'The above verse is addressed to Christians.'
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Escape from what? Escape from being destroyed in the "wilderness" as were the Jews. Escape from not being allowed to partake of the Glory of Christ at His appearing.
Our capability of being resurrected to eternal life depends on our experiencing daily the liberating force of resurrection power that raises us from His suffering and death into which we are being pressed.
Our readiness for release into life increases with our freedom from committing sins and with our conformity to His death and resurrection.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)
The "law of the Spirit of life" is the power that God has given us to enable us to overcome the compulsions of sin. If after having been made righteous by receiving God’s gift of righteousness to us we then choose to walk after the desires of our flesh and fleshly mind, we will die spiritually. We will defeat our own resurrection.
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ enables us to walk in daily fellowship with and obedience to the Spirit of God, and to present our body a living sacrifice to God so we may be able to prove God’s will for our life.
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: (Romans 8:3)
The Law of Moses is righteous, holy, and good in every respect. However, the Law depends on our human ability to fulfill its requirements. This our flesh is unable to do. However, Christ indeed did conquer sin while living in a fleshly body. Therefore His righteousness is ascribed to those who, by the ability given through the Holy Spirit, are gaining victory over sin each day.
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:4)
It is not easy to follow the Spirit because our flesh, the adversary, and the spirit of the world push us off course. If we yield to the lusts of our flesh and the desires of our mind the Life of Christ is choked out of us. If we walk in the power and wisdom of the Spirit we will not fulfill the lusts of our flesh. We will begin to practice the behavior that the Law of Moses commands. The righteousness of God is both ascribed to us and created in us under the new covenant.
For to be fleshly minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Romans 8:6)
It is impossible to retain the new life we were given on our conversion to Christ if we continue to live in the appetites of the flesh and fleshly mind. Either we walk forward in the Spirit of God or we do not attain eternal life.
When we receive Christ and are born again our new life ascends to the right hand of the Father. We do not lose that position easily. We have security in Christ as long as we keep our hope and trust in Him. He is able to save us to the uttermost.
It also is a fact that we must be pressed anew each day into the death and resurrection of Christ. The flame of love for Christ must be kept blazing on the altar of our heart, and the holiness of our life must be that of the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle of the Congregation.
The gate to eternal life is narrow and it demands our total concentration and diligence in seeking the Lord in order to get through that gate and to enter life. In addition, the way itself is confined and restricted and brings pressure on the pilgrim who is making his way toward the Life of Christ (Matthew 7:14).
Our achievement of the resurrection Life of Christ, both in our daily battles and also in the clothing of our mortal body with a "mansion" of life at His coming, depends directly on our perseverance in cleaving to the Holy Spirit as He is leading us into eternal life now.
Eternal life begins when we are born again and must be pursued vigorously every day of our discipleship on earth. The fullness of the goal of eternal life is attained at the point in which our physical body is redeemed and we become clothed with our body from Heaven—a body fashioned from the substance of eternal life (II Corinthians 5:4; I Corinthians 15:54).
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