The Authority of Satan

The Scripture indicates clearly that Satan has authority. But God is the Author of all authorities, even Satan's authority, is ultimately God's.

Paul said, "He (God) has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love" (Col. 1:13, NKJV, emphasis added).

When a person is under the power of darkness he is under Satan's authority. Power speaks of authority. What God has done was that He has translated us from the power of darkness into the Kingdom of Christ - power of light.

God talked to Job concerning His power and Satan's authority (Job 41). He was telling Job that Satan, like Leviathan, the sea monster, is the king of those who has pride:

"He (Satan) beholds every high thing; he is king over all the children of pride" (Job 41:34).

All those who live in pride, in disobedience and rebellion against God automatically have Satan as their king and authomatically become members of his government system. Only the sovereign act of God's grace can deliver them and then translate them into the Kingdom of the Son of His love.

Satan's Strongholds and the Battle Field

Paul said, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, ..." (2 Cor. 10:3 - 5, emphasis added).

Here are some statements of truth:

1. Notice that everthing we do is "in God" or "through God" (KJV). We are always totally dependent upon God.

2. By using various translations of the Bible I discover Satan's strongholds consist of 5 things - arguments, imaginations, reasoning, knowledge and proud thoughts. Notice that these strongholds are in the realm of the mind. Therefore the battle field is the mind of humanity.

Satan builds his stronghold in the mind of people and he gets control certain areas of their mind so that they are no longer free to appreciate the truth of God, no longer free to love God and to love one another. They become unable to think rationally.

3. These verses are very similar to that which Paul said to the believers in Ephesus:

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12).

Paul gave the picture of the conflict that we are involed in, as a wrestling match. And this wresting match is not against persons with bodies. The most important thing to understand is that the problem is not human beings, but what is in the minds of human beings. We are dealing with spiritual forces in a spiritual wresting match.

Believers' Assignment

It is our responsibilities to cast down the strongholds in the minds of men and women and to release them from the deception and captivity of Satan, and to bring their minds into the captivity of obedience to Christ - that is our assignment. We are the only group of people here on earth can do the job because we have the spiritual weapons to intervene in the spirit realm. Physical military weapons like warplanes, warships, tanks and guns can't do the job because they can't be used in the spirit realm.

An important fact revealed by the Scripture is that when God's people had won in the spiritual realm they also won in battles and subsequently changed the course of history. In other words, what happens in the spiritual realm determines what follows in the natural - in the political scene, in the economical scene and in the social scene. The source of everything is in the spirit realm!

An important basic fact regarding Christ's Victory

In order to be effective in the battle we need to understand one basic Biblical principle. The great basic fact is this - Christ has already totally defeated Satan. He is not going to defeat him; He had defeated him more than two thousand years ago! Christ had defeated Satan by His death on the cross and by His resurrection. On the cross Jesus administered to Satan total, eternal, ineradicable defeat. Satan can never recover from that defeat. As believers we don't have to win the victory; we have to enter into a victory that has already been won. Satan's main objective ro tactic is to keep us ignorant of the fact that he was defeated once for all on the cross.

Paul said, "And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it" (Col. 2:13 - 15, emphasis added).


The above is an act of God the Father, through Jesus Christ His Son. Together with Jesus Chrsit God has not merely defeated Satan, but He has taken the spoils and and striped him with his weapons. Satan is now not merely a defeated foe, but also deprived of his weapons. We have the spiritual weapons, Satan doesn't. He has only got one "weapon" left and that is bluff. The only "weapon" Satan seeks to use against the human race is guilt. That is why Satan is called the "accuser of our brethren" (Rev. 12:10). Now, what does he want to achieve by his accusation? The answer is simple; he wants to prove us guilty. We have to establish that we are guilt but righteous. Therefore, the whole battle ultimately centers around the issues of guilt or righteousness!


In order to deliver us from our guilt and render us righteous through faith in Jesus Christ, God had to do two things - one in relation to our past and the other, in relation to our present. Each of these provisions of God is logically stated in their correct order in verses 13 and 14 of Chapter 2, Colossians. Let us look at each of these in some details.


The provision of God in relation to our past


Paul said, "... He has made (you) alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses" (Col. 2:13).


On the basis of Christ's death, God can forgive because Christ has paid the due penalty for all our sins and therefore, God does not compromise His eternal justice by offering us pardon. All we have to do is to receive it. When all our sinful acts have been forgiven, that takes care of the past. There are no more shadows of guilt or condemnation that can follow us from the past. If you don't know this fact, then you are no match for Satan! Every time you seek God or serve God, Satan will remind you of the things from your past. Therefore you have to come to the place where you know by repentance, confession and turning from your sin and trusting in Christ, that those things have been finally and forever dealt with.


God declared through Isaiah: "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins" (Isaiah 43:25).


Let us remember that the devil has not right to remind us of what God determines to forget.


The provision of God in relation to our present



Paul said, "... having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary in us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross" (Col. 2:14, emphasis added).


This deals with the Law of Moses. Through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, God had abrogated (set aside) the Law of Moses as a condition for achieving righteousness with God. In other words, we are no longer required to observe the Law of Moses in order to attain righteousness with God.


Paul also said, "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes" (Romans 10:4).


Through His death on the cross, Christ put an end to the Law as a means to achieve righteousness with God. We have been set free from the Law; we are no longer married to the Law, but we are married instead to the risen Christ!


What is our righteousness? Our faith is reckoned to us as righteousness. We must hold on to our faith, because if we have no faith, we have no righteousness. We are not accepted because we kept the Law; we are accepted because we believe. Christ's righteousness has been imputed to us when we believe. When we believe, God has not only clothed us with the garments of salvation, He has covered us with the robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10).


Paul said, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21, emphasis added).


Our righteousness is Christ's righteousness. On our own we have no righteousness. It is important to realize that when you have the righteousness of God the devil can't say anything against you! He can't accuse you.


It astonishes me that on the night of the Last Supper, when Jesus knew that Peter was going to deny Him, He didn't pray that he would not deny Him. He prayed that he would not lose his faith (Luke 22:32). I believe one thing you must not lose is you faith. Hold on to it and God will see you through and the devil can't touch you.


Now let us consider the Law of observing the Sabbath day. Further on in Colossians 2 Paul said: "So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths" (Col. 2:17).


Observing the Sabbath day is in the 4th of the Ten Commandments. No one should judge us in respect to Sabbath day because God has abrogated the Law as a requirement to achieve righteousness with Him. Therefore we are not guilty every time we break it. God has to do this because every time we break it Satan would be there pointing his finger at us and make us feel guilty.


By the above two provisions of God, we have been set free from the accusation of Satan concerning our past and our present. God has made it possible for you and me to live without any sense of guilt whatever! Therefore we can face the devil and defeat him.


The same provisions of God are in Paul's Epistle to the Romans


It is interesting to note that, in general, Paul said about the same provisions of God in his epistle to the Romans. The first eight Chapters give a systematic building up of the kind of life that God wants us to live - by the power of the Holy Spirit. The eight Chapter is the concept of the Spirit filled life. It is the level on which God wants us to live. The previous seven Chapters are all essential to get there. When you have been through them, you can answer any question the devil has got about your righteousness.


Paul said in the beginning of Chapter eight: "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit" (Romans 8:1).


Notice that you can't live in Chapter Eight if you live under condemnation. If you walk according to the flesh (in the soul or in the mind realm) you are likely to live under condemnation! The devil will accuse you day and night and make you feel guilty! Therefore, you and I must always walk in the Spirit.


The outworking of Christ's Victory


Paul said, "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and throgh us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place" (2 Cor. 2:14, emphasis added).


The above is a tremendous verse because it starts with "always" and ends up in "every place". This means we are invited, by God, to join with Christ in His triumph at all times and in every place. We don't have to win the victory over Satan but we are offered the privilege of celebrating the triumph - We, the Church, are in the chariot of God with Christ by faith. Now, Christ has won the victory, Christ has gained the authority, but the responsibility to administer His victory and to exercise His authority has been placed upon us. And unless we do it, the actual benefits of His Victory are not manifested. If we don't do it the world will never know that Christ has won the victory!


The Great Commission


The Great Commission is Christ's Commission for us to go and exercise His Authority and thus demonstrate His Victory (Matt. 28:18, 19). But if you don't go, His Authority remains ineffective. In Mark 16, Jesus said, as we go He would demonstrate His Authority with five supernatural signs (Mark 16:17, 18).


Some Christians said that signs don't follow today. My understanding is that Jesus only ordains signs to follow those who go. And those who don't go has no right to claim the signs!