Is the Spiritual Realm Real?

The Apostle Paul reminds us that we live in a spiritual sphere, and not merely a quaint and calm one (Eph. 6:10-20). We are at war. Right now. Constantly.

So, there is a spiritual realm and it is not merely there, it is raging. There are sides. Good and bad, right and wrong. This is serious stuff. Not something we should put out of our head and forget about.

Further, Paul exhorts us to know the reality of and invest in the good side of this spiritual war (cf. Gal. 6:8; 1 Cor. 9:25). We live, we die, for something that is not yet tangible or scientifically verifiable. We live for the unseen real (2 Cor. 4:18).

But, do we? Do we really? Do we live for the unseen real? Because a lot of times–in my life at least–we don’t. I think, very often, we are practical naturalists. Yes, we say we’re supernaturalists but we’re pretty caught up with a whole lot of material stuff.

Are you a mainlined and streamlined materialist? Do you believe in the supranatural (supernatural) but mainly in name only?

I guess we could call it semi-supernaturalism or neo-naturalism. In short, this type of person is a naturalist that says they are not a naturalist, when, by all signs, they are, in fact, a full fledged naturalist.

Are you a supernaturalist? I mean, are you really? Do you believe in the spiritual realm? Does it show? Does it make a difference in your life?

For instance, do you pray? Because I can say a lot of things. I can say that I am tall, dark, and handsome. However, we both know that that is not true (I am not “dark,” I have a red beard and pale skin). So then, it has to be more then a vocal consent or even a cognitive assent. If we believe something, we’ll do something.

If we, as Christians, believe in the spiritual realm how should that change our every day lives?