Many think the Biblical teaching on "binding and loosing" had to do with exercising authority only over human beings. Others think that it has to do with exercising control over angels and demons. So which one is it? When you step back and take the larger view, you find out it is actually both, because both are true. In the OP, I will explain the more scholarly interpretation, and in the second and third posts I will demonstrate how the latter is also true, and how the principle as it relates to spiritual warfare applies.
In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus mentioned binding and loosing in two places:
13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”...16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to 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 also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ. (Matthew 16:13-20)
The key here is in understanding what Jesus was referring to by "The Gates of Hades." Those within scholarship recognize this to be a reference to the underworld, where the Old Testament saints were still being kept until the time when the Lamb of God should be slain for the sins of mankind. Then entrance could be allowed then into Third Heaven, where God the Father was. Until this time, they were still being detained in the good side of the Underworld called "Paradise," or what the Greeks referred to in their religion as "Elysian Fields." That there was still a place called Paradise in the Underworld until the time of His ascension is obvious enough from the fact that when the thief on the cross on his right asked Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom, Jesus replied, "This day you shall be with me in Paradise." Where did Jesus go that day after His body expired? Into the earth, where it says "He preached to the spirits in prison" (1 Peter 3:19). After His death, Jesus descended to the lower parts of the earth and preached to the Old Testament saints that He was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the earth, and that He was now going to ascend to Third Heaven and lead them with Him, because the price had now been paid. This is why it is also said in scripture that "He ascended on High, and led captivity captive" (Ephesians 4:8).
This then is what Jesus was referring to in telling Peter that He was the Messiah, the Son of God, and that "the Gates of Hades" would not prevail against the church. He was prophesying that the day was soon coming when He would preach to the saints of old this same message Peter had received from God, and nothing would be able to keep them from ascending with Him to be with the Father.
So the practice of Binding and Loosing was related to this. Just as Jesus would "loose" the Old Testament saints to be with God, so too would Peter and the other apostles would have the power (should two or more of them be in agreement), to "loose" some into the kingdom of God while binding others from it because they were still steeped in their sins due to a lack of true repentance.
This can be seen in Jesus' second use of the expression a few Chapters later:
15 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. 18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:15-20)
A good example of "loosing" can be when Jesus loosed the woman from her infirmity on the Sabbath in Luke 13:
10 Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. 12 But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” 13 And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. (Luke 13:10-13).
By contrast, a good example of "binding" can be seen in the encounter Peter had with Simon the Magician, as found in the Book of Acts:
But Simon, having seen that the Holy Spirit was given by the laying on of the apostles’ hands, offered them riches, saying, “Give me this authority as well, so that on whomsoever I may lay my hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your riches come to ruin with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be obtained by riches. There is no part nor share for you in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this your wickedness, and ask the Lord God if [this] thought of your heart may truly be forgiven you. For I perceive that you are subject to the venom of bitterness and the bond of iniquity." And having answered, Simon said, “You pray to the Lord on my behalf, so that nothing which you have spoken may come upon me.” (Acts 8:9–24)
Peter was in effect saying that God had shown him Simon's true spiritual state. The words, "I perceive that you are subject to the venom of bitterness and the bond of iniquity" suggest that Peter was given a word of knowledge or possibly a short vision, for they paint the picture of a man (Simon) being entwined by snakes, with their fangs biting him and filling him with their poison. But whatever the case, Peter was here "binding" Simon from ministry in the church because he was still subject to demonic spirits, and therefore had "no part" in the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
But notice that BOTH these instances had to do with either being released from or being kept bound by demonic spirits. One was willing to be loosed from them while the other was still bound by lusts and bitterness, and not willing to let his demons go.
This is why the practice of "binding and loosing" has come to be associated with spiritual warfare today, only as I will show in the next post, very little of what passes today for genuine "binding and loosing" has much weight behind it, and is therefore largely ineffective in dealing with demonic spirits and demonic attacks.
In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus mentioned binding and loosing in two places:
13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”...16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to 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 also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ. (Matthew 16:13-20)
The key here is in understanding what Jesus was referring to by "The Gates of Hades." Those within scholarship recognize this to be a reference to the underworld, where the Old Testament saints were still being kept until the time when the Lamb of God should be slain for the sins of mankind. Then entrance could be allowed then into Third Heaven, where God the Father was. Until this time, they were still being detained in the good side of the Underworld called "Paradise," or what the Greeks referred to in their religion as "Elysian Fields." That there was still a place called Paradise in the Underworld until the time of His ascension is obvious enough from the fact that when the thief on the cross on his right asked Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom, Jesus replied, "This day you shall be with me in Paradise." Where did Jesus go that day after His body expired? Into the earth, where it says "He preached to the spirits in prison" (1 Peter 3:19). After His death, Jesus descended to the lower parts of the earth and preached to the Old Testament saints that He was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the earth, and that He was now going to ascend to Third Heaven and lead them with Him, because the price had now been paid. This is why it is also said in scripture that "He ascended on High, and led captivity captive" (Ephesians 4:8).
This then is what Jesus was referring to in telling Peter that He was the Messiah, the Son of God, and that "the Gates of Hades" would not prevail against the church. He was prophesying that the day was soon coming when He would preach to the saints of old this same message Peter had received from God, and nothing would be able to keep them from ascending with Him to be with the Father.
So the practice of Binding and Loosing was related to this. Just as Jesus would "loose" the Old Testament saints to be with God, so too would Peter and the other apostles would have the power (should two or more of them be in agreement), to "loose" some into the kingdom of God while binding others from it because they were still steeped in their sins due to a lack of true repentance.
This can be seen in Jesus' second use of the expression a few Chapters later:
15 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. 18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:15-20)
A good example of "loosing" can be when Jesus loosed the woman from her infirmity on the Sabbath in Luke 13:
10 Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. 12 But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” 13 And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. (Luke 13:10-13).
By contrast, a good example of "binding" can be seen in the encounter Peter had with Simon the Magician, as found in the Book of Acts:
But Simon, having seen that the Holy Spirit was given by the laying on of the apostles’ hands, offered them riches, saying, “Give me this authority as well, so that on whomsoever I may lay my hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your riches come to ruin with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be obtained by riches. There is no part nor share for you in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this your wickedness, and ask the Lord God if [this] thought of your heart may truly be forgiven you. For I perceive that you are subject to the venom of bitterness and the bond of iniquity." And having answered, Simon said, “You pray to the Lord on my behalf, so that nothing which you have spoken may come upon me.” (Acts 8:9–24)
Peter was in effect saying that God had shown him Simon's true spiritual state. The words, "I perceive that you are subject to the venom of bitterness and the bond of iniquity" suggest that Peter was given a word of knowledge or possibly a short vision, for they paint the picture of a man (Simon) being entwined by snakes, with their fangs biting him and filling him with their poison. But whatever the case, Peter was here "binding" Simon from ministry in the church because he was still subject to demonic spirits, and therefore had "no part" in the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
But notice that BOTH these instances had to do with either being released from or being kept bound by demonic spirits. One was willing to be loosed from them while the other was still bound by lusts and bitterness, and not willing to let his demons go.
This is why the practice of "binding and loosing" has come to be associated with spiritual warfare today, only as I will show in the next post, very little of what passes today for genuine "binding and loosing" has much weight behind it, and is therefore largely ineffective in dealing with demonic spirits and demonic attacks.
