Binding & loosing
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I have been trying to understand the doctrine behind Matt 16:19, and Matt18:18. It seems a whole empire of church/pastoral authority rests on these two verses regarding preaching and discipline. The text appears to say, church/pastoral authority as practiced on earth, is ratified in heaven? It’s not crystal clear to me, can anyone explain this clearly?
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My first post on this forum. If it is true that Jehovah would ratify the practices of (any) man within the church then either that man would have to be totally operating within the will of God or God would have to change His expectations to accomodate the practices of the church when it operates outside of the will of God. Either way, this accomodation does not find support elsewhere in the Bible that I’m aware of.
I tend to view the passages in question in light of Matt 6:14-15 but I cannot find anyone who agrees with me so far.
I tend to view the passages in question in light of Matt 6:14-15 but I cannot find anyone who agrees with me so far.
Thomas Chew
Lehighton, PA
The Greek in this passage can and should be translated “shall already have been bound/loosed in Heaven”. In other words, the person declares what Heaven already decided. The empowering then, would be to know Heaven’s will on the matter, rather than a power over Heaven itself.
The Matthew 16 passage has applicability to Peter. I question if it goes further.
Matthew 18 clearly applies to the whole church, with some limits. A fake church (not structured as the Bible says or heretical) or a defective process (a leader using the discipline as a political hammer, see III John 10-11) might not be in tune with the pre-declared will of Heaven.
The Matthew 16 passage has applicability to Peter. I question if it goes further.
Matthew 18 clearly applies to the whole church, with some limits. A fake church (not structured as the Bible says or heretical) or a defective process (a leader using the discipline as a political hammer, see III John 10-11) might not be in tune with the pre-declared will of Heaven.
The promise of binding and loosing made to Peter was fulfilled and evidence of this can be found in the Acts of the Apostles. The healing of the lame man in Acts 2. We see Peter’s words being fulfilled in Ananias and Sapphira as well.
The keys were the evangelism, the gospel message. On the day of Pentecost Peter opened up the kingdom to the Jews and later to the Gentiles through Cornelius. Once the doors had been opened they remained open so the keys were not passed down to successive Pope’s.
I’m in total agreement with Mr Dunning in regard to the decision already having been made in heaven and Peter being given the knowledge of the Fathers will. Lines up perfectly with what Messiah said about prayer.
The keys were the evangelism, the gospel message. On the day of Pentecost Peter opened up the kingdom to the Jews and later to the Gentiles through Cornelius. Once the doors had been opened they remained open so the keys were not passed down to successive Pope’s.
I’m in total agreement with Mr Dunning in regard to the decision already having been made in heaven and Peter being given the knowledge of the Fathers will. Lines up perfectly with what Messiah said about prayer.
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