THE BASIS FOR SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY

THE  BASIS  FOR SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY

In the Church today, many speak of having authority over some number of people or some number of churches or some number of ministries.  But, is this what Jesus had in mind? Jesus gave very specific authority to the disciples: Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.  (Matthew 10:1 NASB) This is clear.  The disciples were given authority over unclean spirits and every kind of disease and sickness. When Jesus sent them out in pairs, He, again, gave very specific authority to them. And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases.  (Luke 9:1 NASB) And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing.  (Luke 9:2 NASB) Again, it is clear:  authority over all demons and to heal disease.  And, the purpose for which the authority was given is also very clear: to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to perform healing. They were given authority by Jesus to proclaim and to perform the purposes of the King. When Jesus sent out the seventy, they were only directed according to the plan of the Lord.  They weren't sent to just anyplace but only to the places where He was coming. Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.  (Luke 10:1 NASB) When they returned and were excited about the fact that the demons were subject to them, Jesus told them why: "Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.  (Luke 10:19 NASB) Notice that in all of these cases, Jesus gave authority over spiritual things such as demons and sicknesses but never gave any of them authority over people.  Likewise, Jesus has given us authority over all of the power of the enemy so that we might overcome but the scriptures say specifically that we don't wrestle with flesh and blood, that is, people.  It would seem to me that so many in the Church have it backwards.  They want to exercise authority over people but have very little authority in spiritual matters. Only One has been given authority over people and that One is Jesus.

Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You,  (John 17:1 NASB) even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.  (John 17:2 NASB) We function as the “under guardians and managers” of the “heirs of salvation” until they come of age and function as sons.  Paul speaks of this when he speaks of the authority given to him. For even if I boast somewhat further about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be put to shame,  (2 Corinthians 10:8 NASB) For this reason I am writing these things while absent, so that when present I need not use severity, in accordance with the authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.  (2 Corinthians 13:10 NASB) So, we see that when it comes to people, even Paul's authority was limited to the specific purposes of the Lord for building up.  This had to do with the apostolic work of the Kingdom and Paul's function as a “master builder”.  We are given spiritual authority to fulfill the function of our calling and to accomplish the work that the Lord has assigned.