Matthew 18:18-20 - Binding & Loosing

[BlessedByTheBest]

Matthew 18:18-20

18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.

20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

 

In context, chapter 18 is about Humility and Forgiveness.

 

Christ spoke about the child-like nature one must have to see His kingdom.

Christ spoke about the creation of stumbling blocks to ourselves.

Christ also spoke to His disciples about fellowship here, and the process of dealing with disputes that may arise from offending one another.

 

 

1) What is binding and loosing?

 

2) How does binding and loosing fit into the context of humility and forgiveness?

 

3) I have found that many times, people use verse 20 singularly.  Is it correct to do this without the context of binding and loosing in regards to forgiveness?

 

love to you all.

[Mcgyver]

 

Matthew 18:18-20

18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.

20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

 

In context, chapter 18 is about Humility and Forgiveness.

 

Christ spoke about the child-like nature one must have to see His kingdom.

Christ spoke about the creation of stumbling blocks to ourselves.

Christ also spoke to His disciples about fellowship here, and the process of dealing with disputes that may arise from offending one another.

 

 

1) What is binding and loosing?

 

2) How does binding and loosing fit into the context of humility and forgiveness?

 

3) I have found that many times, people use verse 20 singularly.  Is it correct to do this without the context of binding and loosing in regards to forgiveness?

 

love to you all.

 

Great subject!

 

I think to really get a sense of what the passage means, we have to go back to verse 15 where Jesus talks about dealing with a brother who is sinning...and I'd like to use the NASB as (IMO) it's closest to the Greek rendering:

 

¹⁵ “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. ¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

¹⁹ “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

 

To me, there are a couple of things that I see.

 

First is "bind" and "loose". These are merely idiomatic terms for "forbid" and "permit". For example, we find that the school of Hillel "loosed" some things which had been"bound" by the school of Shammai. I don't think that either of these terms apply in the manner in which so many use them today (i.e. "binding the spirit of____).

 

Secondly, what I see in this is an admonition (if you will) to make sure that sin is...well...sin. That is to say; that sin is not what we may consider "sin", but rather what God has said is "sin". This was a common problem among the Pharisees who (as Jesus said):

 

And in vain they worship Me,

Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men —the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.” Mark 7:7-8 NKJV

 

I remember some old-time Baptist churches that forbade dancing, playing cards, taking a drink, etc. as "sinful". I also remember hearing of yardsticks nailed to the doorjamb so that women could check the hems of their dresses when they came in the door.

 

Sometimes I wonder if the church (generally speaking) has come all that far....

 

Thirdly, I see in Vs 15-18 Christ talking about "church discipline" with an eye not toward punishment, but toward restoration.

 

In verses 19-20, what I see is a shift in direction...and a speaking toward unity in seeking the will of the Holy Spirit...coming together not to pray in agreement that "I'll win the lottery and split it with you two", but rather along the lines of "speak Lord, for your servants hear", and then being in agreement to do what God wants done.

 

Anyway...that's kind of the short version...

[DInsights]

 

Matthew 18:18-20

18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.

20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

 

In context, chapter 18 is about Humility and Forgiveness.

 

Christ spoke about the child-like nature one must have to see His kingdom.

Christ spoke about the creation of stumbling blocks to ourselves.

Christ also spoke to His disciples about fellowship here, and the process of dealing with disputes that may arise from offending one another.

 

 

1) What is binding and loosing?

 

2) How does binding and loosing fit into the context of humility and forgiveness?

 

3) I have found that many times, people use verse 20 singularly.  Is it correct to do this without the context of binding and loosing in regards to forgiveness?

 

love to you all.

 

 

The Lord Jesus Christ was teaching about the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom interphases both heaven and earth; by the Kingdom, heavenly things can be done on earth and vice versa.

 

On the realm of the earth, all things are naturally and spiritually bound in/to whom it is bound. There is absolute liberty in Heaven. The Kingdom, straddling both realms, allow for things to be bound or loosed.

 

In the Kingdom, saints can agree about any thing and faithfully ask the Lord for such a thing. It will definitely be done for them because the Lord is in them in the Kingdom.

 

The Kingdom is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost!

 

Let us ask and seek for the Holy Ghost that, by Him, we can bind and loose as are done on earth and in Heaven. By Him, we experience both realms.

[DInsights]

Traditions and doctrine of the Christ do not imitate traditions/doctrine of men (including Jews and Gentiles). If anything, it is the reverse.

[Guest shiloh357]

 

Matthew 18:18-20

18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.

20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

 

In context, chapter 18 is about Humility and Forgiveness.

 

Christ spoke about the child-like nature one must have to see His kingdom.

Christ spoke about the creation of stumbling blocks to ourselves.

Christ also spoke to His disciples about fellowship here, and the process of dealing with disputes that may arise from offending one another.

 

 

1) What is binding and loosing?

 

2) How does binding and loosing fit into the context of humility and forgiveness?

 

3) I have found that many times, people use verse 20 singularly.  Is it correct to do this without the context of binding and loosing in regards to forgiveness?

 

love to you all.

 

In the immediate and historical context, "Binding and Loosing" referred to rabbinical authority.  This was not a concept that Jesus coined.  Rabbis gave their disciples authority "prohibit" and "allow." in terms of congregational authority.   Jesus was giving what Rabbis always give their disciples:  The authority to legislate, judiciate and teach.  Jesus fully expected His disciples to be the leaders of the congregation of believers in Jerusalem and elsewhere and He passed on to them the authority that would accompany that leadership.

[Guest shiloh357]

Traditions and doctrine of the Christ do not imitate traditions/doctrine of men (including Jews and Gentiles). If anything, it is the reverse.

That is not true.  God used the culture and traditions that were already in existence as vehicles to communicate His truth.  Jesus was a Rabbi and He did what Rabbis do in terms of handing off authoirty to their disciples.  Jesus was not the only Rabbi with disciples. 

[JohnD]

Jesus spoke this to his Apostles.

 

These were the disciples / eyewitnesses of Christ until the scriptures were written and canonized.

 

Their ability to do miracles etc were authoritative evidence until the NT scriptures came.

[enoob57]

 

Matthew 18:18-20

18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.

20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

 

In context, chapter 18 is about Humility and Forgiveness.

 

Christ spoke about the child-like nature one must have to see His kingdom.

Christ spoke about the creation of stumbling blocks to ourselves.

Christ also spoke to His disciples about fellowship here, and the process of dealing with disputes that may arise from offending one another.

 

 

1) What is binding and loosing?

 

2) How does binding and loosing fit into the context of humility and forgiveness?

 

3) I have found that many times, people use verse 20 singularly.  Is it correct to do this without the context of binding and loosing in regards to forgiveness?

 

love to you all.

 

1) What is binding and loosing?

There is only one binding/restrictive force of creation 'sin'... Only one loosing from those bindings Jesus The Christ!

As we all have seen Christians fall into sins... we bind them in their sins and put them from us 1Cor 5:1-5. If they repent we loose them back into our fellowship!

We know that they can go all the way to death in that sin but the power of Christ in Salvation can preserve the S/spirit to life eternal (for that born of God cannot die)!

We know the binding of God for sin is the lake of fire that shall exist for all eternity and it shall be maintained by His Wrath for eternity bound somewhere in His Presence

of wrath in Heaven  2 Cor 5:4-5

4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed

up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

NKJV

 

 

2) How does binding and loosing fit into the context of humility and forgiveness?

The truest concept of humility is the willingness of being to have placement by God into a place of such immensity that it's boundaries are unknown

yet because of The Who that has placed us there we are willing to remain in that place and function purely for God's Glory... a thing which the greatest angel

could not do and in pride fell from his placement!

 

3) I have found that many times, people use verse 20 singularly.  Is it correct to do this without the context of binding and loosing in regards to forgiveness?

All of God's Truth stands within It's place and cannot be changed or altered and when this is absorbed and placed with others then understanding and

wisdom increases that we may Glorify God in increase -ever increasing to the witness of Him Who 'IS' Without Boundary... This is the sanctifying work of His

Word within us all who are Born of Him... His Word began us in the infinite

Eph 1:4

4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,

NKJV

and It takes us into the infinite

Rev 22:1-5

22 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the

middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every

month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and

of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. 4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.

5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign

forever and ever.

NKJV

Love, Steven

[NeedYouLord]

On earth as it is in Heaven...

 

I know we have all been taught differently as to our upbringing...I am of the persuassion that I am in the born again state...and readily admit I am not a Bible Scholar...and therefore with The Kingdom of God inside of me...bringing Heaven to earth...(I'm not of the persuassion that I have to wait for anything-because I have experienced The Power of God Working Through me...(Have gone through hell on earth too-almost died without Him) and so in Seeking My God With my Whole Heart am being shown how it is in Heaven...pure joy...full of His Rest...Light and not darkness...My my...am lead and guided as to Carry Out My Fathers Desire Upon The Earth-through intercessory prayer...and all The Gifts of The Holy Spirit...

 

In my humble opinion we are still in the midst of the enemy on this earth...and they need binding...I don't think they are in Heaven...seems to me like they got kicked out...so here are some of us: Born again Seeing The Kingdom of God on this yukky earth...so what do we do? Nothing? My my...I'm not made that way...Humbly...changed from a worrier to a warrior...Kneeling at The Throne of Grace...Coming Boldly and Being Changed To Make A Difference On This Earth For Those That Haven't Seen Heaven Yet...Giving Hope...Where There Is None...

 

Lord...I Need You...More and More and More...

[Jean74]

We are gathered in the name of Christ. As Christ will come back again. We do not know when. As He will come back to get us all. Christ is inside of me as Savior and Lord. If we know Him and hopefully everybody will do so before the world ends. Christ IS COMING BACK SOON than we expect!