As I begin to talk about Spiritual Authority, we are going to have to not only deal with our God given authority as a believer, but also we have to expose the truth about Satan's authority. The authority of Satan has been blown so out of proportion! Many Christians believe we are fighting a being whose power is superior to ours. In fact, many Christians are the very instruments the devil is using to foster the deception that he is still a powerful foe. This is absolutely not the truth!

The teachings and practices concerning Spiritual Warfare, which exist today in the body of Christ, are contrary to scriptures. The majority of the body of Christ spends great amounts of energy constantly battling a devil that has already been defeated. Born again believers are going to prayer meetings every week, yelling, screaming, and commanding Satan to bow to their authority. I did this myself for many years until I found out the truth concerning Satan and Spiritual Warfare. I will never pray like that again, now that I have revelation knowledge that Satan has zero authority over us as believers.

Colossians 2:15 says, "And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show (exhibit) of them openly, triumphing over (to make an acclamatory procession)-(displayed Satan to the universe as a totally conquered foe) them in it.

Rev 1:18b says, I have the keys of Hades and of Death; Jesus defeated Satan, stripped him of everything, openly displaying him. It is like a bug that you captured for a science class, impaled on a board with a little pin to exhibit it. We need to picture the devil nailed to the cross of Jesus like that bug on display. The truth is the devil has no power to imprison us as children of God anymore.

THINK ABOUT THIS; WARFARE ONLY TAKES PLACE BETWEEN TWO UNDEFEATED FOES. ONCE THE ENEMY HAS BEEN CONQUERED, THE WAR IS OVER. SATAN IS A DEFEATED FOE. Why are we fighting against Satan when he has already been defeated through the cross of Jesus Christ?

Let's go back to the beginning of the bible. In Genesis 3:6 says; now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God has made. And he said to the women (Eve), "Has God indeed said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" If we look back into Genesis 2:16,17 it says, God told Adam that they could eat of every tree of the garden, but not of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or they shall surely die. Satan had to deceive them into thinking God was keeping something from them. Since he was not a superior foe, he couldn't force them in anyway; he had to use lies and deceptions. He could not make them disobey by force; Satan had to deceive them to give up their authority, which God gave to them. Satan came against the very character of God. He had to do it through the most subtle (sly deceptive cunning) creature; he inhabited a snake. Think about it: if he was a superior foe, then why did he have to use a snake?

If he is that powerful, I would have thought he would have used a bigger creature and to take their authority. The truth is he never had power to come against God so he had to steal man's authority to get power. 1st Peter 5:8 says, Satan can't devour man either, unless we give him permission, as Adam and Eve did in the garden, when he deceived them to sin. God could not go back on his word; He had to come in the form of a man (Jesus Christ) to get our authority back. Hebrews 2:14 says, inasmuch them as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy he who had the power of death, that is, the devil. This scripture says that Satan has already been completely destroyed; now we need to simply enforce his defeat.

Matthew 28:18 says, And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." Through the cross of Jesus Christ, He won our authority back, Praise God! Now we have joint authority with Jesus as believers. It's like having a joint bank account and it requires both signatures in order to cash the check.

Jesus paraded Satan in front of the world. Many Christians have missed the parade; instead they are circulating rumors that Satan is a powerful foe to deal with; NOT TRUE! We know from Ephesians 6:12 where it says, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places. This says Satan is a factor, he does exist, and that he has a hierarchy of principalities and powers. But if you go back to Ephesians 6:11, it says put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. What are the wiles of the devil? Wiles mean tricks, deceiving, alluring, ensnaring, and lies. Saints, much of these battles are in our own minds. These battles and strongholds are what we need to be pulling down, by God's word. We are to stand against the tricks of the devil only, that ensnares us, not Satan himself. Why are we fighting a defeated foe? The only reason we would be doing that is we don't believe that Jesus defeated him at the cross. The devil loves attention, and he has spent years deceiving the majority of the body of Christ into believing he is so powerful, that we have to have prayer meetings to pull him down. NOT TRUE! Think about it, has anything changed by doing that? Satan's deceptions and lies on this subject have only accomplished one thing, it has taken our focus off of Jesus Christ. Satan has the saints believing we have to fight him off first, before God can answer our prayers, heal us, or deliver us. If we believe that no wonder we aren't walking in the victory Jesus has won for us!

To be honest with you, most of my prayer time now, is spent praising God for who He is, thanking Him, seeking direction; any other praying is done by the direction of the Holy Spirit. Satan absolutely has no power to stop our victory in Christ, not to say he won't continually try. That's where we must take our God given authority, using the word, to remind Satan where he belongs, under our feet as a defeated foe!

1st Peter 5:8 says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. It says may devour, which means you have to give him permission. It's only by deceptions, lies and tricks, that Satan has power in our lives. His goal is to steal our hearts from God. Let me encourage you to think about this: "Why are we giving Satan so much attention, when Jesus has already defeated him once for all? Let's put our focus back on Jesus Christ where it belongs."

SAINTS! SATAN HAS BEEN DEFEATED! WE JUST NEED TO USE OUR GOD GIVEN AUTHORITY TO COME AGAINST HIS DECEPTION AND LIES, ONLY!