Ok…it is not like some Star Wars thing. Is the Force with you or are you living on the Death Star? There are two realms that the Apostle Paul writes about in Romans 8. We were in one realm before knowing Christ as our Savior and now we are in His realm…so actually, the Force is with us…or we are with Him. Paul writes;
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus…”
Everyone who is “in Christ Jesus” no longer is right now under any kind of condemnation. When you accepted Christ as your personal Savior, God the Father rescued you from the dominion of darkness and were brought into the Kingdom of Jesus. We are told that in Colossians 1:13;
“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
So, even though we live in this fallen world, still have our sinful nature or flesh, and are having to do battle with the demonic forces…we have been saved. We have been rescued. And there is no condemnation NOW and FOREVER for those who are in Christ. All of this has been accomplished by God for us because He loves us like crazy!!!
The problem is we still live in this fallen world and even though we have already been adopted by God the Father and sealed with the Spirit we have a choice we need to make every day and continue to make as every day unfolds. Because even though we have been rescued and there is no condemnation now or forever…God allows us to choose the realm in which we want to live.
The problem is we are often doubleminded. We want to walk along the top of the fence thinking we can have the best of both worlds. At times when we see something we like in the realm of the flesh. So, we jump down, back into the realm from which we have been saved, and goggle up things that look so sweet and delicious to our flesh. In fact, that realm is called the realm of the flesh.
And when Christians are saying “No” to the Spirit and “Yes” to the flesh that is where the problems start. Look at this passage in Romans 8:6-8;
“The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.”
Now, remember that God has already rescued us from this dominion of darkness…this realm of the flesh where sin and death rule. He has already brought us into the Kingdom of the Son He loves. We have been rescued and placed into the realm of the Spirit. The problem is that we are eternal citizens of the Kingdom of God, but we are living in the Kingdom of Darkness. We have the Force with us, but we are still living on the Death Star.
So, even though God has done everything to rescue us from the realm of the flesh, the dominion of darkness we remain in that realm with one huge difference. God has joined Himself to us by sealing us with the Spirit. Or we can also say that Christ is living within us. Like Paul says in Galatians 2:22;
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live,
but Christ lives in me.”
So here we are every day alive in Christ, sealed by the Holy Spirit. I wake up to that reality every day. The decision I have to make…and you have to make is do you want Christ and the Holy Spirit to guide you and keep you safe while you are in enemy territory? Or do you want to be filled with and walk in the Spirit so that you do not fulfill the desires of the flesh?
Yes, it is my flesh that wants me to dive headfirst back into sin and temptations will come on a regular basis trying to coax me back into sin. I must choose. I must decide am I going to live today in the realm of the Spirit or the realm of the flesh? Well…guess what? We have an obligation.
“Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”
Obligation??? What is an obligation? Well here is the definition;
“…an act or course of action to which a person is morally
or legally bound; a duty or commitment.”
We have a duty, a moral obligation to not be walking in the flesh. Walking in the flesh brings death into your life. It will kill you, your marriage, your relationships with kids, parents, friends.
So, we are told we much put to death the misdeeds of the body and when are doing that daily we begin to experience the real Christion life and will be living in the realm of the Spirit.
Every day, all of us have a life or death choice to make. Am I going to surrender myself to the Lord daily, be being filled with His Spirit daily, and be walking with the Spirit wearing the full armor of God daily? Practicing this is what makes our relationship with God what it is supposed to be…an abundant life.