The good news is that if you are in Christ, Christ is in you.  It is a glorious truth that must not be underestimated.  The Lord of glory has entered into you, to prepare you to share in His glory (Colossians 1:27).  Once we belong to Jesus, it is still true despite our sinful nature and its distractions to take us away from fellowship with God.

When we submit to the gospel, repent and receive Jesus, we belong to Him (Luke 11:13).  All who have welcomed the authority of Jesus by repentance and faith, are given His Holy Spirit to rule their hearts and minds (Philippians 4:7).  The Spirit’s presence is a sign that we belong to God’s family.  Through Him we know that God is our Father (Galatians 4:6) and He enables us to pray from the depth of our hearts (Romans 8:26-27).    

Only the Holy Spirit can give us new life in Christ, as the Father and Son make their home in us (John 14:23).  Every born-again Christian is delightfully surrounded by the love of the Father, the forgiveness that comes through the cross of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.  If we let the Holy Trinity exercise authority in our lives then we are indeed conquerors (Romans 8:37).  Yes, the sinful nature will still want to claw back some independence, but in the end, the Lord will win in the lives of all who belong to Him.

This verse says it is impossible to belong to Christ and not have His Spirit.  But it is still very common to suppress, resist and even detest His work in us - so that we become guilty of grieving Him (Ephesians 4:30).  Every day we have the responsibility to say 'No' to the sinful nature (Titus 2:11-12), and 'Yes' to the Holy Spirit so that He will unleash the power of heaven into our little bit of the world.  Those who play with the sinful nature will always find it bites back; and God may even allow that so that we may learn to submit to His authority alone.  His plan is to embrace us in His love, grace and power - our response must be to let Him!  There is no sense at all in wriggling out of His hand!