Disarmed Powers

Can believers cast out principalities?

This is where many arguments tend to arise. The short answer is that believers are given authority over demons, but principalities and powers operate on a territorial and systemic level. We don’t cast them out the same way we cast out demons from individuals. They require a different spiritual approach.

We resist them. We pray against them. We displace them through spiritual warfare.

This includes prayer, fasting, and walking in obedience. These actions bring the Church into a deeper connection with Christ and with each other. When we stand together, we resist the influence of principalities. We don’t allow that authority to take over us—we rise in Christ’s authority to take over it.

Next, we pray against their operation. Take, for example, how certain worldly principalities may try to influence governments against the Church. We can’t cast out a government, but we can interfere with the demonic operations working behind it. We stand in the gap. We pray. We intercede. And yes, we see results.

You don’t cast the person out. You don’t necessarily cast out the operation. But you interfere with it spiritually. That’s where we see kingdom influence coming in—when believers understand how to stand in authority, not just yell in frustration.

Jesus Disarmed the Powers

Colossians 2:15 says: "Having disarmed (or 'spoiled') principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it."

The word spoiled in this context means to disarm, to strip away. Jesus didn’t cast them out—He disarmed them. He took the authority from them and transferred it to the Kingdom. He took the keys of death and hell, and in doing so, gave us access to bind and loose—on earth as it is in heaven.

The word spoiled also implies a separation—a stripping away of power. Jesus separated us from evil, from the sinful nature, if we’re willing to live in that separation. Through His sacrifice, He stripped away the principalities’ advantage over us.

So when we live dead to self and alive in Christ, those powers no longer have the upper hand. That’s the power of living in the Kingdom—it disarms the enemy.

We are not of this world, though we live in it. Jesus made that clear. So we don’t have to live under the rule of this world—we live above it, seated with Christ in heavenly places.

Start Taking Ground

Church, it’s time to take ground. Take ground in your home. Take ground in your community. Take ground in your calling.

You can be successful against what comes against you—not because of your power, but because of the authority Christ gave you.

It’s important to understand this perspective—there may be other interpretations, but this teaching highlights one very practical truth: victory doesn’t come from yelling at powers. It comes from standing in Christ.

Ephesians 6:11 says: “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the evil day.”

This verse reminds us that evil days still exist. You don’t erase them by shouting at the sky. Spiritual warfare isn’t about theatrics—it’s about position. It’s about knowing your place in the body of Christ.

If you act outside your God-given authority—or without unity in your community—you may see more backlash than breakthrough. But when you function where God has called you, and you let His glory flow through you, you will see the powers disarmed in your sphere of influence.

Let’s walk in that. Let’s stand in that. Let’s take ground together.