¶ Binding and Loosing
Binding and Loosing is the authority Jesus gave to His apostles, and by extension to the church, to declare what is bound or loosed in heaven according to the Word of God.
In Matthew 16:19 and 18:18 Jesus speaks of binding and loosing in connection with the keys of the kingdom and the discipline of the church.
The terms reflect the Jewish usage of “binding” for forbidding and “loosing” for permitting, now applied under the authority of Christ.
True binding and loosing is not arbitrary power but the faithful application of heaven’s already-decided truth on earth.
When Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus promised to give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven and declared, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Later, in the context of church discipline and restoration, Jesus extended the same language to the disciples as a whole. In the Jewish background of the first century, rabbis “bound” when they forbade something and “loosed” when they permitted it. Jesus takes this language and places it under His own authority. The apostles, through their Spirit-inspired teaching and the church’s faithful application of that teaching, declare on earth what heaven has already determined. Binding and loosing therefore includes the proclamation of the gospel (opening or closing the kingdom through the message of forgiveness), the exercise of church discipline, and the authoritative application of God’s Word to the life of the church. It is never a license for human invention; it is the privilege of announcing heaven’s verdict on the basis of Scripture.
- Binding and loosing is authority given by Christ and exercised under His lordship.
- In Jewish usage the terms meant forbidding (binding) and permitting (loosing).
- The promise is closely tied to the keys of the kingdom and to the confession of Christ.
- Heaven’s decision is primary; the church on earth declares and applies what heaven has already bound or loosed.
- The authority is exercised through the faithful preaching of the Word and the disciplined life of the church.
- It is not unlimited personal power over demons or circumstances, but the stewardship of the gospel and the keys.
- The same authority that opens the kingdom through the gospel also closes it to those who refuse to repent.
¶ Key Aspects of Binding and Loosing
- Keys of the Kingdom – Authority to open and shut, closely linked with the confession of Christ and the preaching of the gospel.
- Declarative Authority – The church announces on earth what has already been decided in heaven according to God’s Word.
- Gospel Proclamation – Binding and loosing sins through the offer of forgiveness in Christ or the warning of judgment for unbelief.
- Church Discipline – The process of correction, restoration, or exclusion described in Matthew 18.
- Scriptural Standard – Always governed by the revealed will of God, not by private opinion or technique.
- Apostolic Foundation – First given to Peter and the apostles; continued in the church as it stands on their teaching.
- Corporate Dimension – Especially in Matthew 18, exercised in the context of the gathered church.
- Matthew 16:18-19 – “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
- Matthew 18:15-18 – The process of addressing a brother’s sin, culminating in “whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
- Matthew 18:19-20 – “If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
- John 20:21-23 – “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you… If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
- Matthew 28:18-20 – All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Christ; the church is to make disciples, teaching them to observe all that He has commanded.
- Acts 15:28 – “For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…” (the apostolic church applying the gospel to a concrete question).
- 1 Corinthians 5:4-5 – The church assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus exercises discipline “with the power of our Lord Jesus.”
- 2 Corinthians 2:10 – Paul forgives “in the presence of Christ” for the sake of the church.
- Luke 11:52 – Jesus rebukes the lawyers for taking away the key of knowledge and hindering others from entering.
- Isaiah 22:22 – The key of the house of David placed on the shoulder of the faithful steward (background imagery for the keys).
- Revelation 1:18 – Christ holds the keys of Death and Hades.
- Revelation 3:7 – Christ “has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.”
- Keys of the Kingdom
- Church Authority
- Church Discipline
- Gospel
- Forgiveness of Sins
- Apostolic Authority
- Confession of Christ
- Rock / Peter
- Teaching Authority
- Spiritual Authority
- Kingdom of Heaven
- Word of God
Binding and loosing is the solemn privilege and responsibility of the church under the authority of Christ. It is not a magical formula or a private technique for controlling spiritual forces. It is the declaration, on the basis of God’s Word, of what heaven has already determined. When the gospel is preached and sins are forgiven in Christ’s name, the kingdom is opened. When the church, in obedience to Scripture, confronts unrepentant sin or refuses to endorse what God forbids, it binds on earth what is bound in heaven. The keys belong ultimately to Christ. The church is simply the steward that uses them according to His Word. Handle the keys with humility, courage, and careful faithfulness to Scripture. What is bound or loosed on earth in true submission to Christ is already settled in heaven.
Entry compiled for the JESUSaves.com Bible Glossary. Optimized for wiki.js Visual Editor.