I know that you can control when you exercise Authority and Power.
Some folks say Power is a delegated Authority, and Authority expresses your legal right as a christian.

I'm kinda confused.

Let's discuss

God bless you.
God2man.

Now let's base our differentiation on this verse “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.” (Luke 10:19).
The Greek word translated as ‘authority’ here is ‘exousia,’ and
its basic meaning is to have the right to rule or govern, as one whose will and commands ought
to be submitted to and obeyed.
In contrast the Greek word translated ‘power’ in this reading
is ‘dunamis,’ which means to have the inherent strength or actual ability to bring about a desired purpose.
A modern illustration of these two different meanings is provided by the roles of a truck driver and a traffic officer. An
eighteen wheeler has inherent strength and so its driver has direct or ‘dunamis’ power at his
disposal to perform his task.
While a traffic officer has
insufficient physical power to stop a truck, he does have delegated or ‘exousia’ authority
at his disposal. When the traffic officer puts up his hand the truck driver stops his vehicle, because
behind that gesture lies the whole weight of the PoliceDepartment.
This distinction between the two Greek words is not always made clear in English translations. For
example the Authorized or KJV renders the above
reading as, “Behold, I give unto you[b]power[/b] to tread on serpents
and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” In order to discern the true meaning of the word translated as ‘power’ in the KJV, it is necessary to be aware of which Greek word is actually being
translated - whether 'exousia’ or ‘dunamis.’

Examples of the word authority in the bible--
Matthew 7:29 For he taught
them as one having authority,
and not as the scribes.
Matthew 21:23 And when he
was come into the temple, the
chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?
Mark 10:42 But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the
Gentiles exercise lordship over
them; and their great ones
exercise authority upon them.
John 5:27 And hath given him
authority to execute judgment
also, because he is the Son of
man.
Titus 2:15 These things speak,
and exhort, and rebuke with all
authority. Let no man despise
thee.
Examples of the word power in
the Bible--
Luke 9:43 And they were all
amazed at the mighty power of God. But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, he said unto his disciples,
John 1:12 But as many as
received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name:
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive
power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem , and in all Judaea , and in Samaria , and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

@ Yooguyz, thanks, I think these two words are used in the Bible interchangeably, some other time, it may mean different thing, in another text, they may have the same meaning.

Spiritual Authority without spiritual Power is useless. We must have the two, Authority and Power.

More contributions are highly welcome.


God2man.
God bless you.

it is no doubt that Satan has spiritual powers ,but he can not use this powers on true Christians. he needs an authority, either granted by God to test our faith e. g the case of Job, or he earns it when we fall into sin -which is the devil's legal right(authority) to exercise his powers.e. g Samson.
d Bible is a typical example of a perfect constitution that strips of and grant authority to exercise one's powers.
we do say power is nothing without control, the control is the authority.
so, an active power is one termed "delegated authority " because it has found basis for operation and a 'force(authority) backup.

@Adeniyi, thanks, Acts 1:8 " But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you"
Again, Acts 10:38 " How God annointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power"

does it mean that the Holy Ghost is different from power? We know that the Holy Ghost has power, does it mean that there is another power?

In this context, what is the meaning of power?

Now see this verse, John 1:12 "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name"

i believe "Power" here has a different meaning, it is about legal right as a christian, which is authourity. I stand to be corrected though.

I need more enlightenment.

God bless you.
God2man.

@God2man, i think you're having problems with translation. Here are couple of Greek manuscripts of John 1:12

Stephens 1550 Textus
Receptus osoi de elabon auton edwken autoiV
exousian tekna qeou
genesqai toiV
pisteuousin eiV to
onoma autou

Scrivener 1894 Textus
Receptus osoi de elabon auton edwken autoiV
exousian tekna qeou
genesqai toiV
pisteuousin eiV to
onoma autou

Byzantine Majority
osoi de elabon auton
edwken autoiV exousian tekna qeou genesqai toiV
pisteuousin eiV to onoma autou Alexandrian
osoi de elabon auton
edwken autoiV
exousian tekna qeou
genesqai toiV
pisteuousin eiV to
onoma autou
Hort and Westcott
osoi de elabon auton
edwken autoiV
exousian tekna qeou
genesqai toiV
pisteuousin eiV to
onoma autou

Latin Vulgate
1:12 quotquot autem receperunt eum dedit eis potestatem filios
Dei fieri his qui credunt in
nomine eius

King James Version
1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to
become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:

American Standard Version
1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to
become children of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Bible in Basic English
1:12 To all those who did so take him, however, he gave the right of becoming children of God--
that is, to those who had faith in his name:

Darby's English Translation
1:12 but as many as received him, to them gave he the right to
be children of God, to those that believe on his name;

Young's Literal Translation
1:12 but as many as did receive him to them he gave authority to
become sons of God -- to those believing in his name,
you see the culprit here is KJV. Have i answered your question?

'Authority' and 'Power' are used interchangeably and rightly so in the scriptures. There is no big need to twist our knees over this fact. They are related and can even be synonymous in some instance. But for clear distinctions,
Power is like what the huge trucks have as they bamboozle their way almost, through traffic. Authority is what the traffic warden/police/frsc/lastma has that stops the huge truck. It's as basic as that. Credits to some preacher that explained it that way BTW, i don't remember exactly who.

So, a believer has authority over a powerful devil, sin, sickness, principality etc if he knows that he has being given such authority. But not many believers have power. It is one thing to use authority to stop a truck, it is another thing for the driver to come out and beat the daylights out of you. that is why believers need power in case Power comes by grace, prayer, baptism, gift, etc. It is hardwork in most cases unlike authority which every knowledgeable believer should have.

image123:

So, a believer has authority over a powerful devil, sin, sickness, principality etc if he knows that he has being given such authority. But not many believers have power.

i have a little problem with the bolden, could you please carefully throw more light into the above with scriptural references? Thank you.

Yooguyz: i have a little problem with the bolden, could you please carefully throw more light into the above with scriptural references? Thank you.

Power is like developing muscle(body building). It takes many factors like grace, prayer, baptism, gift, etc. It is hardwork in most cases unlike authority which every knowledgeable believer should have. We do not all have the same power but we can all exercise authority.

Image123:

Power is like developing muscle(body building). It takes many factors like grace, prayer, baptism, gift, etc. It is hardwork in most cases unlike authority which every knowledgeable believer should have. We do not all have the same power but we can all exercise authority.

ok now i understand. Thanks for explaining that.

Image123: So, a believer has authority over a powerful devil, sin, sickness, principality etc.

i don't agree with the bolden above! It's not true!

Yooguyz: i have a little problem with the bolden, could you please carefully throw more light into the above with scriptural references? Thank you.

Well, okay. The devil has being defeated and is powerless before God or Jesus. But he remains the prince of the powers of the air. We still get to wrestle against powerS and principalities and wickedness in HIGH places, which are all under devil. We should not be ignorant of the devices of the devil. We have been given authority over him and his powers no doubt, but he does have powers. i do not say this to scare anybody as nobody should be scared of the devil, but the fact is that he has powers to do things, like taking Jesus to a high place and tell Him to jump down. He has powers to cause disasters and sorrows, he has power over the world's music, influence and money, but we have authority to resist him. Our authority is based on God(Jesus) by faith and knowledge of God.

@image123,
the devil has no single power, check out this verse

[And] having spoiled
principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly,triumphing over them in it. Col 2:15
The word "spoiled," used here, is the Greek verb for "APEKDUOMAI," and this
Greek word means "to divest wholly oneself, or (for oneself) despoil" (Strong's Concordance).
One of the words that made up this compound Greek word means to strip. What Paul was
saying was that Jesus has totally
despoiled/ stripped Satan and all his powers. Satan is now naked and powerless. Praise the
Lord!
Thepicture is that of the triumph of aRoman general. When a Roman
general had won a really notable victory, he was allowed to march
his victorious armies through thestreets of Rome, and behind him
followed the kings and theleaders and the peoples he had
defeated. They were openly branded as his spoils. Paul thinks
of Jesus as a conqueror enjoying a kind of cosmic triumph, and in his triumphal procession are tha powers of evil, beaten forever, for the whole world to see"
so you see! Satan is POWERLESS!

Thanks, Acts 1:8 " But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you"
Again, Acts 10:38 " How God annointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power"

does it mean that the Holy Ghost is different from power? We know that the Holy Ghost has power, does it mean that there is another power?

Nobody is answering this question?
Let's deal with it.


God bless you.
God2man.

God2man: Thanks, Acts 1:8 " But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you"
Again, Acts 10:38 " How God annointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power"

does it mean that the Holy Ghost is different from power? We know that the Holy Ghost has power, does it mean that there is another power?

Nobody is answering this question?
Let's deal with it
God bless you.
God2man

The holy ghost is not different from power, it's the prescence of the holy ghost that generates the power!
The greek of spirit and power are Pneuma-wind and dunamis respectively.
With improvement in science and technology, man has been able to tap energy from various sources e.g wind, water e.t.c to power machines. These days windmills transforms wind energy to kinetic energy, it's also the same way the indwelling of holyghost transfers your weaknesses to strength.

I wish to open another thread about a related topic for discussion, i do not want the purpose of this thread to be defeated.
it is better to leave these Power and Authourity for now.

The thread is still open for discussion.

God bless you.
God2man.