Some say Christians have the authority of Christ, but that is not true. God gave Jesus all authority in heaven and on earth after He completed His mission on earth and after He was raised from the dead. Nowhere in the Bible does it say Jesus or God gave us all authority in heaven and on earth. Christians are servants of God and Christ, not their equals.
The word of God says that if we abide in Jesus and bear one another’s burdens, God will give us whatever we ask —
1 John 3:16-24.
16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17 But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.
19 We shall know by this that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before Him,
20 in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;
22 and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.
23 And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.
24 And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And we know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
So we do not need authority. However, there always seem to be those with very little faith who seek authority to hide the littleness of their faith from themselves and others. And even though their so-called authority doesn’t work any more than their lack of faith, they continue to claim to have it, thereby lifting themselves up in their own minds to be equal with the Deity.
This is so sad. I have friends who do this and they are so intent on maintaining their stance that they will stubbornly argue against any sound doctrine that contradicts them. They are afraid to let go of that feeling of power whether it works or not. They simply cannot admit the weakness of their faith.
I honestly think much of their fear stems from the fact that they once tried to walk by faith and failed. I also believe their failure was caused mostly by immature ministers who were never taught the gospel themselves. Think about it, when trouble of any kind comes upon Christians today a large number of ministers will tell them to remember who they are in Christ and use their authority.
This is nonsense because most trouble comes from the devil and the word of God tells us to resist him, firm in our faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by our brethren who are in the world. And after we have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish us.
Peter said this. Was he not privy to the authority he had in Christ? How could he make the statement to just sit back and trust in God to deliver him? Did he not have, or did he not know someone who had a deliverance ministry? Come to think of it, I can’t recall the word of God even mentioning a deliverance ministry.
Today when someone speaks of obeying God they usually mean casting out demons when you sense them or speaking something into existence, etc. They seem to have no idea that he who is faithful in little will be given much. They assume God wants everyone to use His authority at all times, whether they are faithful in little or much or in none at all. It never dawns on them that to be obedient to God is to obey the laws of our land and the morality in our hearts and minds. One who can’t be trusted to abide by the speed limits cannot be trusted with casting out demons or raising the dead.
How do I know this? The Lord raises each of us from infancy to maturity. He also does this for the church as a whole. These two facts are made evident in nearly the entire book of Hebrews and Ephesians, Chapter 4.
Aside from this, there is the fact that, unlike Adam who had no chance to learn obedience, Jesus was raised from infancy to maturity being taught discipline and obedience from the things which He suffered. We are to follow His steps, not take up His authority and run with it. We must be disciplined by our heavenly Father to the point that we lean on and trust only in Him, and not ourselves.
Even when speaking of the armor of God, Paul said to put it on, not to attack and kill or crush the enemy, but to resist the enemy. And in extinguishing all the flaming missiles of the evil one he said to do it by faith. What do you think He meant, faith in our authority or faith in our Savior?
Consider Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, Philippians 2:6, and although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered, Hebrews 5:8.
If the only begotten Son of the Father subjected and humbled Himself before God, should we not do the same? Should we not walk outside the camp as did our Savior who was despised and rejected among men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief?
Do you want others to see you as a mighty warrior (the word warrior is not mentioned in the New Testament), or do you want them to see you as a humble servant of the meek and lowly Christ?
Dear friends, the gospel of Christ has been distorted by power-hungry men and women. Yet the true disciples of Jesus are still walking humbly before God, loving one another and learning obedience from the things which they suffer. God will always have a remnant.
Jon David Banks, God’s most unworthy servant
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org
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