The difference between the biblical audience and us today is they were under the law and Paul was trying to get them to do what was write by God to enter into the salvation of the lord. Back in the biblical time they could not understand why it was so much sin with them under the law. Now in today’s time all we know is what is spiritual and we as Christian all we have is the word of God to lead and guide us each day to live godly lives.
As we study the scripture we can see the contrast is not so much between a Spirit-filled Christian and a disobedient Christian. It is what Paul tells us in the verse when he tell us to be led by the Spirit, because we are not no way under the law we a strictly spiritual folk as we know God is a spirit and in order to serve the lord we must be in the spirit. Let’s take a quick look at under the law which is earthly as in the courts, family rules and rules of this world which means we are not saved by Christ, but when you are saved thru Christ you don’t have to worry about the law ,because the spirit we keep you on the right path. “For all who are being led by the Spirit, these are sons of God.” (Romans 8:14)