What does it mean to be “heavenly minded”? The negative stereotype is of a person whose head is in the clouds. Their hope is so fixed on the world to come that they are useless in this present world. I would say that today, we move too far in the opposite direction. We lean away from heaven and concentrate on the world. We are activists who would rather work than wait.

Heavenly-mindedness is, first of all, a way of thinking about ourselves in terms of our relation to Christ and the world. It assumes that a fundamental change in our spiritual condition has occurred. Our inclusion in the resurrection of Christ means that we have moved from death to life. We have been “raised with Christ” (v. 1). Paul is not talking about the believer’s bodily resurrection, which is still in the future but about our inclusion in the resurrection of Christ. When the apostle urges believers to set their minds on things above, he is not telling them to fantasize about heavenly life by dwelling on streets of gold and a “mansion just over the hilltop.” He is describing a mindfulness that begins with understanding Christ’s victorious position and its power to transform us (vv. 7–10).

To be heavenly minded is to live in a way that demonstrates the earthly effects of heavenly reality. But Paul’s assertion is more than a general exhortation to “be good.” It is a call to engage in an ongoing struggle with sin on this side of eternity. The sinful actions Paul lists have no place in the heavenly sphere. But willpower and discipline alone are not enough to defeat them. The cross is their only remedy because it has been made effective by the vindication of Christ’s resurrection and ascension.

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