by day before the Lord, the consciousness of
the grace in which he stands would deliver him from the carelessness, or self-indulgence, or
speculation, which might cause men to get into debt or to act in other dishonorable ways. For this
is to sink beneath even decent worldliness. Yet, if a Christian does not walk with exercised
conscience before the Lord, he is in danger of doing worse and going farther astray than an
ordinary man. Humbling and grievous as this may be, it is not surprising. The main object of
Satan is to dishonor Christ in those who bear His name, and the power of the Spirit is only with
those whose heart is toward Christ. It is not, then, "Have your mind partly on things above and
partly on things on the earth," but have it not at all on the things that are on the earth.

Whatever the Lord gives you to do, you can take up as service to the Lord. But even here there
is need to watch carefully, and this includes, not the least, spiritual work in the gospel or in the
Church. Take, for instance, research into the Scriptures. One might be absorbed in the niceties
of the language, the prophecies, the poetry, the history, or the doctrine. Any or all of these might
become a snare. Where is safety for us but in Christ Himself_Christ as He is above?

"For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God." The prevalent notion with many is that
the Christian is all the better qualified to fill a place in the world because he is a Christian. But
this is in truth to deny the primary and precious truth of God that I am dead, which my very
baptism confesses. And it is remarkable that the impression of the world about any one who
receives Christ is that he is as good as gone. They feel that he is lost to his former objects; and
if he takes his place in any full measure as belonging to Christ, he ceases to act as one alive in the
world. Alas! Christendom soon accustoms him to be false to Christ. But the truth is that "ye are
dead, and your Me is hid with Christ in God." As yet it is hidden; Christ has not yet caused His
glory to be seen by the world. Therefore a Christian should be content to be for a little while an
object of rejection and scorn. Faith and patience are thus put to the proof; God allows it to be so,
and a Christian ought not to wonder at it, for Christ had just the same portion. The reason why
we are despised is thus a blessed source of joy in our sorrow. The time is short. All will soon be
changed.

There is a further truth:"When Christ, who is our Me, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with
Him in glory." Christ is not always as now to be hidden:He is about to be manifested; and when
He is, we too shall be manifested with Him in glory. God will bring us along with Him, as we
learn elsewhere. We shall be translated to Him in order that, when He shall be seen by every eye,
we may have the same portion with Him. May we be thus encouraged to live for Him here below,
having in view our future portion with Christ in glory.

(From Lectures on Colossians.)