You and I are living in the most intense time in human history. It’s no time to cower in fear or even to allow darkness and evil to prevail—it’s a time to use the authority God has given us!
In Luke 10:19 Jesus told us, “Look, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. And nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
Now, I’ve known about my authority in Christ for a while; I just don’t always remember to use it! Has that happened to you? Sometimes I just allow things to go on that I shouldn’t instead of using the authority Jesus gave me.
I believe there are three things we must be aware of in order to use this authority Jesus has given us:
—We have to know what it is.
—We have to know it belongs to us.
—We have to know how to use it.
What Authority Is
The authority that Jesus is talking about in Luke 10:19 is not brute-force power. It’s delegated power, much like a policeman possesses. When a policeman steps out in front of traffic and holds up his hand to stop it, he’s not stopping cars and trucks with his own brute strength—he’s stopping them with the delegated authority that comes from wearing the uniform. He’s backed by the law.
That’s the authority you have in Christ. You’re not stopping the forces of darkness (sickness, fear, evil, lack) with your own strength—you’re stopping them with the delegated authority given to you by God in Christ. You’re backed by all the power of God.
How amazing is that—God Almighty Himself is the power behind your authority? Ephesians 6:10b says, “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (author’s emphasis). That means you can step out in front of the devil, hold up your hand and say no, backed by the power of God’s might.
Authority Belongs to Us
The Bible says that you are the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27). Jesus is the head; we are the body—and His authority is perpetuated through the body. When Jesus rose from the dead, He transferred His authority on earth to His body, the church. In God’s mind, when Christ was raised, we were raised
Ephesians 2:6 (NLT) says that God “raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.” Both the head and the body are seated there, next to God, in the place of power and authority. That means you are seated there! You are seated in the power position, and you are His heir (Rom. 8:17). That means that everything that’s His—including His authority—now belongs to you.
How to Use Authority
The door to exercising your authority in Christ hinges on Ephesians 1:20 and Ephesians 2:6, the verses that say we are seated with God in Christ. I encourage you to meditate on those until you fully grasp the revelation that you are seated with Him, and you are the one He moves through.
Then when adversity arises, use your authority by speaking out what His Word says, using the name of Jesus. For example, you could say, “Sickness, I command you to leave my body in Jesus’ name according to 1 Peter 2:24—by His stripes, I am healed!” The authority is in the name.
It’s like using the name of the president of a company—that name can get things done. It’s the same in the spirit realm, except that the name of Jesus is higher and carries more weight than any other name (Phil. 2:9).
Think about that! When you use the name of Jesus, believing that you’re seated with Him at the right hand of God, you are backed by all the power in heaven! Every knee must bow to that name (Phil. 2:10).
Jesus made it very clear that His name is the key to all authority: “You call Me Teacher and Lord. You speak accurately, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:13-14, MEV).
In Acts 3, when Peter and John encountered a lame man at the Gate Beautiful, they said, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6b), and he did! It wasn’t their own anointing or power that raised the man; it was the authority in the name of Jesus. That same authority belongs to us; using the name of Jesus is how we exercise it! {eoa}
Karen Jensen Salisbury has been in ministry over 30 years. Formerly a lead pastor, then an instructor at Rhema Bible College, she is currently an itinerant minister and author of several books. Connect with her on her website, karenjensen.org; Facebook; Instagram or Twitter.
This article originally appeared at karenjensen.org.
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