The Believer's Authority

Psalm 115:16
The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s;
But the earth He has given to the children of men.

God's original intention for His creation was that man should rule over it. He gave man power and authority to rule over the earth. He broke off a portion of His own sovereignty and gave it to Adam. God gave Adam sovereignty over the earth, and God gave Adam free will, the ability to chose even to rebel and to sin against God if he chose to do so. Let's read...

Gen 1:26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

And then in chapter 2:19
Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.

What does it mean when you get to name something? It means you OWN it. You'll notice that God yielded His own power and authority to name the living creatures and that He gave it to Adam and that God endorsed Adam's authority and abided by Adam's decisions. "Whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name." God yielded His authority to Adam in regard to having dominion over the earth.

Now, when Adam and Eve sinned by first of all disobeying God and secondly by taking in the knowledge of good and evil, they not only lost their innocence, which was their claim to sinlessness, and therefore at the same time lost their fellowship with God, but they also lost their dominion over the earth. Their new master, Satan, inherited the dominion and authority that had formerly rested on Adam. Notice that Adam's authority did not revert back to God but was commandeered by Satan instead. God had already broken off a portion of His own sovereignty and given it to Adam. First of all, God does not take back what He has given.

Romans 11:29
For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

If I give a car to somebody, and sign the bill of sale to them, and they register it in their name, it becomes their car. They can do whatever they want with it. They can drive it till it breaks, they can wreck it, they can trade it in for a better car, they can leave it sitting in their driveway till it rots, or they can charge people $5 a whack to hit it with a baseball bat. It's not my car anymore. It doesn't matter whether or not I approve of what they do with the car; they're still free to do with it as they please. It's not subject to my approval what they do with it.

And, secondly; if God did want to take back the authority over the earth that He assigned to Adam, there would be no sin allowed on earth. God would have had to burn up Adam and Eve with fire and cleanse the earth of sin in order to reclaim His own authority over the earth, because God is holy and nothing unclean can dwell within His personal dominion.

Since Adam and Eve had fallen from grace and become slaves, their new ungodly master owned not only them but also took their power and authority as well.

Luke 4:6
And the devil said to Him (Jesus), "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish." Notice that Jesus did not argue with the devil and deny that he had such authority to give. Notice that Jesus did not have authority over the kingdoms of the earth, even though the earth was created by Him.

Jn 1:10
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

But Jesus did take back that authority from the devil; not by agreeing with the devil but by redeeming mankind from sin. Jesus triumphed over the devil through His own death on the cross.

Colossians 2:13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

So Jesus took back the authority over the earth that Satan had stolen through deception. But that restoration of original earthly authority comes to people through faith in Jesus and in His finished work on the cross. Notice how the world is still in the lap of the evil one?

1 John 5:19
We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

This is because Jesus's victory over sin and death was accomplished by paying in full mankind's debt of sin and by reversing humanity's state of rebellion against God. But it is given to us as a free gift by grace through faith; therefore those who choose to remain in rebellion cannot receive it, even though it has already been paid for. We still have free will, and that includes the freedom of unbelief and the freedom to reject His free gift.

In addition to salvation, God also promises us many other things. For example, provision and abundance...

2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

Now, this is a promise for all believers. Jesus explicitly said that we should not worry about what we should eat or what we should wear but that God will provide for our needs. But did you know that you can block God's blessings by your unbelief? Unbelief is when you agree with Satan instead of God. When Satan approaches a believer, he will bring charges of condemnation, he will attack your identity as a child of God, and he will challenge the word of God.

When he came to Eve, he asked her a question: "Did God really say?..." Eve listened to the serpent, and she agreed with him, and so she became deceived and fell from grace and into false religious doctrine. The religion the serpent was selling to Eve was that if she knew good and evil that she would become like God, and she could make her own way in the universe instead of relying on His love and guidance and protection of her. And so legalism and separation from God were born on that day. How did God respond? Not be condemning Adam and Eve but by asking them to tell the truth, asking them who told them they were naked, and giving them animal skins to wear instead of fig leaves. God's curse over the serpent included the promise of ultimate redemption of humankind:

Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.

So the serpent received the condemnation, but humanity received the promise of the Savior Jesus Who would come from the seed of the woman and redeem mankind by bruising the serpent's head.

Just as when God promised to Abraham that through his seed God would bless the nations of the earth but that there would be a 400-year period of slavery in Egypt before they could enter the land of promise, so God established that humankind would be under the bondage of the Law until the fullness of times when Jesus would come and set us free.

When Satan came to Jesus, he challenged His identity: "If you are the Son of God..." Jesus replied to the devil with the correct understanding of scripture and rebuked the devil. So Jesus showed us how to respond to the devil's campaign of lies, distortions, and unbelief: to rest in the final and absolute authority of God's word.

Did you know that you can limit God by your unbelief? Unbelief is an agreement with the devil. So how does that work as a practical example? Here's a quick story about something that happened to me just yesterday morning. I was praying to God that we'd get some money, because the account was low. So then I logged into my PayPal account, and there was $600 more in there than there was last time I checked. That's great, but I was expecting $800 from a dealer invoice I had sent out a couple days earlier; why only $600? I looked at my transactions and saw that the dealer had indeed paid the $800 invoice, but PayPal had taken $200 because of a loan repayment plan. I had AGREED with PayPal that they could take a certain percentage of all my revenues until my loan has been paid off. So my agreement with PayPal limited the amount I got paid, even though the dealer paid me the full amount of the invoice I had sent him. Did I get mad at God because I only received $600 instead of $800? No! I praised God and thanked Him for His faithfulness. That $200 was something I had agreed to.

So in the same way, we can limit God by our agreements that we make with the devil concerning God's blessings for us, whether those be healing or peace or victory over sin or whatever other great and precious promises God has made to us.

Psalm 78
41 Yes, again and again they tempted God,
And limited the Holy One of Israel.

Over and over the Bible tells us that in Jesus's name we have forgiveness of sins. We have remission of sins; they have been rolled back; they have been blotted out; they have been washed away; "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow." (Isaiah 1:18) "The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin and unrighteousness" (1 John 1:7) "As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:12)

Hebrews 10:14
For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

2 Corinthians 5:21
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Matthew 5:48
Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Did you know that you can read this as a prophecy instead of as a command?

Colossians 1:21-23
And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Why the "if?" Because you can choose not to receive God's promises through unbelief, which is an agreement.

Now, have you ever heard a preacher say that Jesus has restored to us the authority that we lost through Adam? Jesus did do that, right? But is that all He did? Wouldn't just reverting us back to the state of Adam and Eve in the garden be a rather meager outcome for all the work God had to go through to redeem us? No, but rather, God did infinitely more for us than simply restore our lost authority over the earth.

Matthew 28:18
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."

Notice: Jesus didn't say only "on earth." He said "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." That's quite a bit more than what Adam lost. Originally it was said of man "You have made him a little lower than the angels..." (Psalm 8:5), but now it is said "Do you not know that we shall judge angels?..." (1 Corinthians 6:3).

God adopted us as sons and seated us in the heavenly places with Christ Jesus, far above every realm and principality and authority. Note that the Old Testament tells us that Jesus would be seated at the right hand of God and would receive all authority over heaven and earth...

Psalm 110:1-2
The Lord said to my Lord,
"Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool."
The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion.
Rule in the midst of Your enemies!

And the New Testament says that God raised us up and made us sit together WITH Jesus in the heavenly places...

Ephesians 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

Ephesians 1:15...
Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Ephesians 2 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Luke 12:32
"Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

The kingdom. Think about what that means and what it entails. "...give you the kingdom." That means the whole thing. That means literally everything on heaven and on earth. Everything. The kingdom. His kingdom, which is an everlasting kingdom and whose power and dominion has no end.

So, whenever you hear a voice telling you that you should feel condemned, who is it that is speaking? Should you believe it? Which particular sins you've committed are sins that can keep you from the love of God, that have not been cleansed by the blood of Jesus, that have not been forgiven? Are there any? Should you consider for even a fraction of a second any of the accusations of the enemy to see if perhaps they might be true? Or are they all lies, and should they immediately be rejected outright?

Whenever you hear a voice telling you that God has failed you, that He won't be able to provide for you, and His word cannot be relied upon; are there any cases where this might be true? Should you consider for even a fraction of a second that perhaps God may have indeed failed you and that His word might not be true? Or do you view God's word, by which He upholds the entire universe and upon which all of reality stands (Hebrews 1:3), to be unshakeably and irrefutably true?

Do you say to yourself "let God be true and every man a liar" as it is written in Romans 3:4? Do you look at your feelings to determine whether or not God loves you and has accepted you, or do you look at the truth of God's word which says that you are "accepted in the beloved?" Do you look to your circumstances to determine whether God is faithful to His word, or do you enforce God's decrees in your life through faith and expect the circumstances to behave accordingly?

Do you realize that the way God executes warfare is by using the enemy's own weapons against him?

Genesis 50:20
But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.

Esther 7:10
So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king's wrath subsided.

The enemy's greatest attack was when he conspired to kill the Son of God, and God turned that attack into Satan's ultimate defeat.

1 Corinthians 2:8
which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Now because of Jesus's sacrifice on the cross, God has used the enemy's own tactic to unleash an army of blood-bought, born-again saints onto the world who wield the word of truth as a mighty sword of the Spirit and who are immune to his attacks in every realm.

Ephesians 6:12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

2 Corinthians 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

Exodus 14:14
The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.

Deuteronomy 1:30
The Lord your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes,

Joshua 10:25
Then Joshua said to them, "Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; be strong and of good courage, for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight."

2 Chronicles 20:17
You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem! Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.

Jeremiah 1:19
"They will fight against you, But they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you," says the Lord, "to deliver you."

Zechariah 14:3
Then the Lord will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle.

We must understand this: our fight has already been won. Our posture with regard to the enemy is one of total victory. He has been defeated. Every enemy of God is a defeated foe. Our job is not to go out and blindly try to engage in skirmishes and hope we land a blow now and then, only to be beaten back into our corner every time, over and over again. If we continually approach life as if it were our job to defend ourselves, we will become spiritually drained and emotionally depleted. Our job is not to defend ourselves but simply to enforce divine authority which has been established in eternity.

I'm drawing from the teachings of Watchman Nee here. The enemy cannot occupy the same space as divine authority. Satan is not defeated by our effort but by our position; not by our strength, but by our understanding of where we stand. Our victory against Satan, against sin, against demons, against sickness, against circumstances, against contrary thoughts and feelings in our hearts is not earned through performance but inherited through identity. Our identity as adopted sons of God is not just a feel-good thought or a fanciful idea; it is the very core of who we are. Our identity in Christ is the territory of our claim to heaven and our victory over all the various schemes of the devil.

John 1:12-13
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

So our primary task is to maintain our attitude in Christ, resting in His finished work. And the devil's primary strategy is to keep us ignorant of our position in Christ and to tempt us back down to his level, with his tactics of provocation, lies, chaos, confusion, emotional turmoil, fear, doubt, and unbelief. When you are already seated in heavenly places with Christ, the only way the enemy can touch you is by drawing you away from the Shepherd of our souls. Your victory is already secured, and it is enforced by simply resting in it and walking it out in your daily life and actions.

Philippians 2:12-13
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Your salvation is already accomplished. Your victory is already established. We are to "work it out," meaning allow it to extend from our innermost being out into our words and our deeds. Our warfare does not consist of exhausting combat but of effortless administration of victory already won. When we are secure in Christ and our obedience to Him is automatic, then Satan has no place to attack us.

This is the difference between fact and feeling. Our feelings and circumstances do not define our spiritual condition; the unchangeable facts of our position in Christ define who we are.

Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.