You Who Live, Set Your Mind on the Things Above
1If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. 2Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. 3For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory. 5Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry; 6for which things’ sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience. 7You also once walked in those, when you lived in them; 8but now you also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth. 9Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings, 10and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator, 11where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all.
You will probably know the fruit called the quince. It grows on the quince tree, a member of the rose family. Its blossoms are lovely, and though the fruit itself is remarkably ugly, its fragrance is wonderful.
Because its scent is so fine for its looks, a Korean proverb is said to have arisen: “The trifoliate orange may be smooth, yet it ends up tossed about in a beggar’s hand; the quince may be pockmarked, yet it spends the winter in a scholar’s study.” People thought the quince was of little use, since it is ugly and hard besides, but as they took an interest in it and studied it, they learned that it does much good for the airways and the digestion. The world treats Jesus the way it treats a shabby, ugly quince. Just as an ugly quince gives off a lovely fragrance when it is cut, so when God hung the lowly Jesus on the cross, a fragrance spread so sweet that it drove back the foul stench of the whole world’s sin. Because believers in Christ carry the fragrance of Jesus, God cherished them as he cherishes Jesus, and gave them spiritual authority and power to carry the fragrance of Christ to the ends of the earth. Yet the richer a fruit’s scent, the fouler its smell when it rots. If we who bear that fragrance mix with the world and rot, people will not come near us for the stench. So we must take care to keep that fragrance.
People who want to keep quinces for a long time slice them and steep them in sugar, which deepens their flavor. Like the quince, believers sometimes walk the road of suffering so that their fragrance may last. Suffering can be hard and painful enough to feel like death. Yet in the midst of it we can learn a wisdom that is both deep and broad. Evil spirits are always at work in the world, and that makes life itself a hardship. But once we come to know the grace of God, we can overcome it. God’s children must understand that their road is not the world’s road and that they think on a different plane. If they do not accept this, they will end up thinking only of the things on the earth. Of course, the world does not look on them fairly. It neither embraces them as God does nor takes their side no matter what. Unlike God, who shows mercy and forgives, the world rebukes and condemns even the smallest fault. But believers who have received God’s love must live lives that give off fragrance, sacrificing themselves like the quince to lead even one soul to heaven. I hope you will carry the gospel to the ends of the earth, loving souls as Jesus loves them.
Though you live in the world, you must set your hope on the things that are above. If you live a holy life, God will give you the blessings of the earth and spiritual power so that you can take on more of his work. I hope you will pray for material provision, for ability, and for ease of life.
Because God made everything on the earth, he will answer if the purpose of what we ask is clear. The things we want are worthless and will soon rot away, yet God hears the pleas of his people, answers them, and gives them joy. Children, for example, beg their parents to buy them a toy. The parents know it will soon break and want to give them a better one, but the child insists on having it now and will not listen. Because the child shuts their eyes, stops their ears, and cries for the very toy they have set their heart on, the parents buy it, knowing full well it will soon be broken. Yet before long the child will not even look at it.
In the same way, God is showing us, who pray with our eyes fixed only on earthly things, that there are many far better things than these. He has said that though we now cling to the earth and plead for worthless things that will return to dust, if we seek the things that are above, we will see how worthless the earthly things we now crave really are. Even so, God gives the blessings of the world, because all of them are tools that make the things above shine. Believers whose hope is in heaven do not dismiss the things of the world as worthless and useless; rather, they must give themselves to using earthly things as tools that display the things above. If believers spend the things of the world freely to extend the Kingdom of God, God will answer all their prayers. Like parents urging a child who stares at the ground picking up stones, with the wide sea right in front of them, to look up at that sea and the vast sky, God urges his people to hold on to the hope of heaven. He is calling his children to set their hope not on a pitiable world that will face his judgment but on the heaven that will last forever.
Colossians 3:2-3
2Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. 3For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
We are now dead to sin, and through faith in Christ we are dead to the law, so we must not become attached to the world and the things on the earth. For those whose hope is in heaven, the things on the earth are no more than accessories. In God’s eyes the world is a small thatched hut on the point of collapse. He has built a large and beautiful house to give his children; if they cried that they would not leave their wretched hut, what could be more baffling? In the command to seek the things that are above, to “seek” means “to strive to obtain” or “to long for.” And in the command not to set our minds on the things that are on the earth, to “set the mind” means “to keep in the heart.”
What have you labored for until now, and what have you kept in your heart? Our longing to extend God’s Kingdom is something we must fight for with our very lives, as in war. What we care about on this earth makes a difference to how many people are saved, so the purpose we live for matters greatly. If we set our minds on earthly things, then, since the world is already like Sodom, full of sin and past all hope, God will raise the rod of judgment. If those who received new life from Christ hunger after what is rotten, death will reign again, and a chance to turn back will not easily be given. So in Colossians 2:21 Paul says not to handle the world, nor taste it, nor touch it. Human beings, made from dust, share the very nature of the world, and once they have handled it, tasted it, and touched it, they cannot easily let it go. We are people who have received eternal life through the sacrifice of Jesus. When Jesus bore the cross, we who believe died with him on the cross, and when Jesus rose again, we too rose in him.
Philippians 3:19-20
19whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who think about earthly things. 20For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
Those who think about earthly things are enemies of Christ, and their end is destruction. Because our citizenship has been transferred from earth to heaven, we live waiting for Jesus Christ, who will come again on the last day. Heaven and earth work as one, so if we who are saved do not set our hope on heaven but think only of the vain and empty things of the earth, we will not receive God’s comfort. The world is fleeting and hollow, and it lies under a blanket of sin. However much of the earth’s goods we gather, we must leave all of it behind when we leave this body behind, and that is why we must seek the things that are above, which we can possess forever. What we are called to do is to obey the word, keep the faith, and bring ourselves into submission, and so be sanctified. That is what is truly worthwhile; that is good fruit. Because it is holy fruit that God will accept, we must bear it. You too have probably felt that when you prayed, read the word, came to understand the truth, and gave yourself to God, he filled you with a joy and fullness far greater than you had imagined. This is the spiritual blessing the Holy Spirit gives. Yet you will also know that, even with that joy in mind, praying, reading the word, and serving God do not turn into action as easily as you would like. The things above can be received only by bringing ourselves into submission even to the point of death, while the things of the earth come easily, with no effort at all. Paul therefore said to put to death our members which are on the earth. Those earthly members are sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, and such covetousness is called idolatry. [Colossians 3:5]
In this world a culture of sexual immorality that tolerates unnatural sexual relations is spreading everywhere. People are not content with what they already have and want more, and so covetousness drives them to eat the forbidden fruit the world holds out. Having reached the point where they can no longer master their desires, people cling to possessions, power, and pleasure, not caring even if it is a sin that breaks God’s law. But if we are to be there with Christ, who is our life, when he comes again in glory, we must put our earthly members to death. We too once lived in sexual immorality and covetousness and rebelled against the word of God, and while death reigned we could not even recognize it. But if we, washed of our sins by the atoning death of Jesus, fail to put to death the sins of the flesh and clothe ourselves in them again, we will not be able to come before God. Paul commanded them to put away covetousness, anger, and wrath, and with that he told them to put away even the malice, slander, shameful speaking, and lies that come out of their mouths. He was urging believers who had put on the new man through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ not to put on the old man and his doings again. Fallen human nature harbors a heart that harms and slanders others. Of all the evil impulses people carry, the one they use most is lying, the very thing the devil used to deceive Eve, which people will employ by any means to get their own way.
God caused those who believe in Jesus Christ to become the new man, gave them his wisdom and knowledge through the Holy Spirit, and made them cast off the elementary knowledge they had held. God made human beings in his own image, and that tells us how much he loved them. Yet the very people created in God’s image, in truth and holiness, betrayed him and fell for Satan’s temptation and lies. When Paul speaks of the higher knowledge renewed after God’s image, he means a knowledge of faith that can be received only in union with Christ, in other words, spiritual insight. The reason we must seek the things that are above is to know, understand, and exalt the holy and almighty God.
Revelation 1:7
7Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen.
Christ coming with the clouds refers to his second coming. When Jesus came to this earth to atone for the sins of humanity, he had to come as a perfect man. But when he comes again, he will come as Judge, riding on the clouds, escorted by the armies of heaven, with power and great glory. Jesus declared that he was the one, and that they would see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of the sky. [Mark 14:62] Because he will come like a thief, without warning, no one can know the time, but he said that the whole world will see him come. When that astonishing event takes place, believers will be at the side of Jesus Christ, and those who persecuted Christ will see the believers with him. Those who pierced Jesus will see his return; not only the wicked who put him to death, but also those who persecute Christians today, will witness the judgment and the salvation of that day. At that time, those whose names are not written in the book of life will face a great judgment. Jesus came the first time, and will come the second time, for one single purpose, and it is for the sake of the believers who trust that he will come again.
If you believe this, you are God’s people who will live forever in heaven, so you must cut off sin now. Never let the things of the earth become the goal of your life. The world will be judged and destroyed on the last day, and only by living for the things that are above, rather than for the vain and empty possessions of the earth, can we share in eternal life, eternal joy, and rest. The self-denial and self-punishment the false teachers teach are not the right path to sanctification. We see people who live for the things of this earth injuring themselves or setting out on a road of hardship, because they do not know what holiness is. But you are members of Christ’s body, so it is not right to wound yourself or torment your body in order to offer it for holy use. To think of such hardship as devotion is to misunderstand who God is, and it wastes the years. Such people, who toil to the point of death for their faith, are in the end judged no differently from those who did nothing at all. We will share in glory with Jesus when he comes again; yet if we cannot let go of the perishable things of the earth and cling to sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, God will severely rebuke us. God has called all these sins idolatry.
God has told us never to do what his law forbids, because those things lead people away from him and mean being taken in by Satan’s plan. Suppose someone risked their own life to drag a drowning person out of the water, and that person then jumped back in, saying they had to fetch their coat. Would you want to dive in again to save them? Whoever does not live as a citizen of heaven should will have no second chance. The Lord laid down his own life to pull them, just barely, out of the fire of hell; if they go back to the place of sin, unwilling to lose the earthly things burning in that fire, there is no reason to rescue them again.
Romans 1:31-32
31without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.
Those who refuse to keep God in their thoughts give themselves to uncleanness and greed. Because such sins are worthy of death, they are not easily forgiven. A death sentence is, in the end, proof that a sin beyond forgiveness has been committed, so God will not rescue again those who have abandoned the faith. Therefore, on the last day, they will be judged and will receive the second death; that is the death sentence God spoke of.
To be born children of darkness and become children of light, to be bound for eternal punishment and receive eternal life instead, is God’s special grace; but guarding that blessing is our part. Now, I hope you will cast off this vain and empty world. If you use the earthly things God has entrusted to you to guard the things above, you will be highly commended, like those who served God with unrighteous wealth. God desires that Greeks and Jews, the circumcised and the uncircumcised, barbarians, Scythians, bondservants, and freemen all be saved without distinction. Salvation was not given to a privileged class but to everyone who believes in Jesus Christ, with no distinction at all. If we put to death our members on the earth and live holy lives after the image of God, God will save us without distinction, whatever our circumstances. This is God’s purpose, his mercy, and his love. To this end he has been at work to this very day, and through that work we have come to stand among the saved.
My earnest hope is that you will put on the good, true, and holy garment of Christ, honor the name of God, and on the last day stand beside Christ at his coming, smiling with joy, at peace and at rest.