Today we are going to discuss binding and loosing. What did Jesus mean when He said: “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven”? (Matthew 16:19 and Matthew 18:18).
Matthew 16:19
In Matthew 16 Jesus is speaking to Peter, who had just acknowledged Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus says: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven”. Jesus was saying that the Apostles would have authority, symbolized by the keys, and that preaching the gospel would be the means by which they would open the kingdom of heaven to believers and shut it against unbelievers. In Acts 2 we see the first example of this process in action. By his sermon on the day of Pentecost, Peter opened the door of the kingdom to those listening, and 3 000 people entered that day.
Matthew 18:18
In Matthew 18, the context is church discipline. The apostles were given authority to discipline and, if necessary, excommunicate disobedient church members who refuse to repent. We need to read from verses 15: “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
So, the passage is about dealing with someone who has fallen into sin. Once you have tried everything to restore them and they still refuse to repent, then whatever the church leaders (with 2 or 3 witnesses) bind, is putting into effect on earth what has already happened in the spiritual realm. The words “binding” and “loosing” were well known in first century Judaism. They meant to forbid something or to allow it. The NLT translates this verse well when it says: “Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven”. The disciples were ambassadors for Christ, speaking and acting on His behalf. Of course, to do this they had to speak and act in harmony with God’s will. They were never given authority to forbid or permit something on earth which then forced God to comply with their wishes in heaven. That would be ludicrous. The authority is always from God to man, from heaven to earth, never the other way around.
In both Matthew 16 and 18, the sentence structure in the Greek text makes the meaning clear. Jesus literally said: “Whatever you bind on earth shall have already been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have already been been loosed in heaven”. The Amplified Bible explains it best: “Whatever you bind [forbid, declare unlawful] on earth will have [already] been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose [permit, declare lawful] on earth will have [already] been loosed in heaven.”
Church Discipline
The apostles had an important task. Their words, as recorded in the New Testament, reflect God’s will for the church. For example: When Paul declared eternal condemnation on those who pervert the gospel, it is because their condemnation has already been declared in heaven (see Galatians 1:6-9). It is not that Paul decided who would be condemned, and God went along with him; rather Paul agreed with what God had already decided, and then declared it here on earth. This is the way all church discipline is supposed to work. When the church elders (or in the case of TSA, the Pastoral Care Council) decide to discipline a church member or to remove them from the church roll due to ongoing sin, they are aligning themselves with what God has already said in Scripture. Thus, Church Leaders have authority to forbid (bind) or permit (loose) certain activities or people in the church under their care. This is a huge responsibility and must always be undertaken humbly and prayerfully with the goal of restoration.
The Council at Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-29)
Another example of the apostles exercising this authority is found in Acts 15. A question had arisen as to whether Gentile converts needed to follow all the OT ceremonial laws to be saved. After much discussion and prayer, the apostles agreed that the Gentile Christians did not need to be circumcised; but were required to avoid sexual immorality and meat sacrificed to idols. So, the apostles ‘loosed’ them in some areas and ‘bound’ them in others.
Binding the strong man
What about Matthew 12:29, where Jesus speaks of binding the strongman? There are some who teach that we must bind the strong man (the devil), and then cast out the demons or deal with the situation at hand. But in this passage, Jesus is the one who bound Satan (the strong man). Nowhere in the Bible does it say that we must bind the strongman. Jesus was being accused of casting out demons with the help of Beelzebub, the prince of demons. In response, He made the point that Satan’s kingdom was not divided therefore He (Jesus) could not have been casting out Satan with Satan. His parable of the strongman means that He was the greater one who bound Satan and that was the reason He was able to cast out demons. Jesus has already bound the devil, therefore we don’t have to. In Colossians 2:15 we read that Jesus “disarmed the principalities and powers, making a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them, by the Cross”.
Even the archangel Michael did not see fit to rebuke the devil. Here is Jude v 9: But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’ Many times, in Scripture we are told to resist the devil or to stand firm against his attack, but we are never told to bind him. By trying to bind the devil people inadvertently imply that Jesus did not succeed in His mission.
A Final Observation
Every time I hear a well-meaning Christian say to the devil: “I bind you Satan, in the name of Jesus” I think to myself:
- But didn’t someone bind him yesterday, or last week? Didn’t it work or did the devil break free again?
- Then I think to myself, why is this person talking to the devil? I am trying to pray here, the last person I want to talk to is Satan. There is also a modern song that I object to. It says: “The blood of Jesus is against you!” People are singing these words to the devil. That is not Christian worship. Rather, turn your eyes on Jesus!
- And finally, I wonder if the person speaking these words thinks the devil is paying attention. Is Satan here in this building listening to my words? After all, the devil is not omnipresent. It might seem like it because he has many demons serving him, but only God is everywhere present. I am sure that on any given Sunday there are thousands of Christians all around the world, simultaneously saying things like “I bind you Satan”. But is the devil at each of those places? And even if that were possible, I doubt he’d be listening anyway.
Common sense
I hope I have shown you that the Bible does not instruct us to bind the devil. If you still have doubts, please think about this: If by ‘binding’ Jesus meant binding Satan, then by ‘loosing’ He must have meant loosing Satan. But why would anybody ever want to loose Satan? Simple common sense shows that these verses about binding and loosing are not about the devil. They are, in fact, about proclaiming the Gospel and Church discipline.