For even though I am absent [from you] in body, still I am present with you in spirit, rejoicing and observing [i.e., with my mind's eye] your orderly behavior and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of the world, [then] why, as though you [still] lived in [harmony with] the world, do you submit yourselves to [its] rules, [such as]: