Binding and Loosing
“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.” Mat 18:18
When Jesus spoke these words His listeners already knew something about binding and loosing. In the Jewish tradition these we called “asar ve-hitir“…or “what is prohibited and what is permitted.” Basically they amounted to a list of do’s (heterim) and don’ts (isourim) concerning the law of Moses. By interpretation, the Torah lists 365 isourim and 248 heterim; when added together these make up the 613 laws of the Torah common to Judaism. The religious leaders of the day, the rabbis, were the ones who interpreted the practical applications of these laws for the people. This gave them a position of authority over them. And this is still the case till this very day.
All this, of course, is (was) under the law. But we are no longer under the law if we are in Christ. We are under grace. So what did Jesus mean when He said… whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven?? Was He creating a new rabbinic order (as in Judaism) with the requisite knowledge and understanding to interpret what is true for others? Are men to rule over the faith of other men? The answer to that is a resounding NO!
Men cannot be trusted to rule over others in a way that is even close to being perfect and certainly not while under grace. In fact men have proved themselves very far from perfect in this regard.
“They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. Mat. 23:4
Giving power to men corrupts them. Giving men religious power over others has only ever served to bring people into bondage. It is certainly not God’s way to have His own authority superseded by mere mortals. Of course we can’t say that this effort by the flesh to rule over the faith of others has not been repeatedly attempted over and over again…even till our day. Even in the church that is called by the name of Christ. This ought not to be. Jesus never meant for His disciples to lord it over others but rather He sent them out as “sheep among wolves”(Mat. 10:16), not as lords (dogs) over the flock.
Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith. 2Cor. 1:24
“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.” Mat 18:18
When Jesus spoke these words His listeners already knew something about binding and loosing. In the Jewish tradition these we called “asar ve-hitir“…or “what is prohibited and what is permitted.” Basically they amounted to a list of do’s (heterim) and don’ts (isourim) concerning the law of Moses. By interpretation, the Torah lists 365 isourim and 248 heterim; when added together these make up the 613 laws of the Torah common to Judaism. The religious leaders of the day, the rabbis, were the ones who interpreted the practical applications of these laws for the people. This gave them a position of authority over them. And this is still the case till this very day.
All this, of course, is (was) under the law. But we are no longer under the law if we are in Christ. We are under grace. So what did Jesus mean when He said… whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven?? Was He creating a new rabbinic order (as in Judaism) with the requisite knowledge and understanding to interpret what is true for others? Are men to rule over the faith of other men? The answer to that is a resounding NO!
Men cannot be trusted to rule over others in a way that is even close to being perfect and certainly not while under grace. In fact men have proved themselves very far from perfect in this regard.
“They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. Mat. 23:4
Giving power to men corrupts them. Giving men religious power over others has only ever served to bring people into bondage. It is certainly not God’s way to have His own authority superseded by mere mortals. Of course we can’t say that this effort by the flesh to rule over the faith of others has not been repeatedly attempted over and over again…even till our day. Even in the church that is called by the name of Christ. This ought not to be. Jesus never meant for His disciples to lord it over others but rather He sent them out as “sheep among wolves”(Mat. 10:16), not as lords (dogs) over the flock.
Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith. 2Cor. 1:24
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