Colossians 3:1

Colossians 3:1-4.The subject continued; life in union with the Risen One

1. If The "if" not of conjecture but of assumption, as in Colossians 2:20. He takes them all for granted, as really united to Christ by a living faith, sealed by holy Baptism.

then The thought goes back to all the previous statements of the Christian's glorious position and privilege in Christ. In view of these Divine facts, the poor expedients of a mechanical religious routine are seen to be as needless as they are futile. The secret of moral victory is opened, and it consists in using the powers conveyed to the believer through federal and vital oneness with his Head.

ye … be risen Lit. and far better, ye did rise, or were raised. The time-reference is, ideally, to the hour of Christ's Resurrection; biographically, to their own union with Him by faith. Of that faith their baptism, with its immersion and emersion, was symbol, seal, and monument. See above on Colossians 2:12.

In Christ the Crucified they had "died to" the guilt, and so to the despotic claim, of sin. In Christ the Risen they had "risen to" a life of full acceptance, and also to life-power, and life-endowments, derived from His "indissoluble life" (Hebrews 7:16); in fact, to the possession of the indwelling Spirit which He, as Risen, "shed forth" (Acts 2:33), and which gives to the limb the strength and holiness of the Head, to be used and realized. See above on Colossians 2:12.

with Christ The holy Union appears in every word.

seek thosethings which are above As the exile seeks home (Hebrews 11:14), or as a thing gravitating seeks its centre. The precept bears full on the problem last in view, how to meet "the indulgence of the flesh." It is best met by the looking-awayof the soul, heavenward, Christ ward, in the recollection of its new and eternal life in Him. The "things above" are thus "sought" both as the goal of hope and the antidote to temptation. For the phrase the "things above" (here and Colossians 3:2), cp. John 8:23: "I am from the things above."

where The "things above" are just so far localizedas they have to do with the glorified Body of the incarnate and ascended Lord.

Christ sitteth Better, Christ is, seated. (So R.V.) Vulgate, Christus est … sedens. First, His presence"there," in general, is in view; then, His session.

" Seated" :cp. Matthew 26:64; Mark 16:19; Luke 22:69; Ephesians 1:20; Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 8:1; Hebrews 10:12; Hebrews 12:2; Revelation 3:21. See Psalms 110:1, with the quotations Matthew 22:44 (and parallels); Zechariah 6:13; Acts 2:34; Hebrews 1:13 (cp. 1 Corinthians 15:24-27). The imagery denotes the repose and empire of the ascended Christ, who has for ever done the work of sacrificial offering, and now "sits" to dispense the blessings He has wrought. Two exceptions only appear; Acts 7:56, where He "stands" to aid and welcome the martyr; Revelation 5:6, where the mystic Lamb, new ascended, "stands" close by the throne, not on it, but about to approach and (Revelation 22:3) claim it.

on the right hand I.e., on the throne, at the Father's "right hand." The words not only state a fact, but have here a special significance. To "seek the things above" is to go out in spirit towards a Christ triumphant and reigning, and therefore all-competent to save and bless.