Authority Over Sin
First, as a disciple of Jesus Christ you have authority over sin. Let’s illustrate that by turning to John Chapter 8, beginning in verse 31:
“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, “You will be made free?”‘ Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
So first of all, number one, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, you have authority over sin. Thanks be to God Who has delivered us from sin through Jesus Christ. We have authority over the penalty of sin, and we have authority over the power of sin. That means, according to Paul in Romans, that sin does not have to have dominion over us, as opposed to before when we had no choice, we had no say so, but we were bound by sin. And now, through the death of Jesus Christ, we’ve been delivered from the power of sin, and we’ve been delivered from the penalty of sin. So now we have authority over sin. So praise God for that! That is the first thing you have authority over as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Whoever the Son makes free, they are free indeed!
And you might say, “Well, I don’t feel like it, it doesn’t look like it, blah blah blah.” One thing you need to learn about authority is: authority is yours whether you see it, whether you feel it, whether you act upon it or not. You still have authority over sin. We’ll talk about how to increase that authority, and that’s the difference. The increase of authority over sin (and over anything else that we’ll discuss) is increased as you act upon that authority. We’ll discuss that as we go forward, but right now, just accept it on faith based on what Jesus is saying. He or she, whoever the Son sets free, is free indeed. So you have authority over sin. You’re no longer a slave to sin, instead, Paul says you are a slave to righteousness. Now the first step is recognizing that so you can start living according to who you really are, not the way you’ve been living up to the point where you gave your life to the Lord. So authority over sin – that’s what you have already, number one.
Authority Over satan
Number two, you have, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, authority over satan. You do have authority over the devil. I’ve already read this, but to reinforce the point once more – and there are many scriptures that we could provide to support this, but one of the clearest examples is Colossians Chapter 1 – so if you’ll turn to Colossians Chapter 1, I’d like to begin with verse 12:
“Giving thanks to the Father, Who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us…” (Now that is past tense. He has – not going to deliver us.)
“…He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the Kingdom of the Son of His love.” The Greek word “power” there again, being “exousia”, more properly translated “authority”.
Once you have received an inheritance of the saints in the light, and you’ve been transferred out of darkness and into the Kingdom of His dear Son, you’ve been delivered from the authority and the power of darkness. Your eyes have been opened, and satan no longer has authority in your life. And so, you’ve got authority over the devil, you have authority over satan, and that is not something you have to work towards in an effort to try and get that. Instead, that authority is yours in the Name of Jesus. Now, listen! You don’t have to claim it; it just is. Whether you claim it or not, whether you believe it or not, you have authority over sin, you have authority over satan.
Now obviously some people have more than others – only because some people recognize that authority and they live accordingly. If you have authority over the devil, but you keep giving him permission to operate in your life, then guess what? He’s going to beat you up. If you have authority over sin, but you continue to willfully sin, and you don’t deal with those areas, and you don’t allow yourself to be crucified and dealt with in those areas, then you’re going to continue to sin – even though you have authority over sin, you have authority over satan; nevertheless, that authority has to be recognized, and then it has to be exercised.
Now regardless of what you believe, or what you think, or what you feel, or what you see, this is what the Scripture says. So that’s the second thing. You have authority over sin, you have authority over satan – as a believer, as a saint, as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Authority Over the World
Thirdly, you have authority over the world. And that is found in I John Chapter 5, if you would turn there please. Beginning in verse 4, it says this:
“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
Praise the Lord. Now, it doesn’t say you have to be mature. It doesn’t say you have to be spiritually adult. It just says you have to be born of God and believe that Jesus is the Son of God; and once you are born-again, God at that moment gives you authority over the world.
Different people could translate that to mean different things. I take it as: authority over the world system, authority over the ways of the world. It means the world no longer has to have that pull and that draw upon you, because your citizenship now is in heaven, and you can be an ambassador for Christ and a king and priest in His Kingdom and represent that to the world around you. That’s how you overcome the world. John says don’t love the world, or the things of the world, because the world and the things therein are passing away, but he who does the will of God will abide forever. And this is he who overcomes the world: those who are born again. Those who have believed on the Name of Jesus. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith. So praise God.
Now, in the world you’ll have tribulation, so authority over the world doesn’t mean that my circumstances will always be just the way I want them; I’ll never have any problems, and I’ll never have any challenges. What it means is: in the midst of all of that coming against me in the world, I can still be victorious in Christ.
And so, you already have, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, authority over sin, number one; authority over satan, number two; and number three: authority over the world.
Now, since all disciples have this authority, why doesn’t every disciple overcome? You might be asking yourself that question. You might say, “That sounds good, I believe what the Bible says, but I certainly don’t see that happening in my life, and I don’t see that as being the standard for Christian’s lives as a general way of life. I don’t see this happening. So if all disciples have this authority, why don’t more disciples overcome?”
Well, I think the clue you’re going to find out is right back where we left off in John 8. You remember Jesus says, “If… if… if.” See, that’s a condition. “If you continue, if you continue, if you continue in My Word.” What happens if you don’t continue? Well, “if you don’t continue in My Word, then you’re not really My disciples, and therefore the Truth cannot make you free.”
Truth makes us free in a progressive sense. In other words, we have authority over sin, but many times we’re still bound by sin. We have authority over satan, but a lot of times we allow satan to intimidate us, or to exercise power over us, as a result of our own ignorance, our own laziness. See, God says “My people perish for a lack of knowledge.” It is not because satan is all-powerful. It’s not because he’s even very powerful. It’s not because he has authority, in fact the exact opposite is the case when you’re born again, you become a child of God, you have authority over satan!
So how is it that the devil is able to accomplish so much? It’s because “My people perish for a lack of knowledge.” It’s a lack of understanding, and actually a lack of wisdom, because we don’t continue in the Word, we don’t give the Word time enough to transform us and conform us. We don’t continue, we don’t abide in His Word. And so Jesus says (in effect) “if you don’t abide in My Word then you’re not my disciples indeed, you will not know the truth, and the truth will not make you free.”
It’s all contingent on abiding in My Word. “Abide in Me, I will abide in you, you will produce much fruit, and your fruit will remain,” it says in John 15. But, “if you do not abide in Me, if you do not continue in Me, if you do not continue and abide in My Word and in My teachings, then you will not experience fruitfulness, and you will not experience the liberty and the freedom that is there, that is available to you – but you’ve got to continue in My Word.”
Don’t be condemned, but just let me speak the truth to you. If you’re lacking in an area, it’s not because sin is so powerful. It’s not because the devil is so powerful. It’s not because the world is so powerful. It’s only because you have failed to appreciate and recognize and walk in the authority that God has given you. That’s it! You just haven’t grown up to the point that you can walk in the assurance and the knowledge and the authority and the maturity that God has already provided for you.
So don’t blame God, don’t blame sin, don’t blame satan, don’t blame the world – and don’t blame yourself. Just go ahead and say, “OK. I recognize now that I have failed to grow up in these areas.” And ask the Lord to help you to grow, and as you do, your awareness of the truth will begin to transform you.
This article is taken from an audio series titled “Spiritual Authority: Who Has It, Who Doesn’t, And What You Can Do About It.”
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Chip-How do you see “abiding in His Word?”-Reading the Bible everyday, or just walking in HIs ways/teachings? Where does the reality of Him being the Word segway into this truth?
I see it the way Jesus sees it. To continue in His Word is to do what He says. Most of what He says is contained in the written Word. So that is a good place to start.
Chip how can we exercise authority in a practical way?
Can you explain
Chip This is so true, The Truth WILL MAKE us free, but only IF and when we choose to RECOGNISE and BELIEVE the Truth, and CHOOSE to EXERCISE the Truth (THE WORD) and put it into action. Then we find that we are walking in the Light with Jesus. This is moment by moment, day by day. Victory in Jesus.
your article says the same thing that others i have read says–yet my experience says i do not have victory over sin–of course how do you define sin–should we be in the art of sin management–maybee we should not even be worried about sin–what did the believers do when they had no bibles–im not putting you down–i want to be an overcomer and i realize i have god himself living inside me and he is the overcomer–i just wonder sometimes if we make too big of an issue of this sin thing
Maybe you’re right… let’s just sin, so that grace will abound all the more. Keep crucifying Jesus all over again. No need to worry about the sin thing. The world doesn’t.
well i knew that kind of response was comming–your answer to me was from romans six–ok i will join you in the epistemological game using my ontological experiences–1 john chapter two verse one says i write this to you to guide you out of sin but if you do sin dont worry your high priest jesus christ is at gods throne covering for you–god does not encourage us to sin but he knows we will–and we need not get all paniced over it–he will lift us up when we fall-wash us off-and we will continue to walk on trusting him to make us do better the next time–he is indeed a loving patient father.
It doesn’t say “don’t worry” about sin. It simply reminds us that God is loving, merciful, and forgiving. He would have to be, if we ever get the idea that sin is “no big deal.” Which is why He did not condemn the woman caught in adultery; but He did tell her to “go and sin no more.” To the paralyzed man whom He healed, He said, “Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.” How do you reconcile these examples with your approach?
very easy–we have no scriptural evidence that they never did sin again or not–but i have ontological evedence that proves that even as a believer i have commited sins and god my father has assured me that he still loves me which makes me want to sin all the less.you have to remember that when i was unsaved i sinned at will but now that i am saved i want to be free of it.but we will not be free of it untill glorification day.
I think I see what you mean, Kenneth. It is the “sin is no big deal” approach that I have a problem with. In my experience, that mindset does not lead to making a person want to sin less; quite the opposite, in fact. Secondly, there is no ontological evidence that proves you are loved and forgiven – you base this totally on the truth of God’s Word. So my thought is, if you’re willing to take God at His Word for the promises, you also have to take God at His Word for the instructions. Christ my Savior loves me and forgives me; Christ my Lord says, “If you love Me, keep My commandments… if you are My disciple, continue in My Word… Go, and sin no more… Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the Will of My Father in Heaven.” We don’t get to pick and choose which Scriptures to cling to and which Scriptures to write off as superfluous just because we haven’t learned how to walk in obedience to them yet.
HI Chip,
I have always been suspicious of the manner in which the pentecostals and more so charsimatics interprete and apply scripture. The sense in which verses are taken out of context and stretched to fit preconcieved positions. Lately I am being led in studying to see some distinction between some groups of people namely Jews (Israel), Gentiles and the Church and that the scripture has some specific verses addressing each.
This has revolutionized my understanding of truth and kind of clarified some scripture which used to appear contradictory. Paul the apostle appears to me in Romans as providing the foundational doctrines in this age of the Grace message that unravels and provides good understanding of God’s programs, in “Times past”, “But Now” and “Ages to Come”, giving a clear roadmap on God’s differing economies throughout the manner God dealt with men.
I realize my comments may not be related to your post, however I felt a desire to share my thoughts in the light of the emphasis of our position in Christ as you have mentioned and what He has secured for us. Knowing also that the words of Christ after His Glorification are contained in the epistlles penned by Paul, the need for the Church to be grounded in these “Grace” truths needs to be emphasised.
Kind regards
I find that the biggest reason that Christians do not overcome is that they don’t really want to. Threason that they don’t really want to is that they would much rather trust thier own ability to deal with situations than to trust God – but I guess in a way that is the definition of sin!
Interesting discussion regarding ‘sin’ and overcoming. My experience is that I regularly sin, although I don’t want to (Paul’s confession). The solution is not in ourselves but in the Son of God who died to live – in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. So as I yield to Jesus and the Holy Spirit by faith, victory over sin is assured. BUT and this is my experience, I can’t seem to 100% all the time yield myself to God, where life, people, events mix in with my thoughts and actions and they do not wholly include Jesus (to my loss), so sin is able to rear its head. And yet Jesus and the Holy Spirit keep reminding me and bringing me back. Grace and love indeed and my desire to please the Lord is reignited. The key is Jesus ..and his amazing love and drawing power amidst sin and overcoming sin so God is increased and our selfishness, arrogance challenged and defeated. All glory is due to our Father and his son Jesus Christ!
Hi Chip,
thanks for the article. It is really insightful and just brought me back to the foot of the cross. This is just a reminder for me to keep living the Word.
There is an eternity of difference between taking the Lord at His Word and speculating and questioning and resisting His clear, simple and precise declarations about the way things are from His Perspective. Believers are just that…BELIEVERS! We are not to live by what our natural eyes tells us or what everyone’s experience seems to be or by what some speculator’s twist on the Word is. As little children we live by every Word that proceeds out of our Father’s mouth and by doing so we experience ALL that He has promised. What you’ve written is in full agreement with the Word…Let him who receives it, receive it. Let him who refuses or speculates, refuse. Good word, dear Brother!