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Binding and Loosing

Index

Jesus made some remarkable statements to the Apostles and to Peter in particular which the Catholic Church uses as the basis for some important, foundational doctrines such as:

• The papacy
• The hierarchy of the Church
• Succession of Church leaders via ordination
• The sacraments
• Church discipline including excommunication
• The power of priests to forgive sins in the sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession)
• The power of priests to consecrate the bread and wine during the Eucharist (communion)
• The power of priests to bless various objects and people in sacramentals
• The teaching magisterium (authority) of the Catholic Church

These doctrines of the Catholic Church are based on the meaning of the phrase "binding and loosing" as understood by the Jews at the time Jesus spoke the words.

Index

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Biblical Passages

These Biblical passages concern:

• Binding and loosing (Mat 16:19, Mat 18:18)
• The keys (Mat 16:19)
• Remitting and retaining sins (John 20:22,23)
• The elders save the sick (James 5:15,16)
• The elders forgive sins (James 5:15,16)

And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Mat 16:19)

Jesus is speaking to Peter in the context of:

• Peter's divinely-revealed confession of faith.
• Christ's naming Peter "the rock."
• Christ's promise to build the church on "the rock."
• Christ's promise that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church.

Notice that Peter receives two powers:

• Keys -- (What are the keys?)
• Binding and loosing

Note: The word "heaven" refers to God.

Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Mat 18:18)

Jesus is speaking to the disciples (including Peter) in the context of a passage about church discipline; and immediately preceding Jesus' promise that God will do whatever groups of at least two Christians agree with; and that Jesus will be present in their midst:

Notice that the disciples receive a power:

• Binding and loosing

Note: The word "heaven" refers to God.

And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. (John 20:22,23)

Jesus is speaking to the disciples (including Peter) after His resurrection in the context of His giving them the Holy Spirit. Notice that the disciples receive a power:

• Remission of sins

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. (James 5:15,16)

An apostle is speaking about the role of ordained elders:

Notice that the elders receive two powers (via their prayer of faith):

• Save the sick
• Forgiveness of sins

Notice also that the person who has sinned is to confess his sins (presumably to the same elders who are going to forgive his sin).

From these passages we see that various church leaders have the following powers:

• Keys -- Only Peter
• Binding and loosing -- Peter and the apostles
• Save the sick -- the elders
• Forgiveness of sins -- the elders

Some questions that come to mind (these are the topics of this article):

• Have the powers given to the Apostles been passed on to validly-ordained church leaders?
• Have the powers given to Peter been passed on to the popes?
• What are the keys?
• What is the rock that Jesus is building the church on?
• What is binding and loosing?
• Is the "rock" of Peter (Mat 16:18) (1) his confession of faith, or (2) Peter himself?
• How do the elders save?
• How do the elders forgive sins?
• How do the apostles remit sins?
• Was the church founded when Jesus breathed on the apostles (John 20:22) after His resurrection?
• Why was only Peter given the keys (and not the other apostles)?

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Binding and Loosing

There have been many interpretations of the phrase "binding and loosing." It is important to consider what this phrase meant to:

• Jews during the New Testament times.
• How Jesus used the phrase (but this can only be known by interpretation).
• How the Early Church Fathers interpreted the phrase.
• How the Catholic Church interprets the phrase.

Some possible meanings of the phrase "binding and loosing":

1. The Jewish, rabbinic meaning: (link, link)
   • Forbidding (binding) and permitting (loosing) particular activities of the Jewish community by the leaders who:
     1. Establish discipline
     2. Interpret the law of God (the scriptures).
     3. Establish doctrine.
   • Excommunication and reinstatement.
   • The authority of the leaders (they have the power to bind and loose).
   • Things are bound and loosed, not people (or demons).
   
   Jesus gave this same power and authority to the Church via the apostles and their successors.
   
   

2. In Charismatic and "Word/Faith" churches: The binding of demons and demonic forces in spiritual warfare. (But why would anyone want to loose demons?) (link)

   Things that can be bound:

   • Undesirable circumstances
   • Bad attitudes
   • Works of the flesh
   • Evil spirits
   • Financial difficulties

   Things that can be loosed:

   • Desirable circumstances
   • Good attitudes
   • The fruit of the spirit
   • Angels
   • Wealth
   
   
3. The meaning by various Early Church Fathers:
   • The authority of the church to excommunicate or reinstate people in fellowship with the church (Tertullian, Cyprian, and Origen).
   • Disciplinary action by the church (Tertullian, Cyprian, and Origen).
   
   
4. The meaning by various Protestant Reformers:
   • The church's authority to forgive or retain sins (Martin Luther -- but that everyone in the body of Christ has this power, not just the ordained leaders).
   
   
5. Various meanings which focus on the authority and God-given powers of the Church:
   • God (in heaven) granted the Church (on earth) the authority and responsibility to discipline Christians in the areas of:
     • Determining the rules and laws that Christians are to obey.
     • Dealing with the sins of its members.
     
     
   • The authority of the church to administer the sacraments (binding) or to withhold the sacraments (loosing). A side-effect of this view is that binding and loosing therefore either grants them forgiveness of sins or bars them from forgiveness, since the sacraments are means of God's actual grace.
     
     
   • The church's authority to take disciplinary actions (such as excommunication) against sinning Christians (Matthew 18:15-17). Excommunication is "binding" and reinstating them is "loosing."
     
     
   • The Church provides authoritative teaching. (link)
   
   
6. Other Biblical passages that are connected to binding and loosing:
   • Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. (Mat 12:29)
     
     
   • Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. (Mat 18:19)

     Note: in the context this passage is not about prayer but about church discipline.

7. Some various miscellaneous meanings:
   • The church's authority to address issues not specifically mentioned in the Bible by rules and laws which are binding on Christians.
     
     
   • Based on the usage of the perfect passive tense, the translation of Matthew 16:19 and Matthew 18:18 should be: Whatever is already bound/loosed in heaven you [Christians] shall bind/loose on earth. The church must obey the commands of God (His binding and loosing in heaven) by binding and loosing on earth what He has already bound and loosed in heaven.
     
     
   • Salvation by faith. It is God who initiates salvation (He grants it via binding or withholds it via loosing). This salvation is given to those who confess their faith in Christ as Peter did (by receiving it through faith [binding on earth] or rejecting it through lack of faith [loosing on earth]). (But this link to "confession" is missing in Matthew 18:18).
     
     
   • The same as remitting and retaining sins in John 20:23. Thus the church can declare as forgiven anyone who has been saved by their faith. God has "bound/remitted" their sins and the church merely ratifies this.
     
     
   • Baptism, which "binds" (removes) original sin. The original sin of those who refuse baptism are not "bound" (removed), but are instead "loosed" (God will judge and condemn that person).
     
     
   • The church can determine which part of the Jewish law still applies to Christians. For example, the church has "loosed" circumcision (it is not required for Christians), but the church has "bound" the Ten Commandments (which are still binding on Christians). The first church council in Acts 21 is an example of this.
     
     
   • From Matthew 18:15-20: The church can forgive the sins of a brother who has responded favorably to church discipline (they are "bound"), or the church can excommunicate those who refuse to repent (they are "loosed").
   
   
8. From the Catechism of the Catholic Church (note: as a Catholic I consider these passages as authoritative interpretations of the Biblical passages):
   
   

   Section 1444:

   In imparting to his apostles his own power to forgive sins the Lord also gives them the authority to reconcile sinners with the Church. . . . The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of the apostles united to its head.

   Section 1445:

   The words bind and loose mean: whomever you exclude from your communion, will be excluded from communion with God; whomever you receive anew into your communion, God will welcome back into his. Reconciliation with the Church is inseparable from reconciliation with God.

   Note: this does not mean that only Catholics are saved. (link, link, link, link)

   Section 881:

   The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the "rock" of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock. "The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of apostles united to its head." This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church's very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope.

   Section 1478:

   An indulgence is obtained through the Church who, by virtue of the power of binding and loosing granted her by Christ Jesus, intervenes in favor of individual Christians and opens for them the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints to obtain from the Father of mercies the remission of the temporal punishments due for their sins.

   Section 424:

   Moved by the grace of the Holy Spirit and drawn by the Father, we believe in Jesus and confess: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." On the rock of this faith confessed by St. Peter, Christ built his Church.

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The Keys

The meaning of the word "keys":

• The power to "open and close" (similar to "bind and loose") from Isaiah 22:22.
• Symbol of authority given only to the most trusted servant. (link)
• Given only to Peter. This provides the basis for the Catholic doctrine of the papacy.

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This Rock

The meaning of Jesus' statement that He would build the church on this "rock":

• Peter, the Rock, as its visible earthly anchor. The Church was not to be established merely on Peter's faith. (link)
• Even many Protestant scholars agree that the rock refers to Peter and not to his confession of faith.
• Jesus built His church on Peter. This is the basis of the Catholic doctrine of the Papacy.

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Are these Powers Passed-on to the Church?

It is important to consider whether the various powers given to the apostles were intended to be passed-on to future generations. And if so, then we must discern to whom they are passed-on. Some possibilities:

• Ordained church leaders.
• The pope.
• All Christians.

Passages which indicate that it is via ordination that these gifts are passed-on:

Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure. (1 Tim 5:22)

Laying-on of hands refers to ordination (more info).

Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. (1 Tim 4:14)

The gift was given via ordination.

And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money. (Acts 8:18)

The powers were transferred by the apostles via ordination to those who were not apostles. It is unlikely that this transferring of power was intended to stop with this second generation.

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. . . . (Eph 2:20)

The Church did not end after the apostles died; it was to continue. This implies that there was a way to determine and validate who was to be the church leaders of the next generation.

And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. (Isa 22:22)

There is a principle of succession in institutions established by God. These leaders have real power and authority to rule.

Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. (Acts 6:6)

Since the apostles ordained (as deacons) the next generation of leaders we can assume that they intended this succession to continue into the future as well.

And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. (Acts 13:3)

Since the apostles ordained the next generation of leaders we can assume that they intended this succession to continue into the future as well.

For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishopric let another take. (Acts 1:20)

Even before Pentecost, Peter seemed to consider it very important to replace a leader. In doing so he sets the pattern for how the Church is to ordain future leaders. This passage also demonstrates that Peter had a unique leadership role and sets the stage for the doctrine of the papacy.

Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. (2 Tim 1:6)

Paul had ordained Timothy and in doing so Timothy received gifts and powers. It seems reasonable to assume that this succession of leadership was to continue into the future of the church.

And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. (2 Tim 2:2)

The apostles intended to duplicate themselves in leaders in succeeding generations.

Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. (Mat 23:2,3)

Jesus commanded his followers to obey those leaders who were many generations distant from Moses. Likewise, He would expect the same obedience from those in the church many generations after the apostles: That Christians should obey those validly-ordained leaders just as the Jews were to obey the validly-ordained Jewish leaders.

Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. (Eph 3:21)

There must be a church throughout all ages. Therefore, it would be necessary for each generation of church leaders to select others who are qualified to lead the church of the next generation. This implies some sort of ordination process.

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. (Heb 13:17)

Certainly if we are to obey our secular rulers, we should also obey our religious leaders. This implies that we have religious leaders who are validly-ordained. The authority passed on is given to specific people; it is not conferred indiscriminately.

These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. (Titus 2:15)

The Church leaders have authority over the Church.

For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established. (Rom 1:11)

Paul may have been referring to ordaining some leaders for them

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John Shepard

© Copyright 2007

email: js16@northforest.org

http://www.northforest.org/CatholicFoundations/BindingLoosing.html

Revised: Aug. 1, 2004