Acts 16:16-18

God created humanity with freewill. Sin has placed limits upon that freewill, but it has not destroyed it. Because of God’s grace, we still have the power to say no to wickedness. Flip Wilson on the old “Laugh In” show was wrong; the devil does not make us do it. The slave girl did not have the spirit of python by accident. She did not slip and fall into spirit possession and she did not accidentally swallow a spirit. She had chosen to involve herself in the pagan worship of Apollo and she had opened herself up to the occult.

It was her choice; when she chose to worship evil, she surrendered her freedom. Luke tells us that her owners were using her as a fortuneteller. Greek literature at the time also referred to the spirit of python as the ventriloquist spirit. That was because the fortunetellers having that spirit spoke as if the spirit’s voice was coming from the ribs and not their mouth. Their fortunes, just as those of modern day fortunetellers, were vague and opaque. They allowed the hearers to convince themselves of their validity.

The slave girl had opened herself to the occult and now evil was using her as a megaphone. She had lost her freedom to say no to evil, and yes to salvation. She had made her choice, but her ongoing harassment of Paul and his companions caused Paul to make the rare decision. He chose to override her choice. He did not command her to do anything, but in the name of Jesus, he commanded the spirit to leave her. When the spirit left, God’s grace returned her freewill.

Luke does not tell us the rest of the story. She may have returned to the occult, or she may have chosen to believe in Jesus. We do not know her final choice. We do know God’s grace is great. God’s grace offers salvation, and His grace gives us the necessary freedom to accept it. God’s grace sets the captive free.