Spiritual Authority In The New Covenant      

By John Groves

Winchester Family Church

UK

The death of Jesus was a huge event, a cosmic event! Every area of life was affected and nothing would ever be the same again! One of the great revolutions was in the religious realm: ‘At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom’ (Matt. 27:51).

The tearing in two of the temple curtain was a work of God and a spectacular demonstration that the Old Covenant had ended. A new and living way had been opened up to God through the body of His Son, Jesus Christ. God has solved the problem of the exclusion of sinful men and women from His presence. God Himself declared that the barrier had gone and the way was open. The Old Covenant and all its trappings had passed away and there is a new, better covenant between God and men in and through Jesus Christ. Jesus is our great High Priest!

There is, therefore, no more sacrifice for sin needed ever again. There is no need for ritual washing before coming to worship. There are no special buildings, special mountains or special altars. And, of course, we do not need a special priesthood! The necessity for a particular type of man wearing distinctive clothing and permitted to perform certain rituals on behalf of the people is gone forever!

In the glorious New Covenant young and old, male and female, Jew and gentile, whole and crippled, in fact anyone at any time, can come into God’s presence in and through Jesus Christ. This is wonderfully inclusive but also exclusive because we can come only in and through Jesus Christ; he alone is the way to God!

So we live in the age of the priesthood of all believers. One High Priest has entered the presence of God forever and has sat down there. Those in Christ share his priesthood, his rights and his privileges. We are a holy priesthood through Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 2:4-10). We must never go back to Old Covenant ways of operating. Therefore, we do not want a separate class of people who mediate between God and the rest of His people. There are no grounds in the New Covenant for a special group breaking bread, baptising, leading in worship etc. We must avoid all unbiblical terms such as ‘clergy’ and ‘laity’. Concepts of this sort of division amongst the people of God are foreign to the New Testament.

In the New Testament there are different ministries, and all the members of the body of Christ are involved. There are governmental functions but there is no ‘clergy’ or ‘priesthood’. New Testament leadership is about gifting. The Holy Spirit gifts people to perform a function of serving the church through leadership and government.

Is there spiritual authority in the new covenant?

The questions might be asked, ‘If this is true, is there spiritual authority under the New Covenant?’ or, ‘Are there any authoritative positions amongst the New Testament people of God?’

The answer to both would be a clear ‘Yes’. The issue of authority is fundamental to the whole universe and certainly still applies in the New Covenant. Let me briefly remind you of some fundamental principles of authority.

• All authority resides in God who is overall sovereign, the Creator and Sustainer of all things. Ultimately, we are all to obey God. It is because we respect and obey God that we submit to all He has instituted. We obey what God has instituted unless it clearly contradicts His revealed will, for it is God whom we are fundamentally obeying. All valid human authority is ultimately delegated authority. Delegated by God and accountable to Him.
• Rebellion against God’s authority is the root of all evil. As best we can judge Satan’s root sin, indeed the root of all sin, is ‘I will be God’; ‘I will be my own boss’ (Isa. 14:12-15). Rebellion is worse than witchcraft (1 Sam. 15:22, 23) because witchcraft is only one of the fruits of rebellion. On the other hand obedience is the highest expression of honour to God, better than sacrifice.
• God’s kingdom is one of order. God is a God of order not chaos. The church must accept His authority and reflect His order if she is going to be effective (1 Cor. 14:26-40). Therefore, the issue of spiritual authority is vital for the success of the church and her mission.
• Those given spiritual authority need to come under authority. This is a principle we see working out from Adam in the garden onwards. Rebellion disqualifies us and God will ultimately remove our authority. Once we learn to come under authority we will find a secure and healthy place from which we can exercise authority.

How do spiritual authorities get in place in the new covenant?

All authority comes from God’s ordaining not man’s attainment. So the fundamental question is always, ‘Who is God appointing in authority in any given situation?’ God’s will is clear in many situations, for example the principles applying in home, work, government etc.

However, there is some subtlety involved when it comes to spiritual authority within the realm of the church, the New Covenant people of God. As someone has said, ‘There is no Leviticus in the New Testament.’ Spiritual authority in the church must be understood in the light of how things work in the New Covenant, the age of the Spirit. The basic question is the same, ‘Who is God appointing as a spiritual authority?’

Some vital and precious principles need to be understood. First, leaders are a gift from the risen Jesus to his church (Eph. 4:7-11). The church, the people of God, need to recognise them as this, namely as a gift from the risen Lord Jesus to bless and build up his church.

Second, we must understand that leadership is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 12:6-8). No one can get into church leadership as a career choice or by training alone. Spiritual leaders have to be gifted and called by the Lord Jesus, the head of the church.

In reality the Lord Jesus chooses leaders in the mysterious mixture of ways in which he works:

• There will be an internal call for the one serving as a leader.
• The Holy Spirit will gift the person to do the job.
• The gifting will be recognised by the body of Christ.
• Providential circumstances, e.g. God-given opportunities, doors opening will be evident.
• Confirmation will be given by spiritual authorities who are already recognised.
• The New Testament indicates that prayer, fasting and the prophetic will often play a part in the process.
• Godly character is a vital element of New Testament leadership.

We need to find ways of recognising who Jesus is anointing and appointing. In some ways many of the points in the list above operate from a negative perspective. For example, if one of the elements such as gifting, recognition by established spiritual authority or godly character is missing that presents a serious question as to whether that person should be in the position of authority being considered.

Essentially three main elements appear to operate in New Testament Church situations where spiritual authorities are recognised:

1. The person him or herself feels a sense of call from God.
2. The church recognises the gifting and character qualities in the person.
3. The spiritual authorities that are already in place, and are themselves recognised, acknowledge and establish the person in the role they are gifted for (Acts 6:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9).

It seems likely that the above will always involve some period of time in which the process of recognition, confirmation and ratification can go on. This process needs to be accompanied by prayer for the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Remember we are looking to see: Who is Jesus appointing? Who is he giving to his church to equip her for works of service? (Eph. 4:11-13).

How should spiritual authorities behave?

All authorities in the church are ‘…your servants for Jesus’ sake’ (2 Cor. 4:5). They serve the people but are ultimately answerable to Jesus.

Whatever your position in the church, the key to operating successfully in all spiritual authority is to listen to the bit of the Bible that speaks to those who are in a position of authority and obey those Scriptures. For example, if you want to be a successful and godly husband you need to hear and obey what the Bible says to husbands. If you were to concentrate on what it says to wives and then browbeat your wife with it that would be totally counterproductive and wrong!

A similar principle needs to apply on the issue of spiritual authority. It is the responsibility of those in authority to learn as much as they can of what the Bible says to those in authority. For example, the passages teaching on elders and apostles, and the personal reflections of Paul and Peter writing about their ministries, will be the essential sorts of Scripture requiring frequent study for those exercising any sort of spiritual authority.

The sort of thing the New Testament says to those with spiritual authority (and I emphasise this is applicable to any authority role) is this:

• Live by God’s word and teach it. A leader’s authority is, in the end, only the authority of God’s word.
• Our way of life must be open to scrutiny and must be an example to those we lead.
• We are to be men and women of faith, a faith which others can imitate.
• We are accountable to God for our responsibilities. People are God’s flock not ours.
• Care for those who are under you.
• Serve willingly as God calls you. Don’t serve out of ambition or greed for money.
• Don’t lord it over those entrusted to you.
• Be a God-pleaser not a men-pleaser.
• Be men and women of integrity and godly character.
• Have an attitude of service towards those under you.
• Be faithful, kind, compassionate, courageous.
• Be eager to see Christ formed in people. Look for them to come to maturity and release them to serve others.

The list could go on. I have drawn from a range of Scriptures; you can probably recognise many as well as adding some of your own. We need to heed these Scriptures seriously if we are in any position of spiritual authority.

How should we behave towards spiritual authorities?

All of us should be under authority. I hope that the exhortation of 1 Thessalonians 5:12, ‘Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and admonish you’, can be obeyed by all of us in a practical way. In this last section I want us to consider what the Bible says to those under spiritual authority. The same principle applies as stated earlier; as one under authority, listen to what the Bible says to those under authority and then obey it. It is sadly common in church life for people to be disrespectful, critical and even despising of those ‘over them in the Lord’. Just as a leader is not to lord it over his flock so the people are not to treat him as their servant or slave! As one wise pastor said to his congregation, ‘I am your servant but you are not my master.’

The same imbalance can occur with regard to apostolic authority. Despite unfortunate examples of too ‘heavy’ apostolic authority there are, in my opinion, more problems with people not receiving apostolic authority properly. There is often a conscious or unconscious expectation that apostolic ministry and apostolic delegates are merely church consultants, a pastor to pastors, problem-solvers etc. We need to think prayerfully about how we are to behave towards those who are ‘over us in the Lord’.

The sort of thing the New Testament says to those under authority with regard to those who are over us (and I emphasise this should apply to every one of us in some capacity) is this:

• Hear the word of God from them i.e. expect God to speak to you through them.
• Follow their example and the lead they give you.
• Obey them whenever possible, although it should be noted that submission is an attitude of respect towards authority but it doesn’t always mean that you obey. For instance, David was respectful towards Saul and the anointing God had given him even though he didn’t always do what Saul wanted him to do!
• If you have a problem with an authority figure, speak to them first and don’t gossip it to everyone else.
• Be slow to hear negative reports of those in authority. Make sure there are several proven witnesses before believing a bad report.
• Pray for them, their ministries, their families, etc.
• Greet them warmly, i.e. make them feel loved and appreciated.
• Honour them.
• Share all good things with them  (Gal. 6:6).
• Make their job easy and a joy for them (Heb. 13:17).

Once more, my list is not exhaustive. However, if we can obey the exhortations of Scripture with faith and grace we will find the blessing of God on our service for Him. When both parties, those in authority and those under authority, behave in the appropriate Scriptural way we will have happy, united, fruitful churches.

The New Covenant is the covenant of the Spirit. We are always looking to submit to His work and His gifting in people. It is for this reason that there is a lot of mutual submission in the body of Christ, i.e. we submit to one another’s gifting in multiple different ways. Nevertheless, God has distributed gifts according to His will just as He wants (1 Cor. 12:18). Therefore, He has given to His church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, elders, deacons and numerous other ministries defined by gifting rather than any Biblical term. In the end all spiritual authority is to build up the church, bring her to maturity and make her effective in her mission in bringing the good news of Jesus Christ and his kingdom to this sin-sick world. We must welcome spiritual authority with joy and faith and exercise it with love and a healthy fear of the living God.