No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it (Deut 30:14).’”

God’s word is given to us so that we can do and obey it. When it is obeyed, the word becomes complete and fulfilled. There are two ways in which humans live: one is the way in which they obey God, and let his word be fulfilled in their lives, and another is the way in which they live against his will with disobedience to him. The result of the former is life, and that of the latter is death. The two trees that were in the middle of the Garden of Eden symbolically represent these two styles of living.

And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die (Gen 2:16-17)."

Where there is a command of God, there is a covenant relationship between him and the people he commands. We were all created under his covenant that requires us to be obedient to him. When we lose obedience to him, the covenant is broken, and the fulfillment of his word stops. The result is death. This principle applies equally to the people of Israel under the covenant made through Moses.

This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Deut 30:19-20).

When they faithfully obey the Law, the word of God who is life becomes fulfilled, and they will be blessed, and live long in the land they come to possess. A covenant in the Bible is always associated with a land. To Adam, the Garden of Eden was given, and to the people of Israel, the land of Canaan was given. It represents the inheritance of those who belong to him under the covenant. When the people of Israel entered the land under the leadership of Joshua, they gathered near Shechem and proclaimed blessings on Mount Gerizim and curses on Mount Ebal. These mountains in the center of their land served as a reminder of the covenant they had with God just as the two tress did in middle of the Garden of Eden.

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so (Rom 8:5-7).

The principle discussed above applies also to Christians under the new covenant through Christ. This scripture mentions the choice between the two styles of living: one is to live according to the flesh, and the other to the spirit. Apparently, the former corresponds to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the latter the tree of life. The covenant that God made with Adam is still valid to us who are in Christ today. When we were still sinners, we did not have this choice because we had been driven away from the Garden of Eden, but now we do after we were brought back to the Garden of Eden in Christ.

Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God (vv. 12-13).