Whenever you start teaching on the authority of the believer, you start hearing people ask questions like “what do I need to do to get that authority”, “how can I have that authority”. So the foundation I want to lay in the next couple of posts is this: YOU ALREADY HAVE THE AUTHORITY OF THE BELIEVER!
Did you know that salvation already belongs to the sinner? Jesus is the propitiation not just for our sins but for the whole world (1 John 2.2). The worst sinner in the world is someone who Jesus died for, just like you and just like me. We are not supposed to tell people they are off to hell – our mission is to tell people the good news, and we are supposed to tell people they are reconciled to God.
However, all that provision of salvation will never benefit anyone unless they believe it. Every sinner will go to hell with their debts cancelled already unless someone tells them, they believe it and then they benefit from it.
And that’s the same with Christians and the authority of the believer. We already have it. It was ours all along!
Ephesians 1:3 reads, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us [the whole Church] with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” The American Standard Version renders “all spiritual blessings” as “every spiritual blessing.” This means every spiritual blessing there is. In Christ, all spiritual blessings belong to us. Authority belongs to us whether we realize it or not!
My wife and I were once entertaining at our house, and we realized we didn’t have enough cheese to complete the dish my wife was making. So with the man of the couple we had round, we walked to the local corner shop to pick up some extra cheese. We got there and we picked up the cheese and a couple of other things, and we got to the till, and I had forgot my wallet. Feeling very embarrassed, I had to ask my guest to pay for the food! What a bad host!
What was even worse was on the way home, for some reason I patted my shirt pocket, and I realized that I didn’t have my wallet but I did have my bank card in the shirt pocket. I had taken it out of my wallet in the morning because I was going to buy somethings online!
I had the ability to buy the food all along, but due to ignorance, I didn’t and couldn’t. You see it is the truth that sets us free. It is not knowing things that destroys us! You need to realize right now that you don’t have to do anything to gain the authority. It is already ours!
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