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Binding and Loosing
Posted by Les Puryear in Uncategorized
Are there passages of scripture that you have difficulty understanding? As a pastor, before I can begin to explain Scripture I need to understand it. What I would like to do from time to time is to get your view of specific verses or passages of scripture that I find difficult.
Let’s begin with Matthew 16:19: “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
The context of this verse is the Matt. 16:13-20 passage. Jesus responds to Peter’s confession that He is the Christ. Jesus says that the Father revealed this spiritual truth to him; Peter’s confession is the foundation on which Jesus will build His church, and then this enigmatic reference in verse 19 to “binding” and “loosing.” We can debate the “keys of the kingdom” at another time as I would like to focus on “binding” and “loosing.”
What does Jesus mean by “binding” and “loosing”? I believe the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) view is that this refers to the forgiveness or non-forgiveness of sin by the RCC. I have heard others say that this refers to repentance, binding and loosing Satan, and other thoughts. I must admit I am not convinced by any of these explanations. The key may be in the companion passage of Matt. 18:15-20, where verse 18 is relevant to this discussion.
I would very much like to hear your thoughts about this passage. What do you think “binding” and “loosing” means?
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Les:
I have no idea what the metaphor
“bind and loose” means. I looked in several commentaries. They mention a number of possible interpretations — none of which really engage the “binding and loosing” terminology.
One key to whatever “binding and loosing” means is to decide if the agent doing the “binding and loosing” is Peter, or the church.
If “binding” and “loosing” apply to the church then I think a plausible meaning could be pointing out the “division of labor” in the implementation of salvation between Christ in heaven and the church here on earth.
Maybe there is an undertone of the tension between predestination and freewill.
Christ has “bound” the chosen from the foundation of the earth [bound in heaven] and also the church through preaching [binding on earth] is the vehicle through which the believer makes a freewill decision.
Roger Simpson
Oklahoma City OK
As I’ve understood this, it has to do with believers on earth working and living in harmony with the will of God as it is in heaven.
I think what Jesus is saying here in the context of the passage is that Peter’s relationship with God, trust in Him, and obedience is leading him to a place where he will be in harmony with what the Father wills.
I see this idea also in the Lord’s Prayer (your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.)
Just my thoughts.
Funny you should bring this subject up. I too have been wrestling with this concept and even blogged on it last week from something I had read in Rob Bell’s book “Velvet Elvis”. If you get a chance, check out my entry “Binding and Loosing”
http://guymuse.blogspot.com/2007/10/binding-and-loosing.html (the comments people sent in are also helpful.)
The context is church discipline. My understanding is that God has given the church the authority to practice discipline. Even the issue of agreement in Matthew 18:20 seems to have to do with the context of the local church meeting together to carry out its ministry, including the ministry of church discipline. It appears that God’s own power is present to carry out this vital function of dealing with the refusal to repent of sin.
Les:
My understanding is that “binding and loosing” was a rabbinic term that basically means to allow or disallow. Jesus, as a “Rabbi” was giving his disciples permission to make “binding and loosing” decisions for this thing called the “church.” An example of this would be in Acts 15 when they made a decision regarding what laws the Gentiles would have to follow and they boiled it down to four (Acts 15:20).
To all,
Isn’t it interesting that five responses yield five different interpretations? Are there others?
Keith,
I have not heard that perspective. How does that square with binding and loosing affecting both heaven and earth?
Les
Les,
Just chiming in on this post for the first time:
I agree with Keith. To bind is to forbid, to loose is to allow. But it also was a term indicative of the one in authority, i.e. the one who could allow or forbid.
Rosenmuller says: “Binding and loosing – that is, prohibiting and permitting – were, in the Aramaic language, which Jesus used, a customary expression to denote the highest authority. ”
So as far as binding and loosing affecting both heaven and earth, it sounds as if Peter’s confession of Jesus as Christ is a key to the kingdom of heaven and that those who share this confession will be allowed into heaven and those who do not will be denied access to heaven or “locked out.”
Jesus tells us in Matthew 28 that “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to [Him].” So it is by this heavenly authority that men are saved, and by the confession of Christ as Lord, and on His highest authority, may use the keys of the kingdom to open the door to heaven and come in.
What good news!
Hope that helps.
Les:
I think the term “keys to the kingdom” is an indication of authority and shows the authority being given.
I also think the term “heaven” is used as a euphemism for God and its use in Matt 16 is showing that the authority of “heaven” or God would endorse or uphold the decisions.
With this in mind you can see how the RCC gets the view that the decisions of the church (forgiveness, salvation, etc) as having authority.
Roger,
You make a lot of sense. That does help.
Les
Hi there. Sorry to chime in months late, I just stumbled on this post. I think two other Scriptures may shed some light on Matt 16:19.
In Isaiah 22:22 we see Eliakim being named a sort of prime minister of Israel. The language is very similar to what the Lord said to Peter: “I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.” (NIV)
There’s another “key” reference in Rev 3:7…“These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”
These suggest that the word “key” represents a delegation or granting of authority. Open, shut, bind, loose. I’m no Greek or Hebrew scholar but I would bet these words have similar origin.
I believe that the power and authority of the keys of the kingdom have been successfully sabbotaged by Satan from the Church. It is not a predominant teaching and a mystery to many. I believe that in context of Matt. 16, they are meant to guard us from the gates of hell. I would say that we have been overcome by immorality and have no example to our nation. Paul teaches us to use the keys of the kingdom in ICor.5 in dealing with sexual sin. He asks them to come in agreement with his spirit in handing the immoral person to Satan. This is explained in Matt.18 where Jesus gives the steps for church discipline. When a person does not heed the warnings of 2 or 3, they then are commanded cast the person out, not only from the church, but over to Satan, so that his hard heart may suffer enough to come to repentance. Only God can take His protection off of a wayward child, but He will cooperate with the Church when the proccess is begun on the earth thru the agreement prayer of 2 or 3. God in heaven will allow Satan access to that body, in order that he be saved. I believe that this also cleanses the Church from defiling sin or leaven that spreads…Satan gains legal access to us and our families thur our sins, but God has given us the keys of the kingdom to guard our gates. We have the legal right to close those gates of hell when we obey Gal.6:1 and go after those who fall prey to temptation. We are called to be our brothers’keepers but we have fallen prey to live an independant mentality that looks only to oneself. We may speak to someone about their sin, but we fall short of taking it to others. This is not shortcomings, but sins that defile. These are not transgressions, but iniquities, that we are called to judge. All sins are not the same as presently believed. The leaven of sexual sin has prevailed against us because we leave the gates of hell wide open..they can be closed thru the keys of the kingdom. God expects us to love each other in this way which requires a different kind of church than we know. We cannot sit in pews and expect to know what happens in each others lives. We need to abolish our systems that do not work and return to meeting in homes as the apostles did. In small groups we can know one another and have accountability for how we live. We will not be passive and expect one man to teach us. Fathers can return to teaching their own children the Word of God that will keep them from the sins of our culture. We can use the keys of the kingdom to be holy.