House of Faith Ministries

If you read the King James version of our opening text, you will find that the word authority is translated as power, even though it is a different word in the original Greek than the other word translated power in the same verse, over all the power of the enemy.

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Fortunately for us the New King James version gets the translation right, but I want to focus our attention in this lesson on the interactions between power and authority, for it is vital for us to understand the differences if we want to operate in the entirety of the Word of God.

 

Exooseeah: Authority, from Strongs concordance # 1849.

 

Doonamis: Power, from Strongs concordance # 1411.

 

Now let us take a look at another verse of Scripture in the New King James version, where in the original text the word is Exooseeah, but they still translate it with the word power instead of authority.

 

Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers (Exooseeah in the original text), against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

 

To us it almost seems like authority and power are synonymous, but from the perspective of Scripture they are very different in practice and application, because they derive their intent from two different sources.

 

If we look at the word authority in Webster’s dictionary this is their first and second rendering of its meaning.

 

Authority: 1, A fact or statement used to support a position. 2, The right to give commands and the power to enforce obedience.

 

From the biblical perspective, all authority originates from the Word of God, and it is the Word of God that authorizes us to take and to support a position that declares the facts that the Word of God proclaims, as stated in the opening text of our last lesson.

 

Psalm 119:160 “The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.”

 

It is also from the authority of the Word of God that we receive the right to give commands from the Word of Truth that trump all the power of the enemy and allows us to enforce obedience.

 

Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

 

Let us look at it from a natural perspective; let’s say that a police officer stops you while you are driving, he can only ask of you that which the written law requires us to have, a drivers license, a registration, and proof of insurance.

 

He must have a reason for pulling you over, that is also required of him by the written law. And if he finds that you are in violation of the law, he will give you a citation to appear before a magistrate, the code that he alleges that you have violated must be written on the citation with a brief explanation of what it is; failure to stop at a red light, etcetera.

 

A policeman cannot stop you because he does not like the color of your car, or for any personal reason on his part, if he does, he himself becomes a law breaker, for he is as much under the law as we are.

 

So that all authority comes from the written code. In the spiritual realm, the devil cannot bring an accusation against any human unless that person has first violated God’s written code.

 

Proverbs 26:2 “Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, so a curse without cause shall not alight.”

 

Curse means ill will words, and they can only be activated against those who have been found in violation of God’s blessed Word.

 

The devil cannot afflict a soul without permission, for he has to bring an accusation first against a human who has violated God’s Word, and then it is up to God who is the High Magistrate who rules over His own Word to cast the final decision.

 

Since we all sin and fall short of God’s glorious law, the devil is very busy hurdling accusations against us day and night, so God gave us an Advocate to plead our case, Jesus Christ His own Son.

 

Romans 7:6 “But now, by dying to what once bound us (the written code), we have been released from the law so that we can serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.” NIV

 

So that Jesus by dying for our sins has given to those of us who accept His propitiation for sin—immunity from the written code—so that we can become servants of the Most High God and ministers of His Word.

 

All authority comes from the written code, even the authority to become enforcers of it, which brings us to the other word, Doonamis power.

 

We cannot become enforcers of God’s power until we become one with His authority, and we cannot become one with His authority until we become one with the entirety of His Word.

 

That does not mean that we know everything in the entire Word of God, but that we acknowledge that the entire Word of God is the seat of all authority and the final arbiter on any matter.

 

When we think that something is right and after finding out from the Word of God that it is not, we proceed immediately to change our previous perception and accept God’s ordinances as settled law.

 

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word (Logos, in all three instances) was God.”

 

Just like there is authority and that there is power, and that both of them derive their function from God’s Word, there are also two different Greek words that are used for the word, word, and the difference I believe, brings more clarity into the functions of authority and power and their interactions.

 

Matthew 18:16 “But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word (Hraymah) may be established.”

 

Logos: Thought, from Strongs concordance # 3056.

 

Hraymah: Utterance, from Strongs concordance # 4487.

 

Let us see if we can make a connection, the Greek word used for In the beginning was the Word, is Logos, and it means Thought, Idea, and it encompasses volume and unity, like vast amounts of water in a reservoir waiting to be tapped.

 

We can think of the law that way, a vast amount of ordinances waiting for a law scholar to skillfully apply them.

 

The other Greek word translated word is Hraymah and it means Utterances, as in words that flow, meaning that they are released from the passive into a flowing action.

 

This is really not that complicated, stay with me a minute and let me explain the beauty of how it all comes together and works.

 

If you are driving over the posted speed limit, you are in violation of the written code, but if there is no one present who is authorized to enforce the written code you are not penalized. Even though there may be many present who can bear witness that you are in violation of the law.

 

When Jesus told us that He has given us authority over all the power of the enemy, He authorized us to enforce the written code, God’s Word against the devil and his minions, but that authority has to be exercised on our part, turned into power—no body else is going to do it for us.

 

Psalm 149:6-9 “Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand (God’s Logo-Word), to execute vengeance (Hraymah, the utterances of God) on the nations, and punishments on the peoples (demonic hierarchies); to bind their kings (strong man) with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute on them the written judgment—this honor have all His saints.”

 

God has delivered us from the written code that once bound us, and made us His saints, that is, he has given us authority over our accusers, and since that authority is ours to execute His written Word over our enemies, then it is up to us to release the utterances that crushes the enemy and all his accusations against us.

 

If we are accused of sin by the devil, we unleash the power of God’s Word of authority against him immediately.

 

1 John 3:6 “Whoever abides in Him does not sin…”

 

If we are accused of pride by the devil, we unleash the power of God’s Word of authority against him immediately.

 

1 John 1:8-9 “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

 

The authority that Jesus gave us over our enemy, places us far above our enemies condemnation, and he does not get to set the standards against us any longer.

 

Romans 8:33 “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect (those whom God has declared holy)? It is God who justifies.”

 

And the power that Jesus gave to us, for us to exercise over our enemies, flows out of the Spirit of God working within us, that loudly proclaims to all creation that we are holy to the Lord!

 

The Logos, God’s Word, gives us the authority, and the Hraymah, power, flows out of the utterances that comes out of our mouth when we by faith proclaim and enforce the Living Word of God.