Binding and Loosing

“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” Mt. 16:19).

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erhaps one of the greatest challenges mankind has faced since Jesus promised and built His church is to bind what has been bound and to loose what has been loosed. What we fail to realize when this is violated is that we are usurping the authority of God. Since the Holy Spirit guided Peter as to what he should bind and loose, the same had already been done in heaven.

Why are there so many so-called faiths today? Because someone has been busy changing the original binding and loosing of the will of God. For example, Peter bound repentance and baptism for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). Man came along and loosed this commandment and replaced it with “faith only” for forgiveness of sins. Jesus bound believing and being baptized to be saved (Mk. 16:16). Man loosed this by teaching that one has only to believe. Paul bound that local churches are to have elders (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5). Man loosed this by having deacons only. Paul bound singing and making melody in the heart to the Lord (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). Man loosed this to include playing and singing.

There are two types of commandments found in God’s word. (1) Specific commandments. (2) General commandments. These two types of commandments are defined as follows: Specific commandments are those that represent the exact way God wants something done. Both the Old Testament and the New are filled with specific commandments. God specified to Noah the exact plans to be used in building the ark. God even specified the kind of wood to be used (Gen. 6:14). This was a specific commandment and it would have been disobedience for Noah to use any other type of wood. God gave a specific pattern for Moses to use in building the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant. To change a single dimension would have been disobedience. “And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain” (Ex. 25:40). This was a specific commandment and Moses did not have the right to loose any of the pattern.

In the New Testament, the commandment of Jesus to preach to all the world also had a specific commandment. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). When Peter used the keys to the kingdom, he bound preaching and obeying the gospel as the way to be forgiven of sins (Acts 2:38).

General commandments are those that are NOT specified. If God had commanded Noah to build an ark with wood, then this would have been a general commandment. Noah could have chosen any kind of wood. If God had told Moses to build a tabernacle and Ark of the Covenant without specifying a pattern, this would have been a general commandment. However, God specified!

Therefore, we need to examine the commandments of God’s word. If a commandment is specified, it is bound in heaven and we will have to answer to God if we change it. If a commandment is general, we have no right to bind it. We should bind where God has bound and loose where God has loosed. We should not bind traditions and call them commandments that God has bound, and we should not loose commandments that God has bound. (bbb)