The Discerner: Creating A Culture Of Wisdom And FaithSample

Walking in the Authority of Christ

Walking in the authority of Christ is another important ingredient of a spiritual safe place. When God created Adam and Eve, He told them to have dominion over and subdue all things on earth. (See Genesis 1:26, 28.) In other words, He gave them the authority to act as His stewards. This was not the same as being given ownership over all things on earth. God still owned everything, and He still does. “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it” (Psalm 24:1 NASB).

Yet, as we know, Adam and Eve chose to disobey God’s clear command, and their disobedience caused a serious separation between them and God. (See Genesis 2:17; 3:6–11, 22–23.) Worse than that, their decision constituted willful obedience to Satan. Now they were his slaves, and so were their descendants. “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16 NASB). Thus, the authority that God had given them was handed over to the enemy.

Not the ownership, remember, just the authority. That’s why Satan used this terminology when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness: 

“I will give you all [the] authority and splendor [of the kingdoms of the world]; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to” (Luke 4:6). 

Satan is the “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2 NASB, NKJV, KJV), and he was given the temporary right to act in the earth’s atmosphere.

Christ Gave Authority Back to Mankind

The authority, however, was transferred back to Jesus when He paid the ransom price for sinful mankind, the life of one sinless Man for all sinners. With His own life, He bought back the authority. That’s why Jesus said to His disciples, right before His ascension to heaven, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). Jesus triumphed over Satan, disarmed the powers of evil, and regained the authority that had been handed over to the darkness by Adam’s sin. Jesus is the Lord of all! (See Colossians 1:15–20.)

What did Jesus do with the authority He recovered? Almost immediately, He gave it back to mankind again—to His followers, to those in whom His Spirit would dwell. (See, for example, John 20:20–22; Acts 1:8; Luke 24:47.) This is the spiritual reality we live in, and our discernment and decisions should increasingly align with it. Paul prayed this prayer for the Ephesian believers, and we can pray it for ourselves so that we might better understand this spiritual reality:

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:18–23 NASB)

Everywhere We Go, Jesus’s Spirit Goes, Too

Armed with the authority that comes from Jesus’s name, we are now to go forth into the world to make disciples. (See Jesus’s Great Commission in Matthew 28:19–20.) Everywhere we go, Jesus’s Spirit goes, too. And greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world! (See 1 John 4:4.)

Remember, when we walk in the authority of the Word of God, we walk in safety. We need to attain a solid grasp of scriptural principles so that we can discern and decide wisely, as well as help to create and maintain the culture of wisdom and faith that is so important.