A few times a year I fly to visit my mom in another state. Everyone on the plane takes it for granted that the plane will leave the ground at the end of the runway. None of us doubt that the law of lift will defy the law of gravity. Scientists such as Cayley, Bernoulli, and Newton published their thoughts on this idea of flight in the 1700s. Others later perfected those thoughts to the point that we now think nothing of humans flying around the world or even into deep space.
Imagine meeting someone who had neither heard of space travel nor seen an airplane! We’d excitedly explain to them how lift overcomes gravity and that people can fly from New York City to London in about 7.5 hours! They might argue that flight is impossible or that it would not work for them. But if they chose to believe, such knowledge would open up a new world to them.
Paul must have recognized this kind of life-changing potential when he met some disciples of John the Baptist in Ephesus (Acts 19:1-4). Paul could tell something was wrong when he explored their relationship with the Holy Spirit, making him curious about their theological understanding. When asked, they replied, “We have not even heard if there is a Holy Spirit.” Surprised, Paul then asked, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism,” which Paul explained was only a baptism of repentance. Therefore, they had only preached what John had taught—to turn from sin and turn back to God.
Never having heard what Jesus accomplished on the cross, they had no realization that a person could be eternally forgiven, empowered by God’s Holy Spirit, or made into a brand new creation! So Paul explained to them the main points of the gospel. First, Jesus died as a propitiation for their sins. Second, He rose from the dead as proof that the Father was fully satisfied with that sacrifice. And finally, He sent the Holy Spirit to comfort, lead, give revelation, and empower believers to live like He had lived and do the things He had done. Talk about a life-changing revelation! John’s disciples were immediately baptized, after which Paul laid hands on them to receive the Holy Spirit. That one conversation changed their lives forever!
In the same way that the law of lift overrides the law of gravity, the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives is greater than the downward pull of our physical desire for self-gratification. Jesus’s gift of the Holy Spirit releases us from a lifetime of condemnation. Or as Paul explained in Romans 8:1-2, Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. The greater law overrides the lesser law. But we have to know this truth and believe that it will work for us!
Are you, like the flight agnostic, doubting the Holy Spirit’s power? Or will you believe and allow God to help you fly above the weight of sin and condemnation, and into a new life of freedom?
