Our Position of Authority Over Demons
I am writing this post to explain something that is very plain and easy to see in the Bible, but seems to be absent from the understanding of many Christians I come in contact with.
According to the Bible, every Christian has absolute authority over every demon, and the devil himself. And as we will see, this authority is a gift. It is not the result of hard work, study, holy living, devotion, prayer, fasting, or any other religious activity.
We are going to look at some passages from Ephesians 1 and 2. Paul, the writer of Ephesians, explains this authority by first showing us the authority of Jesus, and then showing how that relates to us as believers.
Looking to Jesus
Our first passage comes as part of a very long paragraph, and it is difficult to break into the middle of it, so I am going to quote the whole thing here. Our focus in this passage will be on the later verses.
Ephesians 1:15-21
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
Notice that it says in verses 20 and 21 that Jesus has been seated at the right hand of the Father in the heavenly places. Notice also that this is a position that is far above all “principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.”
Paul uses the words “principalities and powers” (and so on) to describe demons and evil spirits. He uses this same terminology later in this same letter when he says this:
Ephesians 6:12 – 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 hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
So, going back to Ephesians 1:20-21, Paul is showing us that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, and He is far above every evil spirit or demon or fallen angel or any other evil spiritual being that exists.
In a kingdom, being seated at the right hand of the king is the highest position that is available. There is no higher rank than this. And since the the Kingdom of God is the greatest Kingdom, and since there is no authority in existence that is higher than God the Father, then we know that being seated at His right is to be in a place of unmatched authority. Jesus is in this place of authority at the Father’s right hand. Jesus has absolute, unconditional authority over all demons.
But, that was just for Jesus, right?
Please keep the previous information in mind as we continue reading in Ephesians. And please pay very close attention here. What you are about to read is so amazing that it is almost hard to believe.
I am going to quote the next part of the passage here, and we will skip to the end and work our way back.
Ephesians 1:22-2:6
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus
Take a very close look at the last verse above. Ephesians 2:6. I want to show it in several different translations, so that you can see what it is saying.
NET – and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
NIV – And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
NASB – and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
NLT – For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms––all because we are one with Christ Jesus.
NRSV – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
NKJV – and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
God the Father has seated us at His right hand, in the same seat of authority that Jesus occupies (we are WITH Christ and we are also IN Christ). This is a place that is far above every demon, every fallen angel, every evil spirit, and even the devil himself. It is the same seat of authority Jesus occupies, as mentioned in the passage that we looked at earlier. The Bible says that God decided to allow you to share the throne of Jesus. That is astounding!
God has chosen to give us, His beloved children, a level of authority in the spirit realm that is above every other created being.
Also, please notice the tense of the verbs. This is not something that will take place in the future. The verbs are in the past tense. It doesn’t say that we will be seated, it says we have already been seated. This is something that has already happened. We, as followers of Christ, have already been given authority that is far above the enemy.
Take a moment and let this sink in. If you have never seen this before, it make take a while. It is a staggering truth to comprehend. We have absolute, unconditional authority over all demons. We are in a position that is far above them. We are above even the most powerful and highest ranking forces of evil. This explicitly includes principalities, powers, and every name that is named.
To further emphasize this truth, read Ephesians 1:22-23 again. It says “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”
All things are under the feet of Jesus. Jesus is the head of the church. The church is His body. The feet are part of the body. All things are under His feet, so all things are under His body…so all things are under the church. The picture that God wants us to see is that every demon is under our feet. We have authority over all demons.
If you believe the Bible, then you need to believe this, because it is in the Bible, and it is true.
It is true whether or not you realize it. It is true whether or not you believe it. Rather, it is true because God said it. When you decide to believe it, that doesn’t make it true. It was true already. But if you will choose to believe it, then you can and will begin enjoying the benefits of it.
A Free Gift from a Loving Father
Authority over the devil and demons is not something that we should be working towards. It is not a goal or a target. It is a fact that is true right now. It is already so. We don’t have to work for it, it was given to us as a gift. God gave it to us “because of His great love for us” (Eph 2:4), not because of our hard work and holy living.
When you chose to put your faith in Jesus, several things happened. You were declared righteous and holy by God the Father (Romans 5:1). You were spiritually born again (John 3:5-8) into the family of God (John 1:12). You were given citizenship with full rights into the Kingdom of God (Eph 2:19). And you were placed into a seat/position of authority that is higher than every other created being (Eph 2:6).
All of this took place the instant you believed. It was all an act of unmerited goodwill (grace) from your heavenly Father. You did not work to earn any of it. It came as a result of faith in Jesus, “not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph 2:8).
It was given as a free gift, totally apart from your own goodness or merit. Like I said before, you did not earn your place with God by working hard, reading your bible, fasting, praying, giving to the poor, or any other good deed. It was all a free gift.
Since it was a free gift, and since you already possess all of these things, then you can be very confident that you do not have to achieve any level of performance in order to maintain any of these things…including your authority.
Your authority over the devil did not come as a reward for your holy lifestyle, and likewise it not be decreased or taken away because of any moral or ethical failures, large or small, that you may experience during your life. Don’t get me wrong…sin is bad, and sin can make things very difficult for you. But remember this: your level of authority over the devil is not related to your ability to avoid sin. You have authority over the enemy, even when you sin.
So never let the enemy lie to you and tell you that you have lost your authority because of something you did. That is just a lie to trick you into becoming an easy target.
So, what now?
If you have any experience working in a job for different managers, supervisors, or company owners, then you can probably identify with what I am about to say. There are some people in a position of authority that can speak and people will listen to them. Then there are other people in a position of authority that can speak and people will ignore them, or disrespect them, or any other variety of responses.
It is possible to have a position of authority…to have authority…but not know how to use it.
You have authority over the devil, but it is not doing you any good if you don’t know how to use it.
In my next post, I plan to spend some time giving some examples of how to use the authority that your Father has given you. But for now, I want to highlight something from the beginning of the first passage I quoted in this article.
Ephesians 1:15-19
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
The writer is offering a prayer here. Notice that he is not praying for God to pour out His power, or to give the people more authority. He is praying that the people would open their eyes and realize what they already have. We do not need to be praying for more power or more authority. That is actually unbelief….you don’t believe that God gave you what the Bible says that He already gave you. If we want to pray about this subject, we should be praying that God would help us see what He gave us, and train us and help us learn how to use what He has already provided.
So, in closing, I encourage you to pray something like this: Father, I believe that you have given me power and authority to represent you, and to destroy the works of the enemy. Help me understand this. Teach me how to cooperate with you to do your will, and to use this power and authority to bring glory and honor to Jesus. Amen.
Just saw this# So very good and encouraging! The eyes of my understanding were enlightened! This was amazing and helpful for me so I will not ever be afraid or intimidated. It is my God given gift to exercise my authority. I actually saw God the Father stomp on the devil so since we are His feet that means we get that foot stomping power too! I was reminded by the Holy Spirit while reading that WE ARE CHRIST’S AMBASSADORS so why wouldn’t he give us the authority to speak and act for the Kingdom as any ambassador would? Thank you, Neal.
This is mind blowing…so powerful
Thank you so much… Am reading this article in the middle of the night because of spiritual warfare. This has given me more insight.
I am glad it was helpful. I pray God’s wisdom and blessings for you in Jesus name.
well taught lesson. Everything was very encouraging. Thank you for also adding the wording for the prayer. I definitely was one of those people asking for “more” power… however, you have educated me on the correct way to think and pray concerning the authority God has already given us.
Hi Marietta! Thank you so much for your comment! I’m glad these materials have been helpful. I am always excited to hear that God’s children are taking advantage of the wonderful things He has given to us.
This is awesome!
I completely agree! It is so awesome that it is almost hard to believe!
Its the too good to be true gospel. I feel that same sense of shock like the disciples that told Jesus, “even the evil spirits were cadt out at your name” and he told them thats nothing I saw Satan fall like lightning. Rejoice rather that your names are written in the book of life. Incredible Jesus! Thank you for this precious gospel!
I am strengthened by this emphasis on authority over demons, evil spirits and the devil. We sit at the right hand of the Father. I am currently experiencing a backlash at my job from several people and references have been stated that ‘she is controlling everything…’ as a result, the co-workers are writing me up for small things-stating ‘she spoke to me in an unprofessional manner.’ or ‘she is on the phone when she should be over here working.’ I am on the phone interviewing patients which is also working ….or ‘she said she is going to take pictures of patients’ records.’ And I consistently deny the lies that are coming at me. I was summoned to a Weingarten investigation-that went nowhere. When will the harassment cease? I am praying that God avenge my enemies in such a way that they stop coming at me with unsubstantiated allegations-and they come to realize that they need to understand that God the Father has given authority to me-and it would behoove them to stop fighting and start coming into an understanding of the times we are living in now….I sometimes become weary in the fight….I am trying to move on to another place to work because I have been harassed now for a year…..I am praying that God avenge my enemies and turn the rod of Zion on them…..They are ruthless and ignorant=-many are atheists and they seem to be getting the upper hand–they are writing emails and the manager is putting the emails in my file without asking my side of the story…so unfair
Hi Barbara. I am very sorry about what you are experiencing. I am praying for you now. I want to clarify a few things. 1) We do not have authority over people to make them change or do things differently. 2) Our authority is over the devil and demons. 3) Our true battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the enemy of our souls (See Ephesians chapter 6). Jesus was not happy when his disciples tried to call down fire on a village that rejected them. Likewise, we are not to wish harm or bad things on anyone. Instead, Jesus says “love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you.” (Mat 5:44). You will often find that people that are causing problems for you are often just being deceived or hurt in some way that is not readily apparent. We are to forgive others even as Christ has forgiven us. (Col 3:13) That doesn’t mean that we do not have healthy boundaries, but it does mean that we need to be very careful not to fall into the trap of offense, bitterness, resentment, or forgiveness.
Sir,
Thanks so much for this Phema.
I’m thinking principalities can manifest at physical realms and we have power over them.
David liken Goliath to the Lion he killed and got physical results.
Many oppressors are manifesting spiritual wickedness and manipulation, I therefore believed Barbara can use this scripture.
And whosoever the son of man hath set free is free indeed.
My thoughts and believe sir.
We don’t take authority over people, but we do have authority over the spiritual powers that control them.
Many thanks for this message I am greatly blessed.
Thank you for the kind words! God bless you!
Thank you so much for this insight into our authority as christians, it was very helpful and insightful. God richly bless you.
Thank you Randy! God bless you!
The Holy Spirit spoke this truth into my heart and I went in search of confirmation – and found it in your post. Thanks Neal!
You mentioned a ‘next post’ where you share some examples of this authority exercised. Could you post the link to that post, please?
Hi Darrel! I just put the new page up that you were asking about. Here is the link: How to Use Your God-Given Authority Over Demons
Am so blessed ! that you took time to edify the body of Christ about the authority they posses, we are so locked in expecting a an extra ordinary anointing that needs to come and flow in us in order to cast out demons or perform any miracle. We are in the end times and the Christian soldiers need to take their positions in the Lord to counter the powers of darkness in this Hour! I rejoice in the spirit that these things have been revealed us now for the glory of God. Concheptar
Thank you for the kind words. I so am glad this was helpful. Be blessed!
This is wonderful. Is full of wonder
Am blessed to have a teacher of the word like you. This is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. God bless you
Thank you for the kind words! Be blessed!!!
I have found this teaching very enlightening and helpful for me to have a victorious living in Christ
Would like to hear more of such teaching
Thank you.
Thank you for the kind words. Be blessed!
Exactly what the Spirit has been showing me lately and just found the confirmation from your post. I will use this to teach my church if that is okay. Blessings your teaching calling and gift.
Hi Patrick. I receive those blessings! And yes please feel free to use any material on my website. I am always honored and humbled when I find out that something here has been helpful to others. The purpose is to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. Any time that is happening I feel like I am fulfilling my calling. Be blessed!
The amazing power of a believer in Jesus Christ.i love reading such stuff because it is taking right out of the scripture.i studied eph 1&2 yesterday and God gave me this revelation.God bless you richly and continue to open your eyes of understanding of God’s word. May the all the spiritual blessings the Holy Spirit brings with Him into our lives according to eph 1 be fully manifest in you dear brother.
Thank you for the kind words. Be blessed!
This is great stuff. Very well covered in that you’re not just lifting a verse or two to make a predetermined point. You’re having scripture support your position fully. Thank you for the article
Thank you!
Yes and amen! I love when the LORD speaks through His word and confirms it through the sharing of others and their hearings from the LORD! The LORD woke me up with “Birth of a nation, Ephesians” a couple of weeks ago – didn’t really make sense to me, but I knew it was the LORD. I asked the LORD what He meant by “nation”, and the next morning, I got “Christian”. The next morning I got “speak the word”. I’m still working through Ephesians to truly understand what the LORD wants to reveal. Last week, the LORD woke me up with “Joy in Believing” as He has been speaking to me about being Free and not afraid of evil things to come. About being hemmed in and In Jesus, being seated in the heavenly places In Him. Having Faith – as in Mark – so that with believing, He/Jesus, can do a mighty work(s). There is Joy in knowing that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit to the LORD God Almighty – connected and In Him and Him in us. Joy in believing! As I was reading in Ephesians, I came to the same revelation that we are seated above the evil principalities and powers. Thank you for your work of writing it all down!!
Thank you for your comment Jennifer. Since you are in Ephesians, and you are thinking about our future, Ephesians 4:11-16 shows us that we have a very exciting future to look forward to. The body of Christ is going to continue grow in number, in maturity, and in power until we all look like the fullness of Christ on the Earth. More people are being saved every day than ever before. Christianity has grown from 12 people to around 2 billion and growing. We are the largest group of people on the planet, far outnumbering any other group by more than double. We truly have exciting times ahead.
Thank you so very much.
You are very welcome! Be blessed!
Awesome!Unbelievable yet perfect unchanging truth . Application of this truth now depends on me.I am overly challenged.Thank you for posting this.
Hi James. Thank you for your comment! I am glad this was helpful to you. Be blessed!