WHAT IS THE PRINCIPAL DIFFERENCE between the worldview, outlook, and everyday experience of a spiritual person and that of an unspiritual one? What is it that makes the difference? Please don’t say, “Well, he goes to church”, or “She got ‘baptised with the Spirit’”, or “He made a decision for Christ”, or “She’s a godly lady”, or “He says all the right things in the prayer meeting”. The truth is that anyone can “go to church” and it does not necessarily have any bearing on their worldview, outlook, and everyday spiritual experience. Saying someone got “baptised in the Spirit” is an assumption based on the observance of some highly dodgy (understatement!) practices and manifestations. “Making a decision for Christ” does not necessarily denote being spiritual as countless people have claimed to have done so but later it was shown to be based merely on an emotional decision in a hothouse environment. Judging someone to be “a godly lady” does not necessarily mean that she actually IS a godly lady. It is very easy to go through the motions and convince others of one’s alleged “godliness”. I have seen it done many times. Saying all the right things in the prayer meeting is not a reliable litmus test of someone’s spiritual standing. Many people just use a string of clichés to make it sound good.

So what is the principal difference between the worldview, outlook, and everyday experience of a spiritual person and that of an unspiritual one? Surely, it is that unspiritual people busy themselves with the husk while spiritual people are involved with the heart. By “husk” I mean the external, outward elements. By “heart” I mean that which is within. It is that which is “within” which counts rather than mere outward appearances which can easily be faked. But what do we mean when we use the word “within” in this context? For inside us physically there is just offal, innards, subcutaneous tissue. So when we talk about experience which is “within”, we cannot be talking about anything material but something which obviously cannot even be of this dimension — for if it was of this dimension, then where exactly is “within” actually located? Just think about that for a minute.

Pause for thought…

This is why the Apostle Paul said that any outward troubles that we, as disciples of Christ, may experience are of no significance spiritually because “we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). What is “seen” is the husk, the outward manifestations and appearances. What is “unseen” and thereby eternal is the heart, the core, the inward spiritual experience that we talk about as being “within”. Now think about this too: The “eyes” which we fix on what is “unseen” cannot possibly be our physical eyes because those eyes obviously cannot see what is unseen but only what is seen. So we are dealing here with another kind of eyesight which is plainly not of this dimension. What does all this signify?

The only conclusion we can come to is that disciples of Christ are people who are already operating in another dimension, in readiness for the life to come, despite living in this 3-D world temporarily at present. If those claiming to be “Christians” were fully aware of this, then their lives would be substantially, radically and fundamentally altered and there would be no way that they could be involved in any of the nonsense which so plagues the visible church right now, because all those ‘nonsenses’ are happening solely in the realm of the physical. False teachers, false apostles, all the ‘Christianized’ shamans and sorcerers working pseudo-‘miracles’ and phoney “deliverance”, all the fake healers, the promisers of prosperity and full health — all these folks (ironically despite their boasts about operating in the realm of the supernatural) are really operating solely in the realm of the physical and haven’t got a clue about the spiritual realm, the other-dimensionality of the genuine Christian experience. They are simply tinkering with the externals via the same kind of mesmeric abilities as stage hypnotists and Las Vegas style conjurors.

One can say that in a major sense the spiritual realm is more real than this physical realm, for the physical realm is merely a temporary theatre for the dramatic ‘life-and-death’ story of this creation and Man’s place in it to be acted out in a series of spiritual battles and which will one day “disappear with a roar” and be “destroyed” (2 Peter 3:10-11), whereas the spiritual realm involves an ineffable substance which will last for all eternity. Now get this: When Paul says, “what is unseen is eternal”, he is using the present tense, so that this other realm/dimension of eternality is already here now and we already have one foot in it, so to speak. It is as if those who have been “born from above” (John 3:3) do not belong in this world, though we have to remain here for now (which is only just a short while). So there is this tension of an ‘alreadyness’ of the spiritual kingdom of Christ (which is not of this world, John 18:36) and a ‘not-yetness’ of it too. This is why I say, “one foot in, one foot out”. Here are some Scripture verses which corroborate this. Here is Jesus praying about His disciples:

“I have given them Your word and the world has hated them. For they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I am not asking that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 14-16).

This text is applicable to all of Jesus’ disciples. Once we have been saved by grace (having been chosen for salvation from the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1:1,4-6; 2:4-5) we are not fundamentally ‘of’ this world anymore. This fallen world is no longer our main place of residence and we are hated in it by those who are of the world: “If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world” (John 15:19). The world is something to which we should not in any way be conformed: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). This is because this physical realm of fallen materiality is like a snare. As John put it:

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the empty arrogance of life—is not from the Father but from the world. The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever” (1 John 2:15-17).

You can see here that contrast again between material physicality, “the world” and its base desires — the things which can be “seen” with all the boastfulness which goes with that, which are all part of the “empty arrogance of life” — and that which is “from the Father”, i.e., the kingdom of God, the present spiritual reality of all genuine disciples of Christ.

So by being in this world but not of it, disciples of Christ have one foot in it and one foot out of it, so to speak. We are already half in the spiritual realm, which is our true home, the eternality of the life to come. It’s like when you are moving to a new home which you have already paid for in advance. It is technically yours but you still have to carry on living in your present home for a while until everything has been squared up. You are longing to be in your new home where you really belong, and you picture yourself in it already and feel yourself already living there, feeling that you no longer belong in the present one, but you know you will have to wait a little while longer. Let’s further look at some verses which demonstrate this “alreadyness” of the spiritual realm and the present reality of eternality in the life of the believer:

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4).

Here we see that spiritually-minded disciples of Christ set their minds on “things that are above” and are not caught up in the minutiae of mundane human existence. This does not mean that we neglect what needs to be done physically and materially in this life. We still have responsibilities which need to be discharged; but we do not make them the ‘be-all-and-end-all’ of our existence. We can see beyond them and see them only for what they are rather than being the foundation of our lives. We no longer have our knees comfortably under the table of this fleeting world. In other words, we are not fooled by the materiality/externality/physicality, the flesh, so that we are ensnared and captivated by all the seeming allure of this very temporary material world. As Paul puts it: “Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). That is where we really belong. We are citizens of that realm already. I wonder if you are fully aware of where we belong and how it impacts us even now. Check this out:

“It is by grace you have been saved! And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,  in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:5-7).

Paul reveals here that we have already been seated with Jesus in the heavenly realms. This has already taken place spiritually-speaking. We may look around and see ourselves in a prison, or lying in some battlefield, or buying a litre of milk in Tesco, or stuck in a dead-end job, or suffering with some acute or chronic disease, or living in a bedsit in a slum, but that is just the very temporary material situation which has no power over us whatsoever. The reality behind all that mundanity is that we are in fact seated with Christ in the heavenly realms, thus in some way glorified. Are you taking this onboard? This is not an exaggeration or some pathetic turn of the imagination. It is reality. That is why the information has been imparted to us for our edification and encouragement.

It would be no exaggeration to say that we — in ways that we may not be able to grasp right now — have already been glorified to a particular degree. Do you doubt this? Well listen to this: “Those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified” (Romans 8:30). This is what is known as the “Golden Chain of Redemption” —  predestined,  called, justified, and glorified. (Note that “glorified” there is in a past tense, so it has already been done in some sense. I will come back to this below). It all has a complete inevitability. The one who has been predestined will inevitably be called by God. The one who has been called by God will without a doubt be justified. The one who has been justified will assuredly and infallibly be glorified. Incidentally, this proves the final perseverance of the saints as well. Those who have been predestined for salvation will without a doubt be glorified — a glorification which begins in this life and which will ultimately be fully implemented in the life to come. God “predestined [us] to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29). Nothing can stand in the way of that. As Paul goes on to say:

“If God is for us, who can be against us?”… Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword… No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:31,35,37-39).

That is called the infallible endurance of the saints all the way to the end. If you are a genuine disciple of Christ you cannot fall away (as even Jesus Himself taught, John 10:28-30), though it is very fashionable among the semi-Pelagian/Pelagian false teachers on the internet to try and convince you that even real disciples of Christ can do so. One wonders why they would be so keen on this, undermining the spiritual stability of disciples of Christ. Part of the great joy of being saved is knowing that you are so loved by God that He will “make you exempt from falling and present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy” (Jude 1:24). Anyway, that was just a little sidetrack to make a point. My main point here is to say that a past tense is used there for those four mighty realities — predestined, called, justified, and even including being glorified — of what has taken place on the part of God in relation to our salvation. Paul gives a bit more light on this when he says:

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Right now, on this earth, while still alive in this fallen world and in these fallen bodies, glory is being worked in us as part of our progressive sanctification. We are right now being transformed “from one degree of glory to another”. The glory with which we have been endowed even in this present life is growing exponentially! Do you believe that? Surely that very knowledge should inspire you to explore this whole realm with great zeal.

All this is why we are encouraged to get our priorities right in terms of our relationship with materiality/physicality (what Scripture calls “the flesh”): “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:5). This is the difference between the worldview, outlook, and everyday experience of a spiritual person and that of an unspiritual one. The spiritual person operates in a very different way to the unspiritual one. To expand:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

So when we are told that “friendship with the world is enmity towards God” (James 4:4), this is because “the world” is the manifestation of materiality/physicality, the flesh, that which is “seen”, by which the whole unbelieving world is mesmerised; whereas the believer’s mind and heart are always centred on the spiritual, the eternal, that which “cannot be seen” with earthly eyes.

Therefore, we can wholeheartedly say that there are both “already” and “not-yet” aspects to glorification. It is not something which we passively wait to receive in the life to come. Being conformed to the image of Christ that begins in the heart of a disciple of Christ right now in this life, due to the indwelling Spirit, is brought to full realization in his or her life in the age to come. Although the fullness of glorification awaits us being resurrected with new bodies that will be appropriate to life in the new creation, there is a sense in which we are already glorified, and being more so each day, if indeed we are engaging in the process of sanctification as we should (i.e., if we are genuine disciples of Christ).

By the way, I am not saying that all matter is evil, which is what the nutty Gnostics claimed. There is much about the material world which is actually very beautiful. But materiality/physicality is temporary. That is its problem. So there is absolutely no point whatsoever in getting hung up on what is temporary, which is why we “fix our eyes on what is unseen” because “what is unseen is eternal”. Eternality wins out every time over temporariness, as far as the disciple of Christ is concerned.

We can so easily get caught up in externals that we ‘unspiritualise’ ourselves and busy ourselves with the husk of life in this world (externality/materiality/physicality/flesh) instead of the heart within which pertains right now to the life to come. Even many aspects of church life can be us just going through the motions externally and imagining that such outward actions have spiritual value. In the Apostolic era there was no Sunday Best (or Saturday Best!). People didn’t proudly strut around with a leatherbound golden-tooled scroll of the Septuagint under their arms on “the way to church”, for the church was the people rather than some mega-sized auditorium as so many ‘churches’ have become today, which completely misses the point of the relevance of micro-locality in the community of the faithful. These megachurches are a classic representation of externality/materiality/physicality/the flesh, in which showmanship becomes the name of the game and one is involved in a theatrical entertainment production rather than a work of the Spirit.

In so many ways, that theatrical production is what “church” has become for so many, because they do not fix their inner eye (if they have one) on what is unseen but instead rely on their physical eyes only, believing that what they see with them to be the spiritual reality. It isn’t… not by any stretch of the imagination. This is the difference between the worldview, outlook, and everyday experience of a spiritual person and that of an unspiritual one. The unspiritual one looks outward and, thinking that is reality, he or she lives life on that basis, thereby living a lie. The spiritual one looks within and beyond and, knowing that to be reality, lives life on that basis, thereby living in truth, which is also the foundation of the life to come.

Therefore, if we are genuine disciples of Christ, although we are living a temporary life on earth, we are also already in some wonderful way living in another dimension of eternality to which we need to tune in. This is the ‘alreadyness’ and ‘not-yetness’ of the kingdom of glory. Let us live that out right now, because we really can!

Amen!

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© Copyright, Alan Morrison, 2026
[The copyright on my works is merely to protect them from any wanton plagiarism which could result in undesirable changes (as has actually happened!). Readers are free to reproduce my work, so long as it is in the same format and with the exact same content and its origin is acknowledged]

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