t, who brought his body again from the grave and entered into
life eternal, and the resurrection of ourselves, who, by virtue of his
rising, shall likewise be raised: first, the soul, from a trivial and
guilty life shall rise into a true, divine and happy existence; and
second, from this sinful and mortal body shall rise out of the grave
an immortal, glorious one.

So Paul terms believing Christians both "dead" and "alive." They are
spiritually dead in this life and also spiritually alive.
Nevertheless, this sinful temporal life must yet come to an end in
physical death, for the destruction of the sin and death inherent
therein, that body and spirit may live forever. Therefore he says:

"If then ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are
above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God."

7. In other words: Seek and strive after what is above--the things
divine, heavenly and eternal; not the terrestrial, perishable,
worldly. Make manifest the fact that you are now spiritually raised
and by the same power will later be raised bodily.

8. But does this mean that we, as Christians, are no more to eat and
drink, to till the ground, to attend to domestic or public duties, or
to engage in any kind of labor? Are we to live utterly idle,
practically dead? Is that what you mean, Paul, when you say we are not
to seek the things of earth, though all these are essentially incident
to life? What can you say to the fact that Christ the Lord is,
himself, with us on earth? for he said before his ascension to heaven
(Mt 28, 20): "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the
world"; and also the baptism which he commands, the sacrament and the
office of Gospel ministry whereby he governs his Church here--these
are things of earth.

9. Paul, however, explains in the succeeding verse what he means by
"things that are upon the earth" and "things that are above." He is
not telling us to despise earthly objects. He does not refer to God's
created things, all which are good, as God himself considered them;
nor has he reference to the Christian who, in his earthly life, must
deal with the things of creation. He has in mind the individual
without knowledge of God; who knows no more, and aims no further, than
reason teaches, that reason received from parents at physical birth;
who is an unbeliever, ignorant of God and the future life and caring
not for them; who follows only natural understanding and human des