To open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.
— Acts 26:18
Before we were born again, we were under the authority of Satan, God’s enemy. According to the Bible, Satan has a kingdom on this earth: “And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?” (Matt. 12:26). Unless people are born again, they are in Satan’s kingdom and are under his authority. That is why Paul was commissioned by the Lord to turn people from “the authority of Satan to God” (Acts 26:18).
Of course, people like to think that they belong to themselves and are under their own authority. They believe that they can live their own life on their own terms. But according to the Bible no one is under his own authority. Everyone is in either the kingdom of Satan or the kingdom of God. Everyone is under either the authority of Satan or the authority of God. If you are born again, you have entered God’s kingdom and have been brought under God’s authority. But if you are not born again, then you are under Satan’s authority. You may think that you are your own master, but actually you are in Satan’s kingdom. This is true no matter who you are, where you live, or what you do. Every human being who does not receive the Lord Jesus is under the authority and control of Satan. This was our position before we were born again.
Adapted from Born Again, page 28.
Tomorrow: “We Were in Sin and Death”