The Authority Christ Has Given Us
"I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you."
— Luke 10:19
---
Introduction
There is a truth that many believers know with their lips but has not yet fully taken root in their hearts: we are people of authority. Not because of any merit of our own, not because of any greatness within us, but because the Lord Jesus Christ — the Risen One, the Lord of all creation — has deliberately granted us this authority as a precious and unshakable gift.
When the seventy-two disciples returned from the mission Jesus had sent them on, they came back overflowing with joy. They had seen demons submit to the name of Christ. It was an overwhelming, almost unbelievable experience for them. And it was precisely in that moment that Jesus spoke these extraordinary words of Luke 10:19 — words that were not spoken only to those seventy-two, but that echo across the centuries to us, His disciples today.
---
1. An Authority Received, Not Earned
The first essential foundation is this: this authority was given. Jesus says it plainly — "I have given you authority." It is not something we achieve through spiritual effort, through the intensity of our fasting, or through the depth of our theological knowledge. It is a gift.
This should free us from a very common trap: thinking that our spiritual effectiveness depends on our religious performance. When we feel weak, when we have sinned and repented, when our circumstances are crushing us — the authority has not disappeared. It is grounded in the unchanging character of Christ, not in the shifting state of our emotions.
The apostle Paul understood this deeply when he wrote that God has made us "seated with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6). Our spiritual position is not determined by what we feel, but by where we stand — and we stand in Christ. Rooted in Him, we share in His authority.
---
2. An Authority with Real Reach
Jesus speaks of trampling on "snakes and scorpions and all the power of the enemy." This language is vivid and intentional. In Scripture, the serpent evokes — from the Garden of Eden onward — the one who brings deception, division, and death. Scorpions speak of those forces that hide in the shadows, that attack by surprise, that poison slowly.
Christ did not send us into the world to pretend the enemy does not exist. Biblical realism acknowledges that there are spiritual forces working against the Kingdom of God and against the lives of the people we love. But that same biblical realism insists: those forces are under authority.
We are not called to fear the devil — we are called to resist him, standing firm in the faith (1 Peter 5:9). There is a world of difference between someone who lives obsessed with the enemy and someone who lives aware of their victory in Christ. Spiritual authority is not paranoia; it is delegated sovereignty. It is walking with the quiet confidence of someone who knows that the battlefield already has a declared victor.
This has practical consequences in intercessory prayer, in pastoral care, in counseling those who are bound by addiction, destructive relationships, or spiritual confusion. We do not come to those situations empty-handed. We come with authority.
---
3. An Authority that Requires Humility
Yet there is a precious tension in this passage. Immediately after granting this extraordinary authority, Jesus says something surprising: "However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:20).
Here is the divine safeguard. Spiritual authority, when poorly understood, can inflate the ego and give rise to what the Church Fathers called superbia — spiritual pride, which is perhaps the most dangerous form of arrogance.
The greater joy is not the power we exercise, but the grace we have received. Our name is written in the Book of Life — not because of what we have done, but because of what Christ has done. All the authority we exercise must flow from that place of deep gratitude and constant dependence.
The believer who walks in true spiritual authority is recognizable by their gentleness, not their arrogance. It is the one who intercedes on their knees before standing up to act.
---
Conclusion
Brother, sister — Christ has given you authority. Not to impress, not to lord it over people, but to serve His Kingdom with effectiveness and love. There are situations in your life, in your family, in your community, that need someone to rise up in the authority of Christ and declare His lordship over them.
Do not live beneath your identity in Christ. Do not treat as an undefeatable enemy the one who was already defeated at the cross. Take the place Christ has given you — with humility, with faith, with perseverance — and watch what God can do through a life surrendered to His lordship.
---
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank You for not sending us into the world unarmed. Thank You for the authority You have given us in Your name. Forgive us for the times we have lived in defeat, forgetting who we are in You. Teach us to walk with humility, but without timidity. May our lives be a testimony of Your power and Your grace. In Jesus' name, Amen.
---