Under Authority

There is no authority in the Christian’s life except when that Christian is absolutely committed to authority. We have authority when we are under authority because all powers flow downward from the Creator. Apostle Paul spells it out clearly when he states, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power [authority] but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God” (Romans 13:1). He goes further and says “Whosoever therefore resisteth the power [authority], resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation” (Romans 13:2). This statement follows the twelfth chapter of the Book of Romans that deals exclusively with the Body of Christ, the visible church. Almost every difficulty in the church and in Christians lives relates to this truth.

The average saint is powerless because he or she has never learned the disciplined life. The bedrock of discipline is the tender heart that relishes and finds security in submitting to those over them in life’s experiences. There are powers we must respect at every stage of our life. The child learns to obey mother and father, and the mother and father teach them to obey teachers and pastors. The first job they acquire—someone is their supervisor. Success in that job starts with listening and obeying that leader. They may be good or bad, but the worker will gain marvelous experience by rightful obedience.

No one should ever obey a command that involves sin, but their resistance must be gentle and respectful based upon pure Biblical convictions. No business is successful without absolute lines of authority. If you cannot respect and obey your supervisor on the job, then do what is right and resign in a businesslike manner. You will be a hindrance to that business or ministry until you remove yourself. If you do not make sure that it is not you that must change, you are laying the groundwork for future failures.

Most homes today are dysfunctional because there are no clear lines of authority. Husbands and wives are being taught by the world that they are co-parents or equal partners. This is blasphemy against God’s established lines of authority. The infallible Bible states, “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God” (1 Corinthians 11:3). Jesus Christ in His earthly pilgrimage proved perfect submission to His Father. Even at this moment in His authority over the church He is clearly under authority to the Father. The man—every man—is obligated to be under authority to Jesus Christ and the woman under the man. A father or husband that exerts his authority to his family but who refuses authority over himself will be either laughed at or hated. The same is true for the wife, the pastor and everyone else. If you resist authority it will destroy you—maybe slowly—but with certainty. It may just show up in your body or your emotions, but it will, in the end, finish you off.

The church world must be the world’s example of Biblical authority. Never do you see elders elected but always appointed. An elder serves at the request of an apostle or pastor but that apostle or pastor must be under pure authority before Christ, or it all becomes a joke. The word pastor is the exact same word in the Greek as shepherd. Jesus Christ alone is the ultimate Shepherd. A man called to be a pastor or under-shepherd must be of the purest lot who has surrendered all to Christ. If he does not know “Christ’s voice,” he has no right to be “His voice.” In fact, the Bible calls the saints under their pastor to pray diligently for him because of the heavy answerability he will be required to give before Christ.

In todayÂ’s church world, there are many pastors that call their wives co-pastors. Nothing could be more contrary to the Holy Book. A manÂ’s wife is his helpmate; never his co-anything. He must love her as Christ loves the church but never reduce himself to an equal relationship. That is not fair to her and it only adds to her even greater burden of being a mother and his God-appointed helpmate. Our Father and our Lord will not tolerate His saints to order their affairs by the politically correct destruction that is guiding the developing New World Order.

The Salty Saints have one roadmap and it is the Bible. Do not resist the Biblical lines of authority because to resist is to be destroyed. Power and authority will be mightily manifested in your life if you discipline yourself. Those under you will be blessed as you bless those over you. It all flows from the Father Himself, and He is the heavenly Father and the only final authority.