Thorn in the flesh

After Saul, the first king of Israel, had repeatedly disobeyed the Lord, an evil spirit started to plague him. God had chosen him (1 Samuel 10:1) but was disappointed with his performance as a leader. Saul was more interested in his status than in following God's instructions, given to him by Samuel, the prophet who had anointed him as king.

Soon after Saul had been anointed the Spirit of God came upon him (1 Samuel 10:10). He had done nothing to merit such favour. But because of his rejection of God's directive, an evil spirit was sent to torment him (1 Samuel 15:23; 16:14). Saul went from bad to worse and eventually resorted to witchcraft (1 Samuel 28:7).

About one thousand years later an evil spirit tormented another Saul, also from the tribe of Benjamin. His response was very different to that of his namesake. He prayed 3 times that it would leave him, but submitted to God's will when the Lord said "My grace is sufficient for you" (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).

Authority and power

Jesus attributed Peter's recognition of him as Messiah to a revelation from his Father in heaven. He then told Peter that things he bound/loosed on earth would be bound/loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:19). On the face of it one could conclude that Jesus gave Peter carte blanche to rule his church.

Since Jesus made this statement in the context of "on this rock I shall build my church" someone could say that the authority to bind and loose was not given to Peter but to his church. This point of view can be defended by referring to John 20:23. However, when he spoke to Peter, "you" was in the singular in Greek. That is also how it is translated in other languages.

Nevertheless, Peter's fallibility was demonstrated moments later when Jesus called him "satan" (Matthew 16:23). His authority was therefore dependent on his being "in the Spirit". When he was "in the flesh" Peter was advancing the agenda of satan.

That same authority was given to the 10 apostles after Jesus had re-commissioned them and breathed on them (John 20:21-22). On this occasion they received the Holy Spirit and were authorised to forgive anyone's sins or to withhold forgiveness. No-one who has read church history with an open mind can deny that churches have abused their authority too many times to count. My conclusion is therefore that the authority is dependent on "being in the Spirit", however mysterious that may sound.

Power was also given to the apostles by the Holy Spirit. However, they only received Holy Spirit power 50 days after Jesus had ascended into heaven (Acts 1:8; 2:1-4). When a person repents of sin and receives forgiveness through faith in Jesus because of his undeserved sacrificial death, that person receives the Holy Spirit, just like the apostles did when Jesus breathed on them. Nevertheless, the apostles, Samaritans and the Ephesians received the Gift of the Holy Spirit "a second time" (Acts 2:4; 8:14-17; 19:6). In the same way modern day believers who desire God's power to do good can ask Jesus to baptise them with the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:16).