Having opposed the false way of producing a holy life (2 v16-23), Paul now begins to teach the right way to produce a holy life. It comes first by seeking the things above (v1). This means continuing to seek Christ.

Believers are to set their minds on things above, this means thinking, using our minds (v2). This means having a spiritual and not a worldly focus.

The believer is to seek these things because of what has happened to them (v1a & 3). If salvation is primarily about what you do this can lead to seeking holiness by just your own efforts of legalism and asceticism rather than by seeking Christ and a deepening relationship and knowledge of Him.

Believers are to seek things above because of what will happen to them (v4). Dying and rising with Christ is just the beginning of salvation, it will end with glory. We will appear with Christ in glory does not just mean we will be with Him in heaven, it means we will be glorified, transformed into being with perfect and glorious natures. It is that knowledge that transforms us now.