Romans 8:9 "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."
The chapter designations can be helpful, however they are arbitrary and we ought to remember that. I believe this is the key verse in trying to understand chapters 6-8. Throughout the chapters, Paul lays out the struggle that we all face as Christians. The battle between the carnal flesh and its desire for sin and the new spiritual nature's desire for righteousness.
These 2 are diametrically opposed. We know that no one can serve 2 masters. Being the fickle humans that we are, we vacillate back and forth. We walk in the Spirit, where there is "life and peace". But then at times we are drawn away by our own lust, we fall, and walk in the flesh.
But we are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If a prisoner was freed from prison, but continued to live like he was confined to his 4 cell walls, we'd think him crazy! The whole world is at your fingertips, freedom is vast! The prisoner however must choose to live in freedom. So too we must choose to live in the Spirit. The 4 prison cell walls of the flesh are gone, destroyed by the cross. Yet, we still have that daily choice to live as the freemen that we are. For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
Am I living in the truth of my freedom? Am I living today "in the Spirit"?
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