Science has changed our lives. It has allowed us to do things our ancestors couldn’t dream about. Science may be complex in theory, but not in principle. All science really does is discover pre-existing physical laws. Once a law has been discovered, we can then work out how to use it. For example, flying. Have you ever been amazed as you watched those huge jets? They seem to defy the law of gravity. But we didn’t abolish the law of gravity when we took to the air; we just took advantage of another law, the law of aerodynamics. If a jet breaks the laws governing flight, the ever-present force of gravity immediately takes over and the plane crashes.
The Bible talks of two laws that are as real as the laws of gravity and aerodynamics. The most obvious one is the law of sin and death. That the world suffers from a sin problem is probably the most blatant piece of evidence proving the Christian world-view to be true. G.K. Chesterton referred to it as, ‘a fact as a practical as potatoes’ (Orthodoxy). We are slaves to the law of sin and death because of our depravity. As much as we want to, we just can’t seem to consistently obey our conscience and do what we ought to do. Paul describes the situation perfectly in Romans 7:21-24. ‘So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?’
The law of sin and death holds us in its grip, just like the law of gravity holds us to the ground. So why doesn’t God just abolish the law of sin and death and allow us to soar with Him? He can’t, because the law of sin and death is what keeps evil in check. You can’t have people on planet earth without the law of gravity, and neither can you have depravity without the law of sin and death. God had to subject us to this law that ends in death because of the evil that dwells in our hearts. Those who think a loving God would not create such a law belittle His holiness and attribute to Satan far more power than he actually has. It is God’s pure nature that invokes the death penalty on sin, and it is God, not Satan, who makes the rules. Satan does not have the power or the authority to determine what laws will govern this universe.
God has invited us to soar with Him but the law of sin holds us earthbound. Because God is righteousness, He cannot abolish the law of sin and death. Instead, He reveals to us another law that will set us free to fly. ‘There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death’ (Romans 8:1-2). The law of the Spirit of life allows us to overcome the law of sin and death, just like the laws that govern flight allow us to overcome gravity and take to the sky.
The two critical requirements that allow us to fly are lift and thrust. A jet aircraft must maintain both of these at all times to overcome the force of gravity. The same principle applies to us. The Spirit will give us all the lift we need, but only if the thrust is right. And the only power source that can give us the thrust required is holiness. Holiness is not weak or passive. It’s like a jet engine with extraordinary power, capable of taking us to great heights. It’s important for us to understand that while we are on this earth the pressure from the law of sin and death, like gravity, is always upon us. And it will take us down if we compromise the law of life in Christ Jesus. Without holiness, Christianity is powerless and unable to fly.
Overcoming the law of sin and death by keeping the law of the Spirit of life is not difficult or complex. It’s simply keeping a close relationship with Jesus, the source of our holiness. It’s all about living our life in Christ.
(All Bibles quotes from the ESV)