If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  (2) Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.  (3) For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  (4) When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.  (9) Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, (10) and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, (11) where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised not uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

The letter to the Colossians was written by the Apostle Paul.  The first two chapters of the letter refute the errors of false teachers who were telling the Christians at Colosse that salvation was not only by grace but also by human regulation and ceremony – what I think of as Jesus, AND.  Paul argues that Jeaus Christ is sufficient – that “Christ is all and in all.”

In chapter 3 of Colossians Paul moves to ask his readers to live daily to reflect the indwelling Christ – their union with Christ by grace through faith. Paul tells the reborn that they are dead to sin – their sins are covered by the completed work of Our Lord. We are dead to the world’s way of thinking and acting. This is a mystical experience but real. We are to set out minds on heavenly things; to live on a different plane in Christ. Paul is not saying we are to withdraw from the world but to live with thoughts of eternity – our lives in Christ should be expressed in all our thoughts, actions and relationships.  Christians have had a radical experience through faith – we are renewed, reborn, with a true knowledge of reality. In this realm of the new self all distinctions are removed and all are equal in the eyes of God.

We are new men and women through faith in Christ Jesus and we had better act to reflect this new reality.