Our Spiritual Authority

[Reading time: 2 minutes] When God created Adam and Eve, he told them to subdue the earth and rule over every creature in the sea, in the air and on the ground (Gen. 1:28). They had authority over the physical earth and everything on it. When they listened to Satan the serpent and chose to disobey God, however, they abdicated to the serpent, over whom they had authority. As a result, Satan gained their authority and became the prince of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11); until Jesus’ crucifixion, that is.

Early in Jesus’ ministry, he gave his disciples “power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases” (Luke 9:1, NIV). He also gave them “authority … to overcome all the power of the enemy,” so nothing would harm them (Luke 10:19). These statements also apply to Christians today. In both verses, power (Greek, dynamis) is the strength or ability to do something and authority (Greek, exousia) is the right to exercise power.

It’s significant that Jesus gave them — and us — authority (exousia) over the enemy’s power (dynamis), even before he defeated Satan at Calvary. He didn’t just give them — and us — more power than the enemy has so we can overpower him. Instead, Jesus gave us authority, which always prevails over power. It doesn’t matter how mean, stubborn, frightening or intimidating an evil spiritual being seems, our spiritual authority is what matters.

All we need to do is speak in the authority Jesus gave us. We don’t need to shout, jump up and down, threaten or foam at the mouth. Simply acknowledge the authority Jesus gave us, speak the desired result and expect it to happen. It’s not up to us to produce the results; only to speak with authority.

By the way, after Jesus rose from the dead, he met with his disciples and announced he had received all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18). That means Satan now has no authority on earth; none, zero. Jesus is now head over every power and authority because he disarmed all of them by the cross (Col. 2:10, 15). He delegated authority to us and we can expect it to be effective against any evil spiritual forces or beings.

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