Chapter 5.17
Bind and Loose
The Kingdom
Keys
Has man been
given the KEY to forgive sins on earth,
causing it to
happen in Heaven? If so; why do we need
a Savior?
A Little Background
Jesus
was addressing the Twelve Disciples and asked the question, “Who do the
others think that I am;” they offered up many responses of what people were
saying, then He asked them point blank; “But who do YOU think
that I am”.[1]
Peter is often seen as the spokesman for the
inner circle and responded for the twelve by stating; “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living
God”; speaking for all of them.[2] Jesus response sets up THREE deep spiritual thoughts that still “ROCK” us today;
1)
On
this ROCK I will build my church: What is
this Rock, did Jesus change Simon Bar-Jonah’s name to Peter? Is Peter the Rock?
[3]
2)
There
are KEYS to the Kingdom of Heaven: Do
we need keys to be able to enter into the Kingdom? Were the keys just given to Peter or to all
the Disciples? Keys are plural; so what are all these keys
for?[4]
3)
BINDING
& LOOSING: What are
we binding and loosing? Is it Biblical for
men to be able to bind or loose something on earth and CAUSE the binding or loosing to happen in
Heaven?[5]
Matthew 16:19-20 - Keys of the Kingdom to Bind and Loose
19 I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven, and
WHATEVER
YOU BIND ON EARTH SHALL BE BOUND
IN HEAVEN, AND WHATEVER YOU LOOSE ON EARTH SHALL BE LOOSED
IN HEAVEN.”
20 Then he strictly charged
the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
(ESV)
Matthew
18:18 – Bind and Loose on Earth; Same in Heaven
18 Truly, I
say to you,
WHATEVER
YOU BIND ON EARTH SHALL BE BOUND
IN HEAVEN, AND WHATEVER YOU LOOSE ON EARTH SHALL BE LOOSED
IN HEAVEN.”
(ESV)
The Rock
When
Peter uttered the words “YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD”, he was
confessing what had been hidden; it was the “Revelation” of Yeshua, Emanuel;
God is with us, the Messiah. Flesh
and Blood has not “Revealed” this to you. The word “Revealed”
comes from the Greek word “apokalupto”; meaning to remove the
veil or covering so as to expose what has been hidden; to make manifest.
The Revelation was; Jesus Christ is the Rock that now dwells within Simon. This was when Jesus changed “Simon; son of Jonah’s” name to “PETROS” which means Rock, but then went on to say,
that “on this PETRA, I will build
my church”; Petra
is a rock that is larger than Petros.
I find it interesting, that when Peter was
being chastised by the Lord, He
called him Simon and when he was being commended,
He called him Peter; I think to remind him of who he WAS before Christ
and who he IS now in Christ; this is
also a reflection for us in our life.
Jesus said that
upon this revelation; this confession, this ROCK of truth, that He would
build His Church. He was NOT making an “apostolic statement” that He would build His
Church on Peter and Peter knew this when he called the Believers; LIVING STONES.[6] The Rock is Jesus, He is the cornerstone,[7]
the foundation for the Living Stones; which are the Prophets, the
Apostles and you and me.[8]
The “Apostolic Authority” to forgive Sins was never
transferred to any man to be passed down through a line of successors. It is so much simpler than that; it is written; whosoever believes and
confesses the Name of Jesus the Christ, their sins are forgiven. BAM
Peter
did not go to Rome and start a new church as tradition would have it, but he
and the rest of the Apostles stayed in Jerusalem. It’s in the Book
Matthew
16:17-18 – Simon’s name was changed to Petrus; Rock
17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not
revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
18 And I
tell you, YOU
ARE PETER, (no longer Simon) and on this ROCK (The “confession”
of Faith in Jesus Christ) I
will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
(ESV)
1
Corinthians 10:4 – Jesus Christ is the Rock
4 and all
drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that
followed them, and the Rock was Christ.
(ESV)
Acts
10:43 - Everyone that believes receives
forgiveness of sins
43 To him all the prophets bear witness that
EVERYONE who BELIEVES in him RECEIVES forgiveness of sins through his name.”
(ESV)
Acts
8:1 – Peter did not go to Rome, but stayed in Jerusalem
1 Now Saul was consenting to his
death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at
Jerusalem; and they
were all scattered throughout the regions of
Judea and Samaria, EXCEPT THE
APOSTLES.
(NKJV)
Sidebar – The Church
It is interesting to me that Paul says
that he was NOT taught the Gospel by the preaching of any man, but through the
revelation of Jesus Christ. Understand
that this occurred after the resurrection of Jesus. Paul even states that those who seemed to be
quite influential added nothing to what Jesus had already revealed to him.[9]
Peter had not
instructed Paul in the Gospel, nor did Peter know anything about the Gospel
being made available to the Gentiles; he heard about this for the first time
from Paul.[10] With that being said, it seems highly unlikely
that Peter would be considered as head of the
church as tradition has
expounded.
Jesus after His resurrection appeared FIRST to James, His
half-brother before He appeared to the other disciples.[11] This is probably when James was converted to
Christianity. Tradition has James
as an important leader in early church history and was appointed as the FIRST BISHOP of Jerusalem by
the apostles and the Lord Himself.[12] It would seem that James
would have headed up the church, not Peter nor Paul.
The Church would have seemed to be built first with Peter’s
leadership, then it looked like it might become Paul’s leadership, or perhaps
even James, but in the end, it is JESUS;
the Rock, the
Cornerstone that is the foundation of the Church; JESUS AND NO OTHER.
Ephesians
2:20 – Jesus Christ laid the foundation, the Cornerstone
20 Together, we are his house, built on
THE FOUNDATION of the
apostles and the prophets, and
THE CORNERSTONE IS CHRIST JESUS HIMSELF.
(NLT)
The Keys
What is missed about the Keys to the
Kingdom
is that they were not for the SWEET BYE
AND BYE,
but for the NASTY NOW AND NOW; the present, Jesus said the kingdom of God was at hand; a
present reality.
The Keys to
the Kingdom were not given to just Peter, the spokesman for
the twelve, but given to all the disciples who were present; to the CHURCH. This was not about the exclusive rights to open or close
Heaven to specific individuals, but about the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ which FAITH is required or the door is
already shut; the KEYS open the
Kingdom of Heaven to all who would receive
the Gospel, believing by FAITH and close it
to those who obstinately reject
the Gospel and would not believe.[13]
The KEY of the house of
David opens what none can shut; and shuts, what none can open. The trusted servant of the King was the gate
keeper and had access to the temple. The
keys were hooked on his shoulder symbolizing that he was the only one who had
the authority to open and close the doors of the King’s house.[14] The king’s keys are the symbol of authority and power and are symbolically passed down to Jesus Christ through
the linage of David.[15] It is Jesus who can allow or disallow someone
entrance into the kingdom; there is NO OTHER
The Religious
leaders; the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes abused the teaching office that had been entrusted to them
by rejecting
THE KNOWLEDGE of the Gospel
Message and thus were hindering others who were wanting to embrace it. Jesus said they would NOT enter the kingdom of Heaven and were also
hindering others from doing so.
These Church leaders were the guardians of
the Law yet they had deprived the people of the true understanding of it,
having in their mind NOT the concerns of
God, but merely human concerns. They were known as experts of the Law, but became Blind Guides who misunderstood, misappropriated and misused the
Keys to the kingdom that were given to them, and they became a “Stumbling Block”
for others.[16]
The MASTER KEY
to
the Kingdom is the KNOWLEDGE of the Gospel Message of Jesus Christ, that everyone who believes in
Him receives forgiveness of sins and eternal life through His name.[17] This Key has
been entrusted to us, to GO, teach the message of the Gospel and make
disciples all over the world.[18]
FIRST
KEY:
Opened the gates of Heaven for Jewish Believers; there were added
that day about three thousand souls and they devoted themselves to the
apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the
prayers.[19]
SECOND
KEY: Opened the
gates for the Samaritan Believers; the half Jew and half Gentiles. They heard
the Word preached, saw demons cast out, rejoiced and had hands laid on them and
they received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.[20]
THIRD
KEY:
Opened gates for Gentile Believers; while Peter was still preaching, the Holy
Spirit fell on all the Gentiles who heard
the word and the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter
were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the
Gentiles.[21]
They exclaimed “can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have
received the Holy Spirit just as we have”?
Acts 10:43 - Everyone who believes
receives forgiveness of Sins
43 To him all the prophets bear
witness that through his name
EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM RECEIVES
FORGIVENESS OF SINS.”
(ESV)
John 3:16 – Believe in the name of Jesus
and have eternal life
16 For God so loved the world, that
he gave his only Son, that
WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH BUT HAVE
ETERNAL LIFE.
Binding and Loosening
I
feel a need to discuss the Torah, the first five books of our Bible as
well as the entire extended Hebrew scriptures that takes us into the New
Testament. The authority of the Rabies permitted
or disallowed
certain practices; they had the wisdom to know what was “Kosher”, what to permit
and what to forbid.
They would make decisions based on their
scholastic reasoning of the Torah and the commentaries of the Talmudic
writings. The Binding and loosing would
be “in tandem” with heaven and dealt
with church members who were promoting incorrect doctrine
or were engaged in sinful behavior.
Binding: Fasten, tie,
constrain, shut, close, stop, govern. Certain activities are declared bound,
prohibited or forbidden in their Torah compliant Spirit led lives.
Loosing: Unbind, untie,
free, release, open. Certain activities
are declared loosed, allowed or permitted in their Torah compliant Spirit led
lives.
When our Bible
was first translated, those who translated it knew nothing about the Hebrew Culture
nor the science of linguistics; they just translated the “Greek”, word for word into “English”.
When the Greek
text was translated back to the original Hebrew of the TORAH, some new
understandings and adjustments took place which brought new enlightenment to
what the New Testament Hebrew text was originally meant to convey.
Such
is the scripture concerning Binding and Loosing; this “Enlightenment”
brought about new translations of the Bible, with the intent; NOT to make it say what we wanted it to say, but to
uncover the TRUTH
of what the text originally intended to convey.
Centuries of misinterpretations are just now coming to light; such is
found in the Amplified
Bible and the New American Standard Bible.
In the Greek,
the words “bound”
and “loose”
were spoken in the “periphrastic future perfect passive construction” which
means that the words should have been translated, “shall have been bound already or shall have
been loosed already”. Binding or Loosing is dependent upon what heaven has already willed
rather than what we as Christians decree.
Man
cannot bind or loose something on earth and cause it to be bound or
loosed in heaven. In other words, man
cannot forgive sins on earth and cause heaven to forgiven the sins. Scripture bears out that the Key to opening
and closing these doors is held only by Jesus Christ and we can only STATE, based on scripture, what has already been bound
or loosed in heaven.[22] God is not obligated to bind or loose what men decree.
IF MAN CAN FORGIVE SINS, THEN WE
DO NOT NEED A SAVIOR !
(AMP) Matthew 16:19 –
Must be what is already declared in heaven
19 I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful)
on earth
MUST BE WHAT IS
ALREADY BOUND IN HEAVEN; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth
MUST BE WHAT IS
ALREADY LOOSED IN HEAVEN.
(NASB) Matthew
16:19 – Must be what is already declared in heaven
19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you
bind on earth SHALL
HAVE BEEN BOUND IN HEAVEN, and whatever you loose on earth
SHALL HAVE BEEN LOOSED IN HEAVEN."
Bind & Loose by Revelation
Peter had a vision of a sheet
coming down from heaven with all kinds of unclean animals forbidden by the
Mosaic Law. God told him to kill them
and EAT, because they were now clean.[23]
What was once forbidden; BOUND, a
common thing has now been LOOSED; a clean
thing. (I think this is
when Peter has his first BBQ pork sandwich; maybe NOT, it might have been
Catfish, Shrimp, Lobster, Hushpuppies, French fries, slaw and some Sweet
Southern Tea.)
Bind & Loose by Church Discipline
The
Rabbinic notion of binding and loosing was in the “Order of Church Discipline”
dealing with a brother or sister in Christ who had sinned. It did TWO things;
a) It
provided Church Rules on the methods and actions of a Spirit filled Godly life
and
b)
Provided the authority of Church Discipline; to excommunicate
disobedient members.
The Binding or Loosing is based on
the acceptance or rejection
of the Gospel as it reflects
Heavens perspective on the matter.
Step 1 If your brother
sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your
brother.[24]
Step 2 If he does not
listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be
established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.[25]
Step 3 If he refuses
to listen to them, tell it to the church and if he refuses to listen even to
the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.[26]
Step 4 If he does not
repent, then “Let
him who has done this be removed from among you”; excommunicate him
from the church; from his friends with the hope and prayer that his sinful
nature will be destroyed and this will turn him around and his soul will be
saved.[27]
Step 5 If he repents;
welcome him back into the Church. Forgive
and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow; reaffirm your
love for him.[28]
How many times should you forgive? As many times as a brother repents,
not seven times, but seventy times seven; so many times that you loose count.[29]
The
Key’s to the Kingdom opens the sacrament of “The Lord’s Table” to Believers who are walking according to the
Spirit, and closes
it to Un-believers or Make-believers who
are not walking after the Spirit. We are
taught to EXAMINE
OURSELVES concerning
sin in our lives and seek forgiveness before we participate in the sacrament of
the Lord’s
Supper, otherwise we bring God’s judgment on our lives; bringing
sickness and perhaps even an early death.[30]
Example of Church Discipline
This may seem extreme, but a man and
his wife sold some property and decided to give some of the money to the
Church. They were free to do whatever
they wanted to do with the money. They
kept some of the money, BUT told the church they were giving all of it.
Peter called out the couple before the church
because they LIED; telling them
they could have kept ALL the money and it would have been just fine, but
instead they had lied to the Holy Spirit; and so God “Took Them Both Out”.[31]
Paul calls out Peter before the church because of his HYPOCRISY.[32]
FIRST because; before
certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they
came, he drew back in hypocrisy and separated himself, fearing the
circumcision party and
SECOND because the rest
of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, and
THIRD so that even
Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.
Jesus
calls out Peter in private as a “STUMBLING BLOCK”. Jesus had just explained that
He was going to be killed and raised the third day, when Peter rebuked him for
his words and Jesus told him he was acting like Satan; his mind was not on the
things of God, but on the things of man.[33]
Introverts & Extraverts
The
President of Carolina Christian Broadcasting occasionally
would ask me to find scriptures while he was spontaneously responding to
questions on LIVE
TV. I got to be part of his presentation while
assisting with a computer in a back room. He was an EXTRAVERT; a natural in front of the TV Camera and
I was an INTROVERT and avoided the camera if I possibly
could, but I was a natural behind the scenes. I loved what I did, and was honored to be a
part of WHAT HE DID.
Simon Peter was an EXTRAVERT; “a natural”
out in front; presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and he had a partner, an INTROVERT named Andrew who
loved what he was quietly doing behind the scenes.
Andrew was Simon
Peter’s Brother. In the beginning, Andrew was a disciple of JOHN THE BAPTIST and was the
first to be called by Jesus to be a part-time disciple, but also continued as a
fisherman with Peter and with their partners; two other brothers James and
John. It was Andrew that BROUGHT Peter to Jesus
to become a Disciple. Andrew is noticeably
quiet in the background, as Peter, James and John seem to dominate
the inner circle; but he seems to be forever busy, just BRINGING others to meet
Jesus.
Andrew’s heart
did not resent living in the shadows and being a SUPPORTING ACTOR of his brother
Peter who took the leadership role. He
saw value in SERVING QUIETLY in the background. He delighted in BRINGING anyone and everyone to meet Jesus. Most people come to Christ because of a
personal testimony of a friend, neighbor, office worker or relative. Because Andrew BROUGHT his brother Peter to Christ, another 3000
received eternal life. WOW
Everyone
is not called to be a Simon Peter, but we can ALL be an Andrew. We can be “BRINGERS.” The Holy Spirit is
responsible for planting
the Seed. We are responsible for watering
the seed. God is responsible for the Harvest;
our job is the easiest; we just water.
Man CANNOT forgive sins; that’s why we
need a Savior and we need men like Simon Peter out
front teaching and men like his brother Andrew in the back helping to park cars. You probably know a Simon Peter. Find a
way to BRING just one person
to meet Jesus. As an introvert all we
have to do is WATER and sometimes God will allow us to see His harvest.
Binding
Satan – Loosening
his hold
Can someone Bind Satan and loose
people from his nefarious activities? I certainly have heard this all my life. This concept comes from combining two
scriptures. That of having the keys to
bind and loose and the other to bind the strong man (Satan) and take his goods which are deemed to be
money, political power and the people he controls.[34]
Nowhere in scripture did anyone every
utter the phrase, “I bind you Satan”.
What I found was; the Archangel
Michael instead of challenging
Satan, said “THE LORD WILL REBUKE YOU”.[35] Another scripture says “the man in whom was
the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so
that they fled out of that house naked and wounded”. [36]
The strong man of scripture is surely
Satan who previously had the lives of us as believers bound up, but we are now FREE from his chains and power, because
Yeshua; Jesus the Christ has given us authority over him and his ways. Should
we make a declaration concerning binding Satan that the early church did not
teach nor practice?
Paul
was pretty strong on making up new practices, he said: If ANYONE is preaching to you A GOSPEL
CONTRARY to
the one you received, let him be ACCURSED.[37]
The Take Away
Jesus is the Word made flesh, who is the
true one, the Holy one who has the key of David that
opens what no one man can shut, and shuts what no man can open.
The power of
the Keys is the faithful proclamation of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who
believes; first to the Jew, then the Samaritan, then to the Greek;
the Gentiles;
which would be us.
We have options with the Keys;
a) We can do nothing through ignorance of
the power of Jesus that lives within us.
b) We can abrogate our responsibility and
just give the keys back to God.
c) We can bind and loose according to the
revelation received and become a part of what God has already done by being a BRINGER of someone to the Good News.
We are
Ambassadors for Christ who have already been given power and
authority to speak and act on behalf of the King; to bind and loose on earth what He has already bound and loosed in
Heaven. The “Revealing” to Peter was the removing
of the vale which gave us the revelation of knowing who we are serving; THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD who is the ROCK and has all the KEYS, even the keys of death and Hell.
2 Corinthians 5:20 - We are ambassadors for Christ
20 Therefore, WE ARE AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST,
GOD MAKING HIS APPEAL THROUGH US. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be
reconciled to God.
(ESV)
Revelation 1:18 – Jesus holds the
Keys of death and the grave
18 I am the
living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I HOLD THE KEYS OF DEATH AND THE GRAVE.
(NLT)
(AMP) Matthew 16:19 – Binding
& loosing is in tandem with in heaven
19 I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven; and whatever you BIND (declare to be
improper and unlawful) on earth
MUST BE WHAT IS
ALREADY BOUND IN HEAVEN; and whatever you LOOSE (declare lawful)
on earth
MUST BE WHAT IS
ALREADY LOOSED IN HEAVEN.
[1] Matthew 16:13-14 – Who do people think I am? John the Baptist,
Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets
[2] Matthew 16:15-17 – Who do you guys think I am? , “YOU ARE THE
CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.”
[3] Matthew 16:18 – On this ROCK I will build my church
[4] Matthew 16:19-20 - Keys of the Kingdom – Bind and Loose
[5] Matthew 18:18 – Bind and Loose on Earth, the same in Heaven
[6] 1 Peter 2:5-6 – Believers are Living Stones
-- 1 Corinthians 3:10-11 – Living
stones are built on Christ’s Foundation
[7] Luke 20:17 – Jesus is the Cornerstone --
Acts 4:11-12 – The Rock of Salvation is Jesus
the Cornerstone
[8] Ephesians 2:19-22 – The foundation of the Apostles is Jesus
[9] Galatians 1:11-12 – Paul didn’t receive the Gospel through Peter nor any
man -- Galatians 2:5-6 – The other leaders added nothing to the teachings of
Jesus’ to Paul
[10] Acts 13:46 – Paul said WE ARE TURNING TO THE GENTILES with the Gospel -- Galatians 2:7 – Peter
didn’t know about the Gentile inclusion
[11] 1 Corenthians 15:6-7 – Jesus appears to James after His resurrection then
to the apostles -- Matthew 13:55 - James
was the half-brother of Jesus
[12] Galatians 2:8-10 – James becomes a Pillar, a leader to the Jews. --
Acts 21:18 – James and the leaders. -- James
1:1 – James, the writer of the book of James
[13] John 3:3 – You must be Born Again
-- Romans 10:9 – You must Confess with your mouth and Believe
in your heart
[14] Isaiah 22:22 – He has on his right shoulder the Key of the house
of David that Opens & Closes what no man can
open or close
[15] Revelation 3:7 – Jesus has the Key of David
[16] Matthew 16:23 – Lawyers became a Stumbling Block to the others
[17] Luke 11:52 – The Key to the Kingdom of Heaven is KNOWLEDGE
-- Matthew 4:17 – REPENT for the Kingdom of Heaven
is at hand -- John 3:18 – FAITH in Jesus
Christ is Required
[18] Matthew 28:18-20 – The Great Commission; GO and Make Disciples, Teach, Baptize
[19] Acts 2:38-42 - FIRST KEY opened gates for Jewish
Believers
[20] Acts 8:4-17 - SECOND KEY opened gates for the Samaritan
Believers
[21] Acts 10:34-48 – THRID KEY opened gates for Gentile
Believers
[22] Isaiah 22:22 – The Key of the house of David Opens and Closes -- Revelation 3:7 – Jesus has the Key that OPENS and CLOSES
[23] Acts 10:10-15 - Unclean animals once bound are now clean; loosed
[24] Matthew 18:15 – Step 1: Go to your brother alone
[25] Matthew 18:16 – Step 2: Next go and take
someone with you
[26] Matthew 18:17 – Step 3: Next take it to
the Church
[27] 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 – Step 4 - Church
Discipline; Excommunicate
[28] 2 Corinthians 2:6-8 – Step 5: If repented
then reaffirm your love to him
[29] Matthew 18:21-22 – Forgive 490 times or so many times that you lose count
[30] 1 Corinthians 11:27-28 – Examine yourself before the Lord, confess your
sins -- 1 Corinthians 11:29-30 –
Unworthiness brings judgment upon yourself even unto death
[31] Acts 5:1-10 – Peter calls out a couple
for lying to the Church
[32] Galatians 2:11-21 – Paul calls out
Peter in his hypocrisy
[33] Matthew 16:23 – Jesus calls out Peter
as a Stumbling Block
[34] Matthew 16:19 – You can bind and loose whatever has already been bound or
loosed in heaven -- Matthew
12:28-29 – Bind the strong man and take his goods -- Galatians 1:8-9 – A Contrary Gospel – Let him
be accursed
[35] Jude 1:9 – The Lord will rebuke Satan
[36] Acts 19:15-16 – Evil spirit beat them up took their clothes
[37] Galatians 1:8-9 – A Contrary Gospel – Let him be accursed
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