ASK Episode 8: Binding & Loosing
May 22, 2009 by Firwood Church
Filed under Firwood Church: ASK
ASK is a new weekly vodcast from Firwood Church. In each episode of ASK, we will seek to answer your questions regarding Scripture, Doctrine, life issues and living out the Christian faith.
In this eighth episode, Phill Marsh and Andy Evans discuss what Jesus meant in Matthew 16 and 18 when he spoke of ‘binding and loosing’.
We would encourage you to email your questions to ask@firwoodchurch.com and we will seek to discuss as many as possible over the coming weeks.
You can subscribe to ASK through iTunes, by clicking here
ASK Episode 8: Binding & Loosing from Firwood Church on Vimeo.
Hi, long time reader, first time poster
I think the most important part to remember with regards to this widely mis-represented verse is the translation. Some translations actually write this as: “…what you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven…” This is a very different way of reading it and follows the words of Jesus when he taught the disciples to pray, saying; “…on earth, as it is in heaven”. The focus is more on earthly things reflecting heavenly things.
See you later!
Hi Oli, I agree there is a potentially a good few miles between ‘shall’ and ‘will’. I have noticed that the NKJV (an otherwise sound translation) goes with ‘will’. There is a funny thing going on with the tenses here (the tense is future perfect) and this passage could be translated, ‘whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven’. It seems to me that the meaning is clear, the role of the church is to act in accordance with and undertake the work of heaven on earth… not that heaven is somehow called to do the bidding of the church on earth.