Col 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Col 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Many will read this verse and talk about heaven.
However, this is not talking about heaven as a location as much as it's talking about a status to which our earthly conduct must align.
Set your affection on things above...
If ye then be risen with Christ...
What is he actually saying? "if ye then be RISEN". You cannot be "risen" without first being DEAD. Right? So check the pretext.
Col 2:20 Wherefore if ye be DEAD with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
So it means if you are DEAD with Christ, you should not be subject to ordinances. If you are, you're not living UPRIGHTLY according to your status. Did you get that?
Col 2:20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
Col 2:21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
So if you have been subject to ordinances, REPENT NOW, because you are living as though ALIVE in the world. Better put, YOU ARE WORLDY. Hmm... Friendship with the world = enmity with God.
Also note that, IF IT IS AFTER THE RUDIMENTS OF THE WORLD (ordinances), IT IS NOT AFTER CHRIST.
Col 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and {that is,} not after Christ
Now what are "ordinances"? (Next part)
So, only those who have DIED with Christ from the things of the world, can RISE with Him. {Don't forget if you are born again, you have died with Christ. Only that because you don't know, you are living as though alive in the world)
That is what opens up chapter 3 that: "If ye then be risen with Christ".
Note the order here!
You are first DEAD to "ordinances", and then you RISE to the "above life" where Christ sitteth.
So according to this book, you CANNOT be "heavenly conscious" when you are still alive to ordinaces {touch not, taste not, handle not}. And without this, verse 4 cannot happen.
v4: "When Christ, our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory".
It's not saying you won't make heaven. It's saying Christ, your life, won't APPEAR. Rather,what will appear is... Guess...
So v5 says: "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection..."
that is, "DEADify your members on the EARTH, and LIVEify that which is above where Christ sitteth.
Don't forget in a hurry how you must DEADify these things. By "why as though LIVING in the world are ye SUBJECT TO ORDINANCES?" That is, by not being subject to ordinances.
And what are these "members"?
He's not saying you should visit a doctor and tell him you want to kill your sensory cells, so that you will be completely dead to sensations. In fact, doing that will mean the exact opposite of what this verse is saying. You are now by that being STRONGLY subject to some ordinances - "feel not, sense not, appreciate not".
So whatever makes you seek after the rudiments of the world (ordinances) that is, not after Christ are the "your members upon the earth"
So what are these "ordinances"?
Next part

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