ATTACK AND UNATTEND

xiore (59)in #sc-v • 5 years ago

Maybe Matthew 16:19 is one of the most abused biblical verses today:

"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. "

Source

Many people believe that, with these words of Jesus to Peter as a basis, and by extension to the apostles and all other believers, we can "unleash" blessings for our lives and "bind" any curse or evil spirit that comes against us.

It is not uncommon to hear in some churches phrases like "I unleash prosperity for you," or "I bind every spirit of evil in this place." There are even those who "bind the devil" so that it does not harm them.

Is that the correct application of the passage? What does the Bible refer to as binding and loosing?

An authority given by Jesus
To understand this verse, first notice this: Jesus says these words after Peter, representing the twelve apostles, confessed by God's revelation that Jesus is the Christ (v. 15-17).

As the pastor and exegete John MacArthur says, in tune with other scholars, the keys of the kingdom of heaven "represent authority, and here Christ gives Peter (and by extension all other believers) the authority to declare what was bound. or unleashed in heaven. "

The scholar William Hendricksen agrees. He writes that "he who has the keys" (see Rev. 1:18; 3: 7) of the kingdom of heaven determines who should be admitted and to whom admission must be denied. " On the other hand, as Jonathan Leeman says,

"Some biblical scholars talk about tying and loosing as a judicial or rabbinical activity. For example, the rabbi decided when to apply the law to a particular person and under what circumstances. Basically, Jesus gave the apostles this kind of authority: the authority to stand before a confessor, consider his confession, consider his life and issue an official judgment in the name of heaven. "

So in Matthew 16:19 there is something surprising: Jesus speaks in representation of heaven, tells Peter that his confession came from the Father who is in heaven, and gives authorization to the apostles to also represent God on earth , tying and untying here what is tied and untied in heaven.