THE SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY

THE SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY

 Authority As we saw in Matthew 28:18, all authority has been given to Jesus.  He recognizes no other authority than that which is in Himself.  The authority resides in who He is not from the His government.  He is the only source of authority. What about the Church?  Does the Church have any authority?  Yes and no.  There is no inherent authority in the Church.  There is only authority delegated by Jesus. As Jesus rules His Kingdom there is authority within the Kingdom to govern according to the plans and purposes of the King.  His authority is only loaned to us as we walk under His government because only then is it recognized in the spiritual realm. In Matthew 8 we have the story of the Roman Centurion that came to Jesus for healing for his servant.  When Jesus said that He would come, the Centurion said that it wasn't necessary for Jesus to come in person but He could speak the word and his servant would be healed.  Jesus said this was greater faith than anyone in Israel exercised.  Why?  Because the Centurion understood governmental authority. And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, (Matthew 8:5 NASB) and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented." (Matthew 8:6 NASB) Jesus *said to him, "I will come and heal him."  (Matthew 8:7 NASB) But the centurion said, "Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.  (Matthew 8:8 NASB) "For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it."  (Matthew 8:9 NASB) Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.  (Matthew 8:10 NASB)

The Centurion recognized that Jesus walked in spiritual authority.  That was why Jesus had only to speak the word and He would be obeyed.  The Centurion understood this because, he too, walked in governmental authority and could, by a word, direct those for whom he was responsible. I have seen these scriptures twisted and used to justify a worldly authority of “lording it over” (which Jesus condemned).  The “shepherding movement” used these verses to emphasize that the Centurion was “a man under authority” and used this to say that we all must be under authority to a “shepherd” and give obedience to him even if he was wrong (just as Sarah obeyed Abraham when he said she was his sister when they went to Egypt) trusting God to protect us from the shepherd's mistakes.  They said that to “have authority” one must be “under authority”, which, in the broadest sense is true; however, their application meant that one had to be “under” another person's (shepherd's) authority. When the Centurion said that he was “a man under authority”, he meant that he derived his authority from the government that he served.  He didn't have authority because he was under an army commander.  He had authority because he was part of the government's army.  Had he left the army, none of those of whom he spoke would obey him anymore because he no longer had any governmental authority. It is the same in the Kingdom of God.  We exercise governmental authority, which is loaned to us as long as we live and work under His government.  To exercise authority one must have the right to do so.  To attempt to exercise authority without having the right to do it makes it illegitimate authority and puts it in the category of the world and the principle of Satan. There are criteria that must be met in order to walk under His government.  The most basic is the same that is required to function as a son of God. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.  (Romans 8:14 NASB) Even a son who is to be the heir does not have carte blanche authority. Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything,  (Galatians 4:1 NASB) but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father.  (Galatians 4:2 NASB) While I am sure that there are some accommodations made for the heir, in practice, he doesn't exercise authority but instead is taught, directed, trained and otherwise managed until the appropriate time set by the the father.  Why would the father not allow the heir (son) to direct the servants until he came of age?  Because he would fulfill his every selfish desire, indulging  himself with comfort and laziness!  Is it not the same with us?