UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF GOD OR SATAN
Actually, Satan never has had any rights as far as mankind is concerned. The concept is one of access, not of legal authority. Job is a good illustration of this. Satan could do nothing apart from God’s permission. God never gave Satan authority over Job, only limited access.
Adam and Eve sinned against God, not against Satan. God withdrew His Presence but never His ownership of Adam and Eve. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world, and they who dwell therein.
Disobeying God does not give Satan legal rights over us. On what scriptural basis would this be true? God always retains authority over all flesh. He has given all authority over the creation, including mankind, to the Lord Jesus Christ. If we overcome the world, it is possible that some day some of this authority may be given to us, but never to Satan.
For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. (John 17:2)
When man sins, God permits Satan and the demons access to the man, but never ownership. Satan and the demons sometimes profess a right to an individual, but God never grants this. God grants only access, as it pleases Him. God has permitted Satan to have access to mankind for the purpose of teaching the host of Heaven, and mankind itself, the end result of obeying Satan.
I think Christians are superstitious concerning the blood of the cross. They wave it at Satan as some sort of talisman or fetish. Of course, this is not a proper use of the blood. The blood is of effect only as we repent of our sins and walk in the light of God’s perfect will. Then the blood purifies us from all unrighteousness, both forgiving and removing. This is the blood of the atonement, of reconciliation to God.
The cross and the blood of the cross mean nothing to Satan. They cannot be used as fetishes. To “plead the blood” is an attempt to use the blood of the cross as a fetish. Sometimes believers will hold a “Pentecostal rain dance,” as one person termed it, to exorcise Satan. They would far rather do this than resist the devil by choosing to live righteously.
The Passover blood is our protection when God judges the sins of the world. The eating of Christ’s flesh and the drinking of His blood are the means whereby Christ, the Resurrection from the dead, is developed in us. It may be helpful for some to understand that it was not Satan who passed over Egypt, it was God. “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.”
We overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb in that our conscience is cleared and we cannot be validly accused of being separated from God. That is the answer of a good conscience toward God. Satan loves to tell people, including believers, that God has rejected them and now they belong to Satan and his demons. It is a lie.
We must make a distinction between power and authority. God always retains authority over His creation, and has shared that authority with the Lord Jesus. When we sin, we place ourselves under the power of Satan, as happened with Adam and Eve, and everyone else who sins. God gave us Jesus Christ so we can be set free from the power of Satan and serve the Lord in righteousness, love, joy, and peace.
God delivers us from the power (not authority) of Satan when we place our faith in the blood of the Lamb and when we partake of the body and blood each day. We partake of the body and blood each time we resist Satan and our sinful nature and choose to obey Christ.
(“Under the Authority of God or Satan”, 3385-1, proofed 20211119)