A Study On Our Authority Over Evil

Power To Tread Over Serpents, Scorpions And All Manner Of Evil

There are many people today in our Churches who feel they have been given power to bind the power of Satan in another person's life or in their gatherings by speaking words of rebuke and commands to Satan. Well meaning Christians pray and speak words such as "I bind you Satan from our midst, from the lives of all who are present, and from the homes of all who are gathered here."  Many bind sickness from their bodies and feel
their words have power to stop disease or illness from attacking their bodies.  Some are even told it is a lack of faith in their lives if they are sick or that their faith is weak.

We live in a world where there is sickness, affliction, poverty and other heartaches.   It is God's will that we be in good health and prosper, but many are the afflictions of the righteous as a result of the fall of man.  One day there will be no more sin or suffering.  We pray for "God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven" and one day this will be.  Until that day, we have been given power to resist the enemy and to stand strong even
in the midst of suffering and heartaches of this life. God's greater grace will always see us through and even if one is not healed on this side of life, they will receive a
glorified body and be ultimately healed as they hold on to Christ and endure until the end.

When we examine the Word of God, we see we have not been given power to bind Satan from the lives of others, as he is the Prince of the powers of the air.  We can pray for others to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, but we have not been given power to stop the influence of Satan by speaking words of rebuke or which we feel may bind his power over their lives.  Our prayers are to be for souls to learn how to resist the enemy and he will flee from them.  Learning God's Word helps one to defeat Satan by living a holy and righteous life in Christ.

We do have power to declare to the Lord our faithfulness to Him and to stand firm when the enemy comes in like a flood.  He will raise up a standard against Him if we walk in the Spirit of the Lord and resist the enemy as commanded according to God's Word.  The power given is through the Holy Spirit who resides within our hearts. As we let God arise, His enemies will be scattered.
It is not by might nor power, but only by His Spirit that we can win the spiritual battles which we all will face in this life.

Satan is allowed by God to test and try Christians and it is their free choice to either resist the devil or to yield to his temptations.  Many feel if they "name and claim" a rebuke or bind Satan with words, it comes to pass just as they have spoken.  This is a false belief as we can only control the influence of Satan in our own personal life by the way we resist Him.  We resist the devil by the Word of God, having on our spiritual armor and the weapons
of spiritual warfare, which are not carnal but mighty. A renewed mind of Christ is a battleground in which Satan will be the loser when the principles of God's Word
are applied.

When we read the Word of God, we see that we do have power over evil, as Jesus told the disciples He would give them power to tread over serpents, scorpions, and nothing would in no wise harm them.  Serpents and scorpions are symbolic of all of the forces of evil which may be in the world.   We are told "greater is He that is in you, than he, (the evil one), which is in the world." 

Even Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil and disputing about the body of Moses did not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, "The
Lord rebuke thee." How much more should we depend on the Lord to rebuke Satan, if the angels in heaven realize this power comes from God?"  Our Lord is
in control and when "enough is enough," the Lord will speak peace and rebuke Satan in his way and time.

This would be a wonderful world if we really did have the power to bind Satan by speaking it and seeing it come to pass. Can you imagine if this were true how
Job's life would have been different?  We would not have been blessed with the story of faithfulness in the midst of trials if Job could have stopped the attack of
Satan by simply rebuking Him.  The Apostle Paul would have had to add more chapters if it were possible to stop Satan from tempting and testing others by simply speaking a rebuke. His life would have been easier if he could have bound the power of Satan by speaking to Satan and telling him that he was binding him. Paul found out as we also learn, "God's grace is sufficient."

The power of God through the Holy Spirit which lives in the life of a Christian is greater than any type evil which may come against a Christian.  With every temptation, Christ has give us a way of escape.  When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will raise up
a standard against Him if we resist the enemy.  When we resist Satan, he will flee from us according to God's Word.

There are many who do not understand that Satan will not be bound until the end of this age when he is bound through the authority of the Lord in the bottomless pit for 1,000 years.  Until this time, he is free to tempt the souls of men but is under the control of the Lord.  Each day we face the enemy of our souls but have been given the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, spiritual armor and mighty weapons.  If we have these in our hearts and use them as God intends, we have power to resist all the schemes of Satan.

Many use the Scripture which says "what we bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and what we loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." These Scriptures refer to Church discipline and to an erring brother or sister in Christ.  It does not refer to the spiritual realm of
binding Satan's power and was not taught by the early church in this manner.

The Church has power to disfellowship an unrepentant sinning member of the body of Christ, as the authority will have already been given in heaven.  We have not been given power to bind Satan, or to stop his influence on or in the lives or others, but we have been given power as God's children to resist Him in our own personal lives and to proclaim our allegiance to only God. 

We can proclaim to the Lord that we will serve Him only, we will not yield to the power of Satan, and that greater is His Spirit within us, than the spirit of the evil one in the world. With these words of affirmation to the Lord, we are agreeing with what His Word proclaims. If we speak in truth with a made up mind to serve the Lord only, we can have a victorious life. We cannot forbid Satan from tempting or trying us, but we can stop his schemes from causing us to fall if we keep a renewed mind of Christ. We can also pray for our loved ones when they are being sifted and tried. We see the manner which the Lord prayed for the Apostle Peter when
he was being sifted by Satan.  He did not bind Satan from Peter's life, but prayed for Peter instead.  Peter learned to stand in faith and teach others how to live a victorious life in Christ by following the words of the Lord.

The Lord can command Satan to get behind Him and it shall be done when enough is enough, as in the story of Job.  Job was tempted, tried, and tested but through it all, 
he kept his faith in God.  His declaration was not a railing rebuke against Satan.  Instead, it was an affirmation of his faith in God.  Job said, "though he slay me, yet will I serve Him."  He knew even if the skin worms devoured his body, he would see the Lord and knew His Redeemer lived. What a great testimony of the
power of the Lord and resistance to the schemes of the enemy in spite of the circumstances all around Him. 

Did Job have the power to rebuke Satan and bind him from causing all these problems?  Many think he sinned by not rebuking and speaking the words many do today to try and bind the power of Satan. We see that the Lord had allowed Satan to do these things to Job but Satan could not take his life. Today, our Lord also allows Satan to test and try his children but God has given us all we
need to defeat the schemes and power of Satan.  May we also continue to serve God and have the same attitude as Job in times of trials and temptations.  Job recognized that God allowed these things and through it all, came out
stronger and with twice as much as he prayed for his friends.

An easy way out for many people is believing they only have to speak words of reproof and Satan will have to leave their assemblies, their homes, or must stop his trials and temptations. God's way out is learning to stand by faith through the things we experience in this life and let His power flow through us to live in victory.  Even if we are resisting the enemy in our own personal lives, we cannot bind him from the influence he may have over another persons life by our words.  We can continue to pray for the Lord to give a spirit of wisdom and discernment to others, and to let them grow in grace and the wisdom of the Lord as faithful followers.  As others learn of the Lord, they will be able to stand firm in the face of opposition and continue on in Christ.  This is the
way we can help others stop the power of Satan over them and thus bind his evil schemes by teaching others what God's Word tells us about spiritual warfare.

The question has been asked, "what does it hurt to rebuke and bind the power of Satan in our speech if we are living according to God's Word to resist Satan?"  The answer is that when we speak to bind the power of the evil one, we are going beyond the power and authority the Lord has given us.  We can ask in his name and if according to his will in faith, and see it come to pass. Our desire should be to pray according to God's Word and will.

God's Word tells us "many are the afflictions of the righteous."  It also tells us He is able to deliver us out of afflictions. We are also told not to think it strange when we have fiery trials, as though some strange thing had happened to us. The trying of our faith helps us grow in the Lord or He would not allow us to go through temptations and trials in this life. We can stand strong 
in God and come forth as gold, tried by fire. As we stand strong in the Lord, we help teach others that victory is ours as we let the Lord fight our battles and trust in His power.

We must examine our words and see if we are teaching and declaring the same things as the early Apostles in resisting the power of the enemy and in the methods of spiritual warfare.  If God has not given us power over the spiritual realm to command spiritual beings, our 
words are of no effect even though our heart might have the right intents. What we speak in prayer is to be directed to God, not to Satan.  Many take time out of their fellowship with the Lord to speak to Satan and tell him they are binding Him.  Instead, we should ask of the Lord
to give us what we need to resist the enemy and stand strong in Him and in the power of His might.  Our actions can bind Satan from harming us but they must come through the power of the Spirit of the Lord working within us, and not by something we may speak or do on our own.

Our prayer time with the Lord is sacred in that we are in the presence of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Satan is not omnipresent and can only be in one place at one time.   May we believe in our hearts that when we enter boldly and come before the throne of grace,
Satan is not present there as we are in the presence of a Holy God who desires our words to be directed to Him and not to Satan. It must grieve the heart of the Lord to hear his children approach Him but take time out of their conversations with Him to speak to the adversary and claim power to bind him. Some of the very things which people try to bind are actually allowed by the Lord that his children might learn to walk in faith and overcome the enemy. 

The trying of our faith works patience and experience in our lives which gives us hope in the Lord.  Would we want to try and stop the testing of one's faith if we know it will make them stronger in the Lord as they learn through these things?  I don't think any of us would want to try and stop anything that will bring one through as a better person for the Lord, but we should have a desire to see others learn how to resist the enemy and depend on the Lord's Spirit in warfare.  As we affirm our love and commitment to the Lord in praise and worship, it will put the enemy to flight as words of praise are more powerful than words of rebuke to the evil one.

May we see that only God has control over what he allows us to go through as to tests, trials, temptations, and afflictions.  We have control over how we respond to these things by either resisting or yielding.  As to sickness, there will always be sickness while in this life
because of the fall of man, but one day there will be no more pain or sorrow and all tears will be wiped from the eyes of God's children. Until that time, God's grace is sufficient and sometimes more faith is shown by standing strong in the Lord even in the midst of these things. 

We know a better day is coming and heaven will surely be worth all the trials down here below.   We can live a victorious life in Christ and bind the effects of the schemes of Satan by having on the whole armor of the Lord, taking up our spiritual weapons of warfare and making sure we have the Sword of the Spirit within our hearts. The sword will first cut away the impurities from our own hearts and divide asunder the things that are not like Christ.   We can take the Word of God, as this is to be the word of our testimony, along with the blood 
of the Lamb to overcome Satan. We shall be victorious with God's Word and the covering of His precious blood over the doorposts of our hearts. All we ever need can be found in Jesus.

J. P.'s Inspirations (c)2003      Blessings in Christ,                Jo Ann Kelly