AUTHORITY - CONTROL? OR RELEASE!

Over

Preface:

Authority is perhaps the most misunderstood subject in the world. Many view authority as a means of controlling the world. Subduing and dominion often become words that inspire fear in the hearts of those who hear them. World governments and societies have perverted authority and abused it to the destruction of the lives of many. Church leaders and members have done the same. What is the truth concerning authority? Authority is often displayed through abusive demonstrations and perverted actions of control or manipulation of others. Do we blindly submit to authority? If someone has authority, are there boundaries to that authority? Does a king, president, governor, or ruler have authority over those they lead? If so, what does that mean? What does it look like? Are there limits to their authority? Is there a difference between power and authority? Does everyone exercising power have authority? What about the Old Covenant and the New? Does living in the New Covenant change our perspective of authority? How does the life of Christ in the New Covenant affect the understanding and influence of authority in the world?

I have been a believer in Christ for over forty years. During that time I have experienced many abuses in regard to the subject of authority. I have also learned many significant keys to walking in true authority. In this book I have shared from my own experience in hope to give the keys that I have learned to others. My own experiences as a member of the church and as a leader have given me ample opportunity to reject authority. Harold Eberle, the author of God’s Leaders For Tomorrow’s World, also inspired me to embrace this subject and teach it in the church for the past fifteen years.

My purpose in writing this book has been to share from my heart these secrets and to inspire truth in regard to understanding this subject and an enactment of its true reality. When something has been abused so greatly, such as authority, do we reject it altogether? Why has it been abused so greatly? To abuse something is to ‘move away from use’. Wrong use is surely abuse, but no use is as far from use as we can get. In this book I hope to inspire the reader to gain a good understanding of authority, embrace it, walk in it, and bring life to the world around them through the authority of their lives. I hope to heal the wounds of wrongly applied authority and activate the reader to embrace authority in a new way.

I believe that this book will prove to be important for anyone who reads it. I believe it will prove to be an essential resource to those who are given authority in the church. I also believe that this book can prove to give key understanding to any person in their daily life as a human being. What is it that solves the issues of life? When issues arise that challenge our future, what is the secret to discovering the answers that bring true life?

This book is based upon my personal life as a believer and as a leader. I have walked out the principles presented in this book and I have taught them for many years. I have studied God’s word in depth concerning the subject of authority and I have sought to demonstrate my findings in the living testimony of my life, my family, and my responsibilities in the local church and to the body of Christ.

I begin by presenting truth in regard to legitimate authority. What is legitimate authority? Where does authority come from? Is the anointing the testimony of authority? What is it that makes authority a source of life to others? Is it a matter of gifting? Is it a matter of power? What exactly does it mean to have authority in life?

In this book I present the process of authority. I use Jesus as an example and show how He embraced the process of authority in His own life. I present personal testimonies as well as reference key individuals in the Scripture in defining authority and connecting authority in a practical way to our individual lives. I have written concerning what that is and how being who we are affects the lives of others.

I also present the difference between power and authority. Does the devil have a scheme to pervert authority? Does the devil fear power in your life? When you have power, do you have authority? When you have authority, do you have power? What does it mean to subdue and have dominion in life? Is it possible to be fruitful, multiply, and fill without being able to subdue and have dominion in life?

I have written in regard to mankind’s loss of true dominion and how that dominion is restored to the human race. What is the process to regaining dominion? What are key ingredients to discovering dominion in our lives? I have presented significant ingredients to the process of these things being restored in our lives.

Where does authority come from? Is everyone the same? Can I become anything I desire, or are there specific steps to the destiny of my life? What about things that are natural versus things that are of the Spirit. Are these things connected? How do these things affect my authority in life?

Within the topic of authority we must also embrace the subject of submission. What is submission? Is submission blind obedience to authority? Are submission and obedience the same thing? I define these things and present a life-giving perspective based upon examples in my life, the lives of others, and secrets revealed in God’s word.

What about leadership? I propose that leadership is God’s idea and I have written as to what that looks like for all of us. How essential is leadership? Do we all have a part in leadership for the sake of others? How do leaders embrace authority in a life-giving way?

This book can also be used as a resource to the class Understanding Authority, a class I have been teaching in Christ Life Training (formerly School of Eagles). Online versions of this course can be found at the training website – www.christlifetraining.com.

In conclusion, reading this book will challenge and empower you to embrace who you are. The reader will not only gain a solid foundation for understanding authority, they will be inspired to embrace who God made them to be. Others will benefit from this new understanding. Individuals, families, and church communities will discover life in the beautiful reality of true authority. Those who have never read this book will be glad you did. Your children, your spouse, and your friends will reap the benefits of the change that happens in your heart from reading this book. This has been the testimony in many people’s lives in the fifteen years I have taught the content of these pages to others. I pray the Spirit of God opens the eyes of your understanding as you read the truths written within. I pray that the secrets revealed become an inheritance in your life for the sake of others.

Chapter 1

An Introduction to Authority

Legitimate Authority:

Authority is a greatly misunderstood subject in the body of Christ and in the world. When we think of authority we often think of control, but authority is not a matter of control. True authority is the substance of life that produces life in others. Authority brings release and does not seek to control. Control is a binding force, while true authority is a liberating freedom for those who discover its secrets. So what is true authority?

When we think of authority we often think of anointing and anointing is part of authority. It is not the main point when it comes to authority, but it is a part of the testimony of authority. If you examine the ingredients of the anointing oil in the Old Testament you will find that there were five ingredients in the oil (Ex. 30:23-25). One ingredient was myrrh. Myrrh was burial oil that I believe speaks of the testimony of death and resurrection in Christ. A second ingredient was cinnamon and I believe that cinnamon speaks of intimacy, love, life and joy (Song. 4:14). It is a testimony of the intimacy, love, and life found in Christ. A third ingredient was cassia. Cassia was a type of cinnamon that acted as a laxative and held healing properties. I believe that this is the part of the anointing oil that removes the issues of the past and heals the wounded places of our lives. A fourth ingredient was olive oil which is significant to the prophetic testimony of the anointing oil. It is a symbol of the prophetic life of God as the one who speaks and life happens. It is what gives the oil its fatness. The final ingredient of the anointing oil was sweet cane. I believe that sweet cane is a testimony to authority. It is a cane and is thus a measuring rod and a testimony of rule. That cane was sweet and thus it testifies of a rule that brings life. Sugar brightens the eyes and gives life energy. Authority is like the sweet cane in the anointing oil. It brings life and release to those who receive its influence. There is an element in the anointing oil that testifies of authority, but authority is more than the anointing oil.

I have heard it said that the anointing breaks the yoke, but a closer look at Scripture reveals that it is the anointing oil and not merely the anointing that carries the power to break the strongholds in the earth. The anointing oil is the fatness or the grease of the anointing. When a piece of meat is placed upon a fire the oil that comes from within the meat becomes the oil that greases the pan.

Isaiah 10:26, 27 The LORD of hosts will arouse a scourge against him like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His staff will be over the sea and He will lift it up the way He did in Egypt. It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.

The anointing oil in this Scripture is connected to the story of Gideon and the 300 (Jdg. 7) and to Moses and the crossing of the Red Sea (Ex. 14:15, 16). In the story of Gideon it was the testimony of the torches in the clay jars that revealed the authority for victory over the Midianites. It is not merely the light that comes from the burning lamp that reveals the authority of life. It is the oil that fuels the flame that reveals the authority of life. That oil is within each of us. The substance within is the testimony of the external oil of authority.

In the case of Gideon, the jars represented who we are and the torches in the jars represented the testimony of Christ within. The authority of each jar was unique to each jar, but made powerful when in unity with the other jars. In the case of Moses, the authority to part the Red Sea was in who he was and the rod that he held in his own hand. It was the rod in the hand of Moses that revealed his authority to part the water of the Red Sea.

The anointing oil speaks of the manifested presence of Jesus. There is an authority of life within the heart of each leader that reveals the manifested presence of Jesus. It is a testimony of sweet cane. It is an ingredient with a standard of life that does not change, but it is sweet and it brings life to those who receive it. The measure that a leader has is the amount of life that comes from within them. No one has the same measure, but each measure is a measure of life.

Although the anointing is a necessary ingredient in authority, anointing is not the true testimony of authority. Responsibility is! True authority is a given substance of life that enables you to fulfill your responsibilities in life in a way that brings life to others. It is given for the wellbeing of others.

Authority makes you responsible, but it does not equate to your value. Each and every one has the same value. The value of every human soul is that of a one and only. God gave His only begotten Son for each and every human being; this is what gives each and every human soul their value. Authority is a testimony of responsibility, not value. It is the measure of responsibility given to each one by God and it is made known by the anointing of Christ within them. Anointing doesn’t equal authority, but responsible people will be anointed to carry out their God-given responsibilities. Each of us must be faithful with the measure that has been given to us by God. The measure of responsibility given to each one is a measurement of life they can give to others. Authority is meant to bring life to others.

A New Covenant testimony of authority is the power of Christ within us (Col. 1:27). It is not the power of Christ to us that makes us free, but the testimony of Christ within. A New Covenant reality is the testimony of light shining ‘out of darkness’ and not merely to darkness. The testimony of authority is within the life of each believer. The testimony is an authority of life and it brings a release of life to the world.

2 Corinthians 4:5-7 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

It is possible to have power without having authority, but it is not possible to have authority without having power. It is possible to default in laying hold of the power needed to fulfill authority, but legitimate authority comes from a life source and therefore the power to fulfill that authority is always given when legitimate authority is received. For a glass to have the authority of being a source of water it must be under a higher authority of water, such as a pitcher of water, a fountain, or a faucet. Because it is under a life source of water it can receive water and thus have the authority to give water to others. Illegitimate authority is really a grasping for power, because it is the taking hold of responsibility without being sent to receive that responsibility. Authority equals responsibility, or being responsible for what has been given to you. To take responsibility for what hasn’t been given is illegitimate and is merely a grasping for power.

Legitimate authority brings life to those that are under it. The mark of authority is release to others. If I am operating in true authority as a husband to my wife, my wife will become fully alive in whom she is. To the degree that she flourishes in who she is as a wife is a testimony of who I am as her husband. To the degree that the members of a congregation flourish in who they are meant to be is a testament to the authority of their God-given leadership. When leadership operates in legitimate authority the members of the congregation will grow in liberty, maturity, and intimacy with God. Since the authority of God has been given to us through Jesus Christ, the testimony of that authority should be His increasing life.

Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.

The discipline of authority is one of grace and not law. That grace is the power of God to bring life to those who receive it. The submersion of authority is one of the character, nature, way, power and authority of Christ. It is not a subjection to a power of control. The teaching of that authority is one of activation, facilitation, and release. It produces a power of transformation in the lives of those who receive it. The testimony of that authority is seen as the manifest presence of Christ in people.

As leaders we must stand in the authority given to us by God. To grasp for power is totally different than standing in the authority given to us by God. True authority is standing in the measure of rule given to us by God. If the son of the morning (Lucifer) had stood in the measure of rule given him by God, he would have remained a magnificent testimony of the light of God in heaven. He traded his authority for a lie by grasping for power (Isa. 14:12-19; Ezek. 28:12-19). He grasped for something that was not his to take hold of. The result was that he became a perversion of what he was created to be. The worst thing anyone can get is someone else’s measure of rule. The result is a perversion of who they are meant to be and the testimony is that of the power of death. It is important that we all stand within the measure of rule given to us by God. This is our God-given authority and only our God-given authority will bear the fruit of life.

Let’s say you find the keys to a new BMW car and you see that car parked along the side of the road. You get into the car and find that the keys fit and the car starts to run. You now have the power to drive the car down the road, but the problem is you don’t have the title deed to the car. The keys to the car are the power to start the car, but the deed to the car is the authority to take the car. You may even be licensed to drive a car, but if you don’t pay the price for the deed you are a thief with the keys. The result will be the pain of arrest and prosecution. If you purchase a car valued at $500 you will have the authority to drive a $500 car. To drive a car that costs $50,000 requires the full price of $50,000 to secure the deed to own the car and drive it legitimately. If you don’t pay the full price for the purchase you can’t obtain the authority of ownership.

Our salvation is free, but there is a price to pay in order to stand in the authority given us by God. There is a process to the journey of authority in life. When a man or a woman is single they have the authority of being single. They can grasp for the power to produce children, but the result will be a dysfunctional family that will struggle in its attempt to find the freedom of true life. Their grasping is most often an attempt to reap the benefits of a marriage covenant without paying the price of that covenant. They are grasping for power. It is an attribute of taking and not receiving what is legitimately given them by paying the price of authority. The authority to produce children is the covenant of marriage. It is like the deed to the car. To enter into the act of producing children without paying the price of the covenant of marriage is like taking the car without the deed. They have the power of the keys, but they lack the authority of ownership.

This is why societies are so filled with the testimonies of death. Illegitimate authority will always produce dysfunctions in life. The authority of a single person is to live within the boundaries of a single life. The authority of a married person is to live within the boundaries of a married life. A married person cannot grasp for the sphere of singleness nor can a single person grasp for the sphere of married life. If either does, they will produce a dysfunction of death in some measure. They will be bound to a sphere of taking and will not live in the true liberty of authority and life. Societies suffer for lack of understanding authority. Grasping for power will always produce dysfunction and death. Standing in God-given authority with God-directed function will always produce life. Ministries suffer for lack of understanding authority as well. When someone grasps for power to produce the benefits of a covenant without paying the price of that covenant they will create a measure of death and dysfunction in some way.

All life comes out of authority. Proper authority will always produce life. Improper authority will always produce death. Anything that is not birthed from authority will end in death or some measure of death. Authority is sent from a life source and is much different than a grasping for power. Illegitimate children are birthed from power, not authority. The end result is dysfunctional families. As I have stated, the authority to produce children is called the covenant of marriage. The power to produce children alone will produce a measure of death. God can work it out and can intervene with a supernatural grace to work things through, but if we pay the price to receive legitimate authority we will always produce the legitimacy of life. Our rights in life do not come because of power. They come from authority. God wants to release the sweet cane authority from heaven that brings the sweetness of His life in all things. The issues of authority are true in every arena of life, in spite of the ignorance of mankind towards authority. As leaders in God’s kingdom, we must seek the life that comes from authority and we must not seek power. We must accept and receive God-given responsibility, which is the testimony of true authority. God will anoint us for the place He appoints us.

Authority Comes From God:

All authority comes from God. Whether that authority is dealt with righteously or unrighteously is in the hands of those who exercise it. A true key in understanding authority is found in a proper understanding of submission. Authority doesn’t give any individual their value. Authority simply equates to the responsibility given to an individual. More responsibility given and received equals more authority, but it does not equal more value. As I have stated, the value of every person is the same. God the Father paid the price of each person’s value when He gave His only begotten Son as a ransom for each one. The value of every person is the value of being a one and only. Each person is unique and each person is equally valuable. Authority is simply a measure of life given to a person whereby they can give that life to others.

The apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Rome that they were to be subject to the governing authorities of their day. The governing authorities of their day were not by any means operating in true righteousness.

Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.

The Greek word for authority