SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY
A solid understanding of spiritual authority is vital to
build your faith when casting out demons, healing the sick, and exercising your
authority over the powers of darkness.
When we have been given authority to cast out demons, but
instead we pray that God brings the demon out instead, we are basically asking
God to do something that He gave US the tools to do ourselves! Jesus told US to
cast out demons! Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us to ask God to cast out
demons!
Mark 13:34, "For the Son of man is as a man taking a
far journey, who left his house, and gave
authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the
porter to watch."
CONCEPT OF SPIRITUAL
AUTHORITY
Authority is one of those things that
everyone seems to want—both in the natural and in the spiritual. However, our understanding of spiritual
authority is based on the World's concept and application of authority rather
than God's. It is not an accident that the scriptures tell us that we should
have the mind of Christ and that our minds need to be renewed. This is because spiritual things cannot be
understood with the natural mind. But a natural man does not accept the things
of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand
them, because they are spiritually appraised.
(1 Corinthians 2:14 NASB)
All spiritual authority has its basis in God
and is received from God. It cannot be
taken but only received as God gives it to us.
Jesus did not take authority but received it from the Father. And Jesus
came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in
heaven and on earth. (Matthew 28:18
NASB) When the Father made Jesus both Lord and King, He became the ruler of the
Kingdom of God and it is from His position as King that He exercises authority.
then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when
He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. (1 Corinthians 15:24 NASB) Since Jesus has
all authority, what authority is He abolishing in His Kingdom? He is abolishing all natural, positional,
secular authority that has been taken under the principle of Satan without
regard to God. Jesus clearly warned us of the difference between the authority
of the world and His authority. But Jesus called them to Himself and said,
"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their
great men exercise authority over them.
(Matthew 20:25 NASB) "It is not this way among you, but whoever
wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, (Matthew 20:26 NASB) and whoever wishes to be
first among you shall be your slave;
(Matthew 20:27 NASB) just as the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28 NASB) Jesus clearly contrasts
the way the world handles authority and the way that we should as His
followers. Spiritual authority has
nothing to do with being great or exercising authority over people but instead
is service to others. Natural or worldly
authority seeks to be served and exercise authority over as many people as
possible, whereas spiritual authority seeks to serve others and never seeks to
exercise authority over people.
UNDERSTANDING THE
REALMS OF SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY
Understanding realms of authority is a safeguard against getting outside of your spiritual coast. Knowing your limitations in the spirit is a must. Understanding realms of authority will also enhance and accent your God-given gifts. It brings correction to our tendencies to rebel. Understanding realms of authority gives us a better foundation in understanding order. It is true there is no male or female in the spirit—but there is always order. You do not have to worry about proving what you can do when you are subject to God’s order. God’s order always undergirds true authority, and that which He sets in place cannot be moved.
The authority of God will always be challenged. It is simple: The devil hates believers! Whether it is in the natural or the spirit realm, demonic forces always fight against the constituted authority of God’s elect. The words constituted authority are very important and must be defined. Constituted authority is that which has been appointed, set up and established by God. What God has appointed is anointed and cannot be denied.
Many people try to operate in the spirit and do not understand spiritual realms. In order to understand spiritual realms, we must understand realms of authority. Though there are many kinds of authority, spiritual authority is the greatest. If our authority in Christ is by the Spirit, it cannot relate to whether or not a person is a male or female, Jew or Gentile. There is no distinction between them in the spirit.
By making this point, I must note that there are always opposing authorities in the spirit realm—good vs. evil, dark vs. light, the kingdom of our God vs. the kingdom of darkness. There is a battle going on in the spirit, and it is not a natural one. The real battle is not over land, oil, political positions or the keys to the stock market. The real battle is over authority in the spirit. Every human being has the potential inside to rule and have dominion in the earth.
In the Garden of Eden, God gave dominion to all mankind, not just to believers. The problem comes into play when believers do not use their access to the spirit realm that God has given them to represent Jesus in the earth realm. The devil has been recruiting men to operate in the spirit realm (on the dark side) since the fall of mankind. The Holy Spirit is wooing us to walk with God again as Adam did in the cool of the day.
To be effective in the earth realm, we must do two things:
1. Walk with God in a personal relationship and have nothing before Him in our hearts.
2. Walk in the dominion that God has given us in the earth realm.
Second Corinthians teaches that what we see is temporal, but what we cannot see is eternal (2 Cor. 4:18). I am sure most Christians understand what this passage means when they use the word eternal, but we need to investigate deeper into the meaning of temporal. The Greek word for temporal is proskairos, and it relates to that which is only for a season and temporarily exists.
The things of the spirit realm are very real, but they cannot be socially, scientifically or intellectually confirmed. The things of the spirit can only be spiritually discerned. Let’s take a look at 1 Corinthians 2:
"But as it is written: 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.' But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one" (1 Cor. 2:9–15).
This passage of Scripture is very clear and to the point. Spiritual things must be spiritually discerned! Intellect, science or anything that we can relate to in the natural will only distort a clear view of what is going on in the spirit realm. We discern things spiritually by knowing them through our spirit man and not through our natural man. First Corinthians 2:14 says that the natural man cannot relate to the things of the spirit.
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