As believers, we have been given the authority to overcome!
How can we develop the kind of faith that will lead us to victory and to becoming overcomers?
At our new birth God not only gives us His strength (His power) to do His will with the dunamis, kratos, and ischus power of God, He also gives us His authority to choose His will regardless of how we feel or what we think. The Greek word for this kind of authority is exousia (Strong’s #1849), which means “the right to exercise power or the right of the person in charge”.
This authority originates with God’s Life, because, obviously, He is the Person in charge. He is also the Ultimate Source of all authority. The Father passed that authority on to Christ, and through Christ, to us. Because Christ lives in us, we, too, can be bearers of that authority. In other words, exousia belongs to God Himself, but because He has commissioned us as His representatives, we, too, can call upon His authority.
Jesus spoke in Luke chapter 12:
4 “Listen, My Beloved friends, don’t fear those who may want to take your life but can do nothing more. It’s true that they may kill your body, but they have no power over your soul.
5 The One you must fear is God, for He has both the power to take your life and the authority to cast your soul into hell. Yes, the only One you need to fear is God.
And Jesus spoke in Matthew chapter 28:
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
Jesus also spoke in Luke chapter 10:
19 Now you understand that I have imparted to you My authority to trample over his kingdom. You will trample upon every demon before you and overcome every power Satan possesses. Absolutely nothing will harm you as you walk in this authority.
The Word of God is what gives us this authority and the Spirit of God is what gives us the power. These two phenomenal gifts—the authority and power of Christ—are not only the keys to overcoming the world, the flesh, and the devil (all the challenges in this life), but they are also the keys to the future Millennial Kingdom.
Our lack of understanding in this critical area of authority is one of the reasons the adversary is making such headway in so many of believers’ lives. He attempts to keep us mentally, emotionally, and spiritually in the dark. He is devoted to keeping us “infants” and “spiritual babes.” He doesn’t want us to progress to spiritual maturity and to develop a Kingdom perspective.
“As many as received Him, to them gave He power [exousia] to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name.”
Not my will but Your Will be done! Because we have Christ’s Divine Nature––His Life in us––we have His authority not only to choose His will (regardless of how we feel or what we think) but also His power to perform His will in our lives no matter how we feel.
Before FATHER can entrust us with authority in the Kingdom to come, He wants to see the manner in which we personally multiply the authority and power He has entrusted to us here on earth. This will determine just how much power and authority we will have in the Millennial Kingdom. This Godly authority and power are really the “keys to the Kingdom” because they allow us to stay sanctified, which in turn leads us to partaking of Christ’s Life, overcoming, and ultimately to inheriting the Kingdom.
It’s the daily release of His Life in us that gives us that victory. He has already given us all that we need—the authority, the power, the Love, and the Wisdom; we simply must choose to let Him accomplish His will in our lives. Then we, too, will be partakers of His victory.