Born into a Broken World System

When everyone is born to this world, they are born not just into families but into a world system (cosmos), or laws that govern this life. All religions in this world focusses on how to work around this to attain spiritual fulfillment. That’s why you hear so much about “denying yourself” in many teachings. It gets repeated over and over like a broken record. And we hear it in church and think it’s the truth. But, honestly, it’s not.

What Christianity Truly is

In fact, true Christianity is not about denying that you are not, but rather being who you are. It’s a profound statement.

Before you are all up in arms against me, hear me out. The Bible doesn’t tell us to deny ourselves, but rather to live out who we are in the spirit, ie, unified in Christ (1 Cor 6:17). You might say that it is just semantics. No! It is the true perspective. You can either “try” to achieve the goal of living as Sons of God, by focussing on denying yourself, or you can achieve the goal by living out your identity as a believer. But when you focus on the former you are in the same path that the law took us, in a path of legalism, and also your focus is on yourself, and yourself only. But the true way to live as Sons of God, is by living in the Spirit, through the law of the Spirit. It is the ONLY true way, nothing else will help you live as sons of God¹.

Dealing with the World System, Colossian Style

The church in Colosse had faced a similar issue too. They were new believers, and soon legalistic and ascetic teachings, which is a religion of “Do nots” came into their midst, and was infiltrating their teachings. It’s interesting to see Paul’s response to it, because therein lies our response to this teaching which is being promoted in our churches. Let’s read Col 2:20-23.

If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

You see that Paul’s answer to this rule based “Do nots” Christianity is the same as his response to “Can we indulge in sin?”. That is, it is not who you are. So, who are we?

The Origin of the World’s System: Adam, Sin, and Death

Let’s rewind thousands of years ago to the beginning of man. When God created Adam, He made him in His own image. Adam was both a spirit and a human being, created to live in harmony with God and the world around him. He was subject to the world system, the laws that governed life. At this point, the world system was not in sin, and everything in creation functioned according to God’s design.

When sin entered the world through Adam’s disobedience, it caused a shift in the world’s system. The law that once governed everything in harmony with God became distorted and became the law of sin and death. This law brought with it consequences for every action, many of which are not ideal.

For example, in God’s original design, childbirth was meant to be without pain, but after the fall, pain became a part of the process (Genesis 3:16). Similarly, if someone eats too much sugar over time, the law of sin and death can lead to health issues like diabetes. If you spin around too much, your head gets dizzy—again, the physical consequences of the distorted world system. If a child is constantly put down or yelled at, the law of sin and death can lead to long-term emotional damage, like low self-esteem. And if you’re in a high-speed collision, the injuries could be fatal because the laws governing the physical world are now subject to decay and destruction.

Basically, the law of sin and death now dictates that certain actions have negative consequences, a reality that wasn’t part of God’s original design. This is the world we now live in, where sin has affected every aspect of life—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Thus this law of sin and death altered the entire world system. Adam didn’t die immediately after sinning; instead, the law of sin and death slowly took its toll on him, ultimately leading to his physical death. Hence, humanity became subject to sin and death. We were born into this broken system, where sin reigns, and death is the inevitable consequence. Under this law, the Old Covenant (the laws given through Moses) came into play. It was designed to govern people who were living under the law of sin and death.

But when Jesus came, He took on the full weight of that law—and in doing so, He made a way for us to escape its grip.

Jesus: Born of God, Free from the World’s System

Jesus entered the world, but unlike Adam, He was born of God and subject to the same worldly system because he was born on earth. He felt pain, he felt physical limitations, but yet he endured them by the power of God. He lived, died, and through His obedience, and then by His death and resurrection, He broke the power of sin and death for all who believe in Him.

When we place our faith in Jesus, we are in Him, and this means that when He was crucified, we were crucified with Him. In this article, I discuss about how it was a masterstroke. Paul teaches us that we died with Christ (Romans 6:6), and he says that we are no longer under the law, and then he says something very significant which we sometimes ignore.

“The old law of sin and death has no power over us anymore.”

Free from the Law of Sin and Death

What does this mean for us today? It means that when we died with Christ, we died to the law of sin and death. We are no longer bound by that system. Romans 6:14 tells us that sin has no dominion over you—sin has no jurisdiction over you anymore. And in Romans 8

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

This is a radical truth: sin cannot control you. Also, the world systems cannot control you. You are completely freed from the law of sin and death. Yes, we still live in a physical body, but our bodies are no longer subject to the same laws that govern the world’s system. That means all those things that I had mentioned above as part of the system of this world shouldn’t be applicable to us anymore. Think of it like this: a person who is physically dead is no longer subject to the laws of the world. Similarly, when we died with Christ, the law of sin and death lost its authority over us.

Flesh is the Virus

So this is absolutely powerful. You have a body that is completely free from the law of sin and death, you have a spirit that is one with the Spirit of the Lord, and you have a villain, not the devil, because he is the defeated foe. Your enemy is the flesh, the mindset.

This old-mindset which was brought up all these years in sin and worldly systems now have to train to walk in what we are, as divine beings, Sons of God. Note that we are not mere men by default trying to live out a supernatural powerful and divine life out there by renewal of our mind. But our default position is supernatural, powerful, with authority, Sons of the Living God, and the unrenewed mind is what blocking that potential from coming out. So renew your mind.

Living Under the Law of the Spirit

While we are no longer under the law of sin and death, we are now under the law of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit empowers us to live the life that God has called us to, and Romans 8:11 assures us that the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead gives life to our mortal bodies.

This means that even though we still live in this world, we are not bound by its ideologies or philosophies. We are empowered by the law of the Spirit—the new system that governs our lives as believers.

The Danger of Rule-Based Christianity

Now in this context, Paul is writing to the church in Colosse, not that we should abandon morality or live in sin, but that we must reject the religious systems that try to impose rules and regulations in place of true spiritual transformation. In many Christian circles, there is an emphasis on “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle”—rules that try to control outward behavior. While these rules may seem spiritual or pious, Paul makes it clear that they are ultimately unprofitable when it comes to dealing with the indulgence of the flesh.

In certain Pentecostal circles in southern India, for example, I have seen firsthand how rules about outward appearance—like wearing white, avoiding jewelry, and even forbidding men to have mustaches—are placed on believers as paths to spirituality. These rules are often seen as necessary markers of true holiness, and if you don’t adhere to them, you might be denied baptism or participation in the Lord’s Supper.

But Paul warns against this kind of rule-based Christianity. We have died to these elementary principles. We are not of this world, and the world’s system of rules and regulations has no authority over us.

Why Rule-Based Religion Doesn’t Work

While ascetic practices—like denying the body, fasting, or self-abasement—might seem to have some value, Paul says that they ultimately useless because we are not of this world, we have died to the worldly system, and these practices put the focus on what we have died. It’s like me trying to tell a dead person how to whistle. They can’t, and so can’t we. We have died to this world, and quit following churches that try to resurrect your sinful nature from the dead every Sunday.

These rules may seem like acts of piety, but they don’t address the heart or bring lasting transformation. In fact, these practices are often just self-made religion—a man-made system designed to appear righteous but powerless to truly transform the inner person.

What Paul is calling us to is a new way of living. A life where we are no longer focused on external rules or behaviors, but instead, we live from the inside out. It’s based on identity. Because we are not of this world, we don’t have to stoop down to the level of this world. True spirituality isn’t about denying the flesh in order to make ourselves acceptable to God—it’s about embracing the life of the Spirit that flows from the inside and transforms us from within.

Conclusion: Living Free from the World’s System

So, what does it mean to be “dead to the world’s system”? It means that we have been freed from the power of sin and death, the worldly systems and we no longer live under the rules and regulations of a fallen world. While we still live in the world, we are no longer of the world.

The law of the Spirit, which gives life, now governs us, not the law of sin and death. Our focus is not on following rules or external practices to prove our spirituality, but on living in the freedom Christ purchased for us.

As believers, our true transformation comes from living in Christ and allowing the life of the Spirit to flow through us. So, let us live as those who are dead to the world and alive in Christ, knowing that we are free from the world’s system and empowered to live in the freedom of the Spirit.

This blog connects the teachings of Paul, linking the freedom we have in Christ to our liberation from worldly systems and rules, while also emphasizing the power of the Holy Spirit for true transformation.