The believer's position determines his pursuit. Because he is risen with Christ (a settled fact, the if meaning since), he is to seek things above. Identity drives behavior; what we are determines what we seek.

Where Christ sitteth. The believer's focus is to be where Christ is — at God's right hand. The orientation of the heart follows the location of the treasure (Matthew 6:21). Since our life is hidden with Christ above, our gaze belongs above.

Ye are dead — to the old life, to sin's dominion, to the world's claim. The believer died with Christ. Your life is hid with Christ in God — safe, secure, concealed in the most protected place in the universe.

The security of the believer. The life is hidden — not visible to the world, not subject to its threats, kept safe in God Himself through Christ. To get at the believer's true life, an enemy would have to get past Christ and past God. It cannot be done.

Christ, who is our life. Not Christ who gives life, though He does — Christ who is our life. The believer's very life is Christ Himself (Galatians 2:20, Philippians 1:21).

Then shall ye also appear with him in glory. The hidden life will be publicly revealed at Christ's return. The glory now concealed will then be displayed. The believer's destiny is to share in Christ's glory openly.

Mortify — put to death. The believer is to actively kill the sinful patterns of the old life. Not manage them, not moderate them — put them to death. The verb is decisive and ongoing.

Covetousness, which is idolatry. A striking identification. The desire for more — money, possessions, status — is idolatry because it sets the heart on something other than God. The respectable sin of covetousness is named alongside the gross sins as equally deadly.

The positive counterpart to mortifying. Having put off the old, the believer puts on the new — five graces listed, all relational, all the marks of Christ's own character.

As the elect of God, holy and beloved. The motivation is identity. Because you are chosen, holy, and beloved, dress accordingly. The wardrobe of the new man matches the dignity of the new identity.

Above all these things, charity — love. Love is the outer garment that holds all the others together, the bond of perfectness. The other virtues without love would be incomplete; love binds them into a unified whole.

1 Corinthians 13 says the same — without love, all other virtues and gifts are nothing. Love is not one virtue among many but the integrating principle that gives all the others their value and coherence.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. The Scriptures are to take up rich, abundant residence in the believer — not visiting occasionally but dwelling, settled, plentiful. The Word at home in the heart.

The parallel passage in Ephesians 5:18-19 connects the same results (teaching, singing, gratitude) to being filled with the Spirit. Being filled with the Spirit and letting the Word dwell richly produce the same fruit — they are two aspects of one reality.

Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord. Every task, however menial, becomes worship when done for Christ. The context is servants working for masters — but the principle covers all work.

This transforms the meaning of ordinary labor. The believer has no secular work; all of it is done as to the Lord. The dishwasher, the clerk, the laborer — all serve Christ in their daily tasks. The audience is Christ, not men.