Bound TO. Loosed FROM.

"Binding and loosing are not just words we speak in a loud voice ... They are an action."

“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.” (Matthew 16:19 KJV)

WE ARE binding things that are loose and loosing things that are bound, without knowing the ways of God. What should be asked that has become a joke with some is, What would Jesus do? For He is King, and we are in His kingdom. It is His authority that binds and sets loose. Jesus died to free us from sin and death. He rose from death to bind us to His eternal life. His heart was our Resurrection. What, then, are we binding and loosing?

The answer goes to heaven and what is meant by its keys. Two unalterable things make up the fullness of heaven—truth and love. God is love. He is truth. His unalterable Word will only bring salvation in His act of truth and love through Jesus. Jesus is the visible display of the Father’s love for mankind. All He speaks as the Word is truth. He is holy. There is no sin or falsehood in Him. So His authority only operates in holiness.

To unlock truth, to know it, requires a key of God’s Presence. All truth is found in the Spirit. He is who brings revelation of God’s Word. When we pray for wisdom, understanding, and discernment, we need the truth in God’s Word to speak to us. God’s way of speaking is always love. It is His love that changes hearts. Knowing the height and depth of God’s love looses us from what binds us. Nothing can separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:39). It brings freedom and the confidence that God hears us and has good things for us. We trust Him because we know He loves us. We know He keeps His Word because all He says is truth.

Often, in the past, I have said, “His truth sets me free from the lie,” taken from Jesus’ statement in John 8:32. What binds us, holds us captive in sin and misery, is the lie – that we are condemned and cannot be forgiven, that God doesn’t care about us and what we are facing is just too big to overcome, and all the lies of fear. God has not given us a spirit of fear, meaning an unclean spirit, or devil, but His Spirit is love, and the power of Resurrection, and our having a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). The Holy Spirit tells us all we need to stop thinking like the devil. Instead of beating ourselves up over this and that, fretting and worrying over tomorrow, we know He’s got us in His hand. His truth frees us.

But it requires action. We must commit ourselves to forgiveness, of ourself and others. We must put the Word of God in our heart, which requires time and determination and hunger. Years ago, I prayed for hunger for God’s Word. It is a promise of our salvation, that we would desire to know Him (Matthew 5:6). God has answered that prayer, but I wish I’d taken more time before I stumbled through a difficult place. I was greatly afraid of sudden fear, words from Proverbs 3, and it was a slow climb out. I was loosed by revelation of God’s truth and love.

Binding and loosing are not just words we speak in a loud voice and then we keep going like we are. They are an action. As compassion is the action of a heart full of God’s love, we cannot say we love and yet do nothing (1 John 3:17-18), we cannot declare ourselves full of God’s truth and love and free of selfish behavior, as only words spoken, yet continue to criticize and be offended by people. We cannot declare them bound to selfishly “fix them” and we, ourselves, continue the same. That is not its purpose. Nor is it to bind the devil while we act like the devil.

Who we spend our time with becomes who we look like. How we think on repeat becomes our reaction. To truly be like Jesus and do what He would do, we must know Him, speak His truth, and love one another. Because this is who He is. He loves people.

“I will give you the Spirit empowering you with truth and love, which are the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind to truth and love on earth will be bound to truth and love in heaven, and whatever you loose from fear and selfishness on earth will be loosed from fear and selfishness in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19 Remedy)

Photo by Xavier McLaren on Unsplash


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com