Authority

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  • Approximate Time Commitment: 5 minutes

Spiritual Warfare – the Super and the Natural gives you tools for faithful participation in spiritual battle. This reading is one element from the CIT Next online course Spiritual Warfare. Understanding some basic concepts of how the spiritual world functions will instruct and embolden us.

The Christian life is a wartime life. Spiritual battles are waged every day, all around us, whether we live and minister in the land of our birth or in a new place that is unfamiliar and disorienting. As you venture into your new place, the reality of this war often becomes more evident. Now that you see it, will you take up your part in the battle and serve as faithfully and bravely as you can? Spiritual Warfare might be the course for you!

For more information about the Spiritual Warfare course and to register, visit here: www.grow2serve.com/sw

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Resource Description

The Role of Authority in Spiritual Warfare
Selected Book Excepts and Scripture Passages

“The day Jesus died on the cross, the battle was won. We don’t have to find our own way to God. Jesus is the way, and if we fully trust in him, if we reach out to him in faith, he will respond. We will not be doomed to eternal damnation but instead will receive everlasting life. He is our way out! He is our truth and our life, the One we are looking for, the Savior. How do we know this gift is ours? Because if you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognizing His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Rom. 10:9 AMP)”

Cunnington, Havilah. Stronger than the Struggle: Uncomplicating Your Spiritual Battle (p. 15). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

“No matter your experiences or the teachings you’ve heard about spiritual warfare, whether your church has been afraid of spiritual things or has bordered on obsession and glorification, we need re-education on spiritual warfare. Gross misconceptions and elitism have kept most of the church in the dark about their power to win daily battles with the enemy. Enough of the fear-based messages. Enough of our obsession with darkness. Let’s get back to what Jesus wanted us to know from the beginning. No shortcuts, no secret handshakes, no misleading spirituality. Let’s get back to the uncomplicated gospel, the straightforward certainty Christ came to bring. Let’s get back to claiming our spiritual authority, believing that the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead is now living in us. Let’s get back to winning every day.”

Cunnington, Havilah. Stronger than the Struggle: Uncomplicating Your Spiritual Battle (pp. 40-42). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

“When talking about binding demons, they also reference Matthew 12: 29. The text says, “How can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up [binds] the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.” In the context of Matthew 16 and 18, binding and loosing relate to the keys of the kingdom and the ability to exercise divine authority. In some way, God has given the church the authority to bind and loose in the spiritual realm. That authority extends to demons but isn’t limited to them. It flows from the Christian’s positional authority in Christ.”

Payne, William P. Adventures in Spiritual Warfare: Defeating Satan and Living a Victorious Life (Kindle Locations 413-417). Resource Publications, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition.

“Our victory and delegated authority over demonic spirits are like our salvation. Although Christ’s sin payment and victory over death is sufficient to save everyone, it is only efficient for those who obey His commands to believe and receive the free gift He purchased for them. In the same way, although Christ has delegated authority to every Christian over all the powers of the enemy (Luke 10:18–20), only those Christians who exercise this authority will realize the awesome victory. Gifts received with joy but left unopened are of very little value.”

Payne, Dr. Karl. Spiritual Warfare: Christians, Demonization and Deliverance (p. 60). WND Books. Kindle Edition.

Matthew 10:1 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.

Luke 4:35-36  But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing him any harm. And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another saying, “What is this message? For with authorityand power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.”

Mark 1:21-27 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.”

Ephesians 1:19-23 “and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.  And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

Luke 10:17-20 “The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.’ And He said to them, ‘I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 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. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.’ “

Reflect on the following question: How does my awareness of the authority that is available to me, delegated to me through Christ, change the way I think about and engage at times of spiritual conflict with Devil and his demons?

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