BINDING AND LOOSENING – Part 1
The Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from Afrikaans: Bind en Ontbind – Deel 1
Translator: Robin Barker
Someone wrote to me as follows.
“Can you please explain to me about binding and unbinding in heaven and vice versa?”
This is how I understand the matter and how I to the best of my abilities apply it to my life.
First read the following from the Word:
MATTHEW 16:15-19
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Some so-called religions view of this matter is so bizarre, that one could really smile if you did not know how serious it is. In some so-called religions, I say ‘so-called’ because I do not think that these philosophies are anywhere close to Christian; There are some of these so-called religions where the priest, eldest, or whatever they want to call themselves, that not only can hold or loosen, open and close heaven for someone as it pleases him, but he is also able to hand out the Holy Spirit to whom he wishes, as if the Holy Spirit (and I say this with great respect) is an object / commodity and not the Almighty God of the universe’s Spirit who decides for Himself in whom He wants to be.
This said –
That is how I see things and live it in my life:
Jesus speaks to Peter and indirectly with His other disciples how He and through His Word is to be shared with you, me, and every other disciple/person who truly confesses:
MAT 16:16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
To us all who can do this confession in full sincerity, Jesus says:
MAT 16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
However, before we can really come to terms on the matter of what can be bound and loosened, we must first look at the ‘keys’ that are used to bind and loosen.
It does not matter whether you use the Hebrew, Greek, English, Fanagalo[a], Afrikaans translation of the ‘keys’ but you certainly will not be able to enter Heaven or spend eternity with our Lord with any other ‘key’ and the ‘keys’ name is Jesus Christ.
ACTS 4:12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
No other ‘key’ can open the door to Heaven, or eternal life for you and me.
JOHN 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Jesus says later to His disciples and to you and me who are disciples of our Lord, to open the gates of Heaven, to put it that way, also to unlock the gates for the other people of this world and to give the Key to all the people of the world:
MAT 28:18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
MAT 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Look at how Peter handles, as an example to us, this Key that was given to him.
ACTS 2:38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Everyone who has truly accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, do everything – especially where it concerns the Gospel and everything surrounding the Gospel, – in the Name of Jesus.
COL 3:17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
There is no other key to true life and I am speaking of true life on this side of the grave as well as on the other side of the grave.
From the One who gave us this key, our Lord says in His Word:
PHI 2:9-11
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Further we read in another section.
ROM 14:11 As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’”
ROM 14:12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.
Jesus himself tells the following about the day on which we will give account:
The Sheep And The Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.
32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
Now we must not forget that Jesus also spoke of this Key:
MAT 16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, …
On the topic: “will be bound in heaven..” I will share with you in Part 2 of this writing as I understand it and practice it in my own life.
For now I am going to close off with the following.
Let you and I go in the Name of Jesus. In other words let you and me go and do what Jesus told us to do.
Let us take the Key that we have been given and open Heaven for others and give the key that Jesus gave us also to them, so that they also have access to Heaven and eternal life and in so doing they in turn can open Heaven for others and so more and more people will have access to Heaven and eternal life.
MAT 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
MAT 28:20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Yes, how glorious to remember while we do this –
MAT 28:20 … And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Footnote:
a Fanagolo – A pidgin language based on Xhosa, Zulu, English, and Afrikaans and spoken in the mines in South Africa
Greetings,
Sakkie