Your Authority: Believing to a Point of Action!

And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Ephesians 1:19-23, KJV

Imagine a busy intersection where the stoplights have just stopped working. Confusion ensues, and after a while a police officer shows up. He steps out of his patrol car, stands out in the middle of the street, and begins directing traffic with his hands. He holds up his hand and a long line of cars stop in the road. With a mere gesture, a lone individual is able to move hundreds of thousands of pounds of steel and their occupants.

Did the police officer accomplish this powerful feat through his own strength? No way! One person couldn’t stand up to the smallest car if using their own strength.

We obey a police officer because we recognize the authority that he or she carries. We know what their badge means. In the same way, every born-again believer in Jesus carries (but may or may not exercise) the fullest authority in the spiritual realm – far above Satan himself and all the demons on the earth today. Let’s expand on last week’s blog (Dominion: God’s Original Plan for Man) by exploring the truths behind our God-given authority.

“To us who believe”

This authority, although an inherited right and privilege of anyone who has accepted Jesus as Lord, is only operative by faith. Satan, knowing full well the “exceeding greatness of God’s power” to and for the saint, has done an excellent job of keeping believers from recognizing and operating in their authority in Christ.

Notice the totality of Jesus’ perfect domination over Satan and all the forces of hell:

• God stripped and spoiled Satan and all his forces of their authority over the believer and made an open show of their defeat (through Jesus’ ascension). Colossians 2:15
• For this purpose was the Son of God manifested: that He might destroy the works of the devil. The question is, did Jesus complete His work on the earth? Yes! 1 John 3:8
• Jesus has delivered us (those who have accepted His gift of salvation) from the authority of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Colossians 1:13

There are many, many more scriptures we could point out that speak to Jesus’ complete annihilation of Satan’s power, but here’s the point we are getting to: the Word of God is quite clear that the believer has been granted authority from God through the sacrifice of Jesus–why, then, do we not see more victory in the Church? First, it is a matter of believing.

This powerful passage in Ephesians 1-2 that outline our spiritual authority start out with Paul’s prayer over the Church at Ephesus, which we can definitely apply to the Church all around the world today (collectively and individually). Notice he says, “and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe…“

The Amplified Classic bible puts it well:

And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ…

For us who believe! Paul is talking to born-again Christians and is praying that they would know and understand the power of God that is directed towards the ones who believe. This is not referring only to the power of Jesus to take away our sins, but there is more. The Holy Spirit is expressly trying to get a point across: “God’s power toward you is available, if you believe.” The first step is always “for those who believe.”

Believing to a Point of Action!

I remember being scheduled to speak on the first night of a large crusade in Kenya, Africa, along with my missionary team from America. I had never been to that part of the world, but I had done my homework and had spent many hours preparing for the trip physically and spiritually. I knew that my assertion of my Godly authority would be put to the test on this trip, and oh, was it ever. I had seen several cases of demonic possession and deliverance in the United States and elsewhere, but nothing compared to some of the spiritual darkness we encountered on this trip.

Months before the trip, I had a picture of myself standing on the edge of a long stage, calling out boldly to the crowd of thousands, “Whoever is the first to come up to this stage will be healed of whatever they have.” I meditated on this quite a bit until I was absolutely certain that God Himself had indeed given me this picture – in fact, it was a divine command.

I knew that a bold display of God’s healing power would show the people the triumphant power of Jesus over all the power of the spirits in the region and would open the door to their listening ears. When the day finally came, I stood on that stage, exactly as I saw in that picture, and burst out my loud charge…and waited.

To be honest, I had secretly hoped that someone would come up front with a runny nose or some back pain or something minor. I cringed at the thought of someone missing an arm or leg or having a withered body or something coming up and making me sweat in front of thousands of people.

Of course, it sounds silly now, but I felt a lot of pressure! I know it was God’s power operating through me and not my own strength (thank God), but it was a real thing. I learned about myself that day. And I learned that the operation of my heavenly authority wasn’t dependent upon my flesh (which may have been shaking), but in my willingness to step out and use that authority.

I waited.

Suddenly, right in front of me, I saw bodies moving in the crowd. People were being pushed aside roughly – a man, somewhere in his thirties, had charged his way right up to the platform and was looking up at me, staring deeply into my eyes.

Immediately I was charged with so much love, I can’t explain it. Suddenly, in one moment, I was transformed from being mindful of my own flesh into being overwhelmed with more compassion than I could possibly describe. I suddenly didn’t care if the man had come for healing for a decapitated head; I was ready to see God restore this man completely. I was snarling on the inside with a deep, deep hatred of the devil and his work in this man’s life. I was ready to release the power of God to bring wholeness into this man that stood before me if it was the last thing I did. I loved that man. I felt in my guts for that man. I wanted to hold him and hug him and kiss him all over.

I said to him, “My brother, what is it?”

He replied, “I’ve got a spirit in me, and I want to be free. It is tormenting me.” He went on to tell me he had had the devil for the last two months.

Without further questioning, I rebuked the devil in the Name of Jesus.

The man simply looked up at me with new eyes full of tears. “It is gone,” he exclaimed. “I am free!”

I prayed with him to receive salvation and the infilling of the Holy Spirit and sent him on his way, rejoicing. The rest of the night saw hundreds of salvations, healings, and more demonic deliverances.

Believing to the point of action in God’s Word produces the results He promises!

Living in Accordance With Our Authority

The words who believe in Ephesians 1:19 is the word pisteuō, which simply means to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, or to place confidence in something.

I want to borrow from John A. MacMillan (1873-1956), a Canadian missionary and bible teacher who wrote numerous works on the subject of authority over the works of the devil. Based on the original etymology of the word, MacMillian defines belief as “to live in accordance with” anything.

What we truly believe is made manifest by what we choose to “live in accordance with”, or how we actually live our lives.

Let me close with these words from MacMillan’s classic The Authority of the Believer:

Do we believe that God “hath quickened us together with Christ and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:5-6)? If we do, our reaction to it will be fervent, “Lord, I accept Thy gracious word. I believe that Thou hast thus wrought for me. In humble faith I do now take my seat in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus at Thy right hand. Teach me how to fulfill this sacred ministry, how to exercise the authority which Thou hast entrusted to me. Train me day by day that I may attain to the full stature of the perfect man in Christ, so that in me Thy purpose of the ages may be fulfilled. Amen.”

Macmillan, 27

“To us-ward who believe” is an important starting point to understanding the exceeding great authority of God that He has granted to His children. I encourage you today to take God at His word and truly believe that you have indeed been raised up with Christ and are seated in heavenly places in Him, at God’s right hand, with all the powers and rulers of darkness firmly and permanently under your feet.

Remember, it’s not your strength that the demons recognize, it’s the badge you wear. That badge is the Blood of Jesus – and the devil will do anything he can to convince you that you have no authority over him. As long as he can keep God’s people from believing and acting on their authority, he can continue to prosper in his dark works. We must rise up in our authority in this hour to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the Church to the principalities and powers in the heavenlies… (Ephesians 3:10).

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash