Binding and Loosing
Here's the origin:
Matthew 18:18,19 - "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (NIV)We very often use this verse to justify phrases like this:
- "I bind you, Satan."
- "I loose the Holy Spirit"
- "Father, bind the enemy"
- "Lord, loose peace"
The list could go on, but you get the idea. The problem is that we've been basing our understanding of these words on the English definition rather than the original Greek.
In the Greek, the word "bind" is "deo," which means to knit, tie, and wind--like "binding" a Christmas tree to the roof of your car or "binding" together the pages of a book. It is a matter of tight connection. This verse isn't instructing us to "bind" the devil. But Acts 20:22 uses the word "deo" correctly when Paul says, "And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there" (NKJV). Jesus' original instruction was saying to knit ourselves with, tie ourselves to, and wind ourselves around His Holy Spirit.
As for the word "loose," the Greek word is "luo." We seem to use this instruction from Jesus to "loose the Holy Spirit" before a meeting, etc. I don't know who decided this is what it meant, but I didn't know the Holy Spirit was stuck! In reality, the Greek word "luo" means to break up--to destroy, dissolve, loose, and melt.
We now see that Christ is giving us the power to destroy the forces of darkness--not just tie them up! Whatever we destroy, dissolve, and melt on earth will be destroyed in heaven! When we cast out an evil spirit on earth, that spirit has also lost any audience it might have in heaven! If we "luo" that spirit here, we "lou" it there! That spirit cannot approach God (like Satan did in the book of Job) and barter for the right to attack a person spiritually. To "luo" is to destroy!
To see this word used in a different context, pay attention to the words “destroy” and “destruction” in 2 Peter 3:11,12: “Since everything will be destroyed [luo] in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction [luo] of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.” Now that's luo!
Overall, Christ is really talking about the spiritual pacts we make; are we knitting ourselves with God and destroying the demons in our lives, or are we tying ourselves to evil spirits and dissolving our connections with God? Christ gave us the power to bind and to loose spiritual things. This is the power to attach and destroy. It is the prerogative of the Holy Spirit to become intimately enmeshed into our lives. On the same token, though, it is the objective of Satan to attain that same goal.
Who are we binding ourselves to?
Who are we destroying?
Galatians 5:24,25—Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (NIV)
Labels: authority, binding and loosing, demons, Holy Spirit, power, spiritual warfare, truth
posted by Art Thomas | Tuesday, April 22, 2008
4 Comments:
I guess because many connect this verse with the binding of the strong man in Matthew 12:29, they figure that it is connected to the authority given to Peter and the twelve in Matthew 16:19. This is also the meaning if you look at the context of Matthew 18:15-20.
Even Charismatic Catholic ministries like Intercessors of the Lamb use the binding of the strongman terminology.
"And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils..." All who believe and are baptized in Christ can be used to perform miracles, including the casting out of demons. But we must be careful of trying to use formulas and "magic words" to do so. All it takes is the Name of Jesus Christ to do these things.
As for our verse in Matthew, You are spot on and the Catechism of the Catholic Church says something similar: The words "bind" and "loose" mean that whomever the Apostles exclude from their communion, will be excluded with God; whomever they recieve anew into their communion, God will welcome back into His. (CCC #1445)
This is right in line with John 20:22-23 where the Apostles are given the anointing of the Holy Spirit to forgive and retain sins. Again, binding them to or loosening them from the Kingdom of God.
only God forgives sins...by virtue of His divine authority He [Jesus] gives this power to men to exercise in His name. (CCC #1441)He gave the ministry of Reconciliation to the Apostles (2 Cor 5:18)
Thanks for clearing up this common misuse of terms.
Classically speaking, the authority to bind or loose has nothing to do with spirits or demons. The authority to "bind" is to require people to a particular discipline and to "loose" is to free people from previously required disciplines.
For instance, when the apostles met in Jerusalem to consider the requirements for the Gentile Christians, they "loosed" them from any of the requirements of the Hebrew law and "bound" them to simply not drinking blood or eating flesh that was sacrificed to animals, and finally to remember the poor.
Jamadan
Hi I did a search on Deo from Matthew 18:19.. in greek it means..
1) to bind tie, fasten
a) to bind, fasten with chains, to throw into chains
b) metaph.
1) Satan is said to bind a woman bent together by means of a demon, as his messenger, taking possession of the woman and preventing her from standing upright
2) to bind, put under obligation, of the law, duty etc.
a) to be bound to one, a wife, a husband
3) to forbid, prohibit, declare to be illicit
And to loose.. in greek is not as you said..
) to loose any person (or thing) tied or fastened
a) bandages of the feet, the shoes,
b) of a husband and wife joined together by the bond of matrimony
c) of a single man, whether he has already had a wife or has not yet married
2) to loose one bound, i.e. to unbind, release from bonds, set free
a) of one bound up (swathed in bandages)
b) bound with chains (a prisoner), discharge from prison, let go
The woman that was bound by satan by bent over for 18 years was deo ~ same in greek.. as in Matt 18:18
Both sourced from Blue letter bible..
I don't know where your sources are from.. but they seem wrong..
Luk 9:1
Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.
We have this authority and we should use it over all devils..
Especially as they bind people like with that woman who was bound by satan... Luke 13:16
Hi Sharon,
My source was the Strong's Concordance (with Greek and Hebrew Dictionaries), which says that "deo" is to "bind, be in bonds, knit, tie, wind." And to "luo" is to "break (up), destroy, dissolve, (un-) loose, melt, put off."
By no means was I saying that we don't have authority over demons. My main point is that it makes no sense to "loose the Holy Spirit" in the context of this verse--He's not stuck, and we certainly don't want to destroy Him...but it does make sense in the Greek to "deo" ourselves to Him (like Paul did). Furthermore, I want to make sure people see that we don't get to merely "deo" evil spirits, we get to "luo" them! (break up, destroy, disolve...)
I will say, however, that you got me to start digging through my research again, and I came accross the definitions you offered in Thayer's Greek Definitions. I had not seen those before, and I can now see that it encompasses the whole binding aspect that we're used to.
Thanks for bringing some clarity--I welcome this sort of thing!
--Art--
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