I assure you: Whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven.
Matthew 18:18 HCSB
Back in Matthew 16:19, Jesus told Peter this same thing but prefaced it with, “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.”
This is one of those verses that is easily taken out of context to mean that we have the power to bind or loose things or people in heaven. Don’t get it twisted. This is not what this means.
So, what does it mean? Well, let’s look at these passages in their proper context. In Matthew 16:19, Jesus has just asked Peter who He thinks He is, and Peter responds, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!” Jesus goes on to tell Peter that he is blessed because God revealed this to him. Jesus then speaks of building his church on the rock and how the forces of Hades will not overpower it. He tells Peter that He will give him the keys to the kingdom of heaven and whatever Peter (and us as believers) bind on earth is already bound in heaven and whatever we loosen on earth is already loosed in heaven.
In chapter 18 verse 18, Jesus is speaking of church discipline. This is the same context we must use for what Jesus said in 16:19. Jesus is referring to the church as a body declaring whether a sinner who is unrepentant is unforgiven or whether a repentant sinner is forgiven. The collective body of believers that makes up the church is not the judge or the jury determining the guilt through unrepentance or the innocence through repentance. They are simply the clerk reading the verdict.
My former pastor used to say it this way, we don’t judge, but we do inspect the fruit. In Matthew 18, Jesus speaks of church discipline and tells us if a brother sins, we should first confront him privately. If he refuses to repent, we should confront him bringing one or two witnesses. If he still refuses to repent, we bring him before the church. If he still refuses to repent, we treat him as a tax collector or an unbeliever.
This is when the person’s sin has become known as something in violation of God’s Word.
Now according to John MacArthur’s commentary, which I used to gain further understanding on this subject, it doesn’t mean that we shun them as a form of punishment. It means that we excommunicate them to keep them from being a bad influence on other members. The one bad apple spoiling the whole bunch here is what we are talking about.
When the church says the unrepentant person is bound in sin, they are simply saying what God says about that person according to His Word. When the church says the repentant person is forgiven or loosened or set free from their sin, God agrees. In Matthew 6:10 we are told to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We are to carry out God’s will here on earth. We can only do this if we stay in His Word and have a good understanding of His will.
We are told in 1 Corinthians 15:33 that bad company corrupts good morals. We should not make it a practice to hang around unbelievers as they are more apt to corrupt our good morals than we are to sway them to believe.
We must also not tolerate sin in our churches simply to get along or to gain more membership. In Revelation 3:16, Jesus told John to write to the church at Laodicea, “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth.” We must exercise church discipline when a member’s behavior goes against God’s Word. We must attempt to restore that person and thus gain a brother (Matthew 18:15).
If we tolerate bad or evil behavior, we become lukewarm Christians that do not stand up for the truth in God’s Word and we nauseate Jesus. We don’t want to nauseate Jesus. Pray for wisdom and discernment and live according to God’s will.
God calls us to gently try to restore, but if they refuse stay away from them. This is what Jesus meant by saying whatever we bind on earth is already bound in heaven. We are not executing judgment, just reading the verdict that has been decided by God in heaven.
Have a great day!