Whatever You Bind
Matthew
18:17-20
[17] If he refuses to listen to
them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as
a Gentile and a tax collector. [18] Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind
on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be
loosed in heaven. [19] Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth
about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
[20] For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among
them.”
Church Discipline
This passage has to do with church discipline.
Jesus says, if a brother refuses to listen to the church he is to be rejected
as a Gentile and a tax collector. Gentiles and tax collectors usually belonged
to Satan. Paul delivered two men “to Satan that they may learn not to
blaspheme” (1 Tim 1:20). He also commanded the Corinthian church to “deliver such a one to Satan
for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of
the Lord Jesus” (1Cor 5:5) because he was sleeping with his father’s wife. Paul
said, “I have written to you not to keep company with
anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater,
or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner--not even to eat with such a
person” (1 Cor 5:11).
Binding And Loosing
Jesus tells the church, “whatever
you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven.” The word “you” is plural in the Greek. It means
“you the church.” To bind means to not permit and to loose means to permit. To
bind a person or thing means to not permit it. Or to make something binding
means to make it a law. A binding agreement is a contract or a covenant.
Breaking a binding agreement is breaking a covenant. To break a covenant brings
negative sanctions, and to keep it brings blessing.
If Any Two Agree
Jesus says, “Again I say to
you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for
them by my Father in heaven. [20] For where two or three are gathered in
my name, there am I among them.” In other words, the agreement of the church is
binding both on earth and in heaven. God delegates to His church the authority
to bind and to loose. More than 2 or 3 agreed together at the Counsel of Nicaea
in 325 A.D. to turn such a one over to Satan that he might learn not to
blaspheme.
The Arian Controversy
It started this way. In 311 A.D. man named
Peter was the overseer of the church in Alexandria, Egypt. He was in prison for
preaching the Gospel and had a vision of Jesus with his robe torn down the middle.
Jesus told him that just like the robe he was wearing was split a priest named
Arius was to be turned over to Satan because he was about to split the church
the same way. The next day Peter’s friends brought Arius to him asking to
restore him to the church in spite of his former rebellion. Bishop Peter
refused and was also executed for his faith the next day.
This prophecy was fulfilled when Arius started
teaching that there was a time when Christ was not. He denied that Christ is
God and gained such a large following that it threatened the peace of the Empire.
The rulers of the empire sided with Arius and persecution followed.
The Council Of Nicaea 325 A.D.
To bring peace to the empire, the Emperor
Constantine called for all the church overseers of the world to gather at Nicaea
to come to an agreement on the issue. 318 bishops from all over the world gathered
at the Counsel of Nicaea in 325 A.D.
The result was that all but 3 signed the
agreement that the Scripture teaches that Jesus is God. The Nicene Creed
includes everything the Apostles’ Creed says but adds that Jesus is very God of
very God and very man of very man, that God is three persons in one essence…
not three manifestations.
The fact that the universal church agreed made
the Nicene Creed binding in heaven and on earth.
Who Decides What True Christians Believe?
The church does
because Jesus said, “whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Those who reject the
Nicene Creed are not Christians because the universal church said so. Those who
reject the deity of Christ are not Christians even though they might say they
are. The Nicene Creed contains the essential doctrines of the Christian faith.
The Essentials
In
essentials – unity. In non-essentials – liberty. In all things – charity. We
cannot be in unity with those who do not believe the essentials. Jesus said He
came to divide believers from nonbelievers. But we are forbidden to divide if
we agree on the essentials. And, to divide over non-essentials can be sinful.
By “divide” I mean to pronounce a believer in the essentials as not Christians.
Jesus prayed, “that they may become perfectly one” (John 17:23). “There is one body and one Spirit… one hope… one Lord, one faith,
one baptism” (Eph 4:4-5). The Nicene Creed says, “I believe in one holy
catholic and apostolic church.” To deny that is to deny what Jesus said. “Whatever
you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.”
The Division
Until 450 A.D. all the
churches were in agreement. They divided at that time over the two natures of
Christ. The Church of Armenia, the Coptic Church of Egypt, and the Syriac
Churches disagreed with the Eastern and Western churches. Then 500 later the
Eastern Orthodox and Roman Churches divided in 1054 A.D. Then another 500 years
later the Reformers tried to reform the corruptions of the Romish church after
1517 and were cast out or killed. Now here is the question:
What is a Christian?
Here is the argument
of the Church of Armenia. Those who believe in the Nicene Creed can call
themselves Christians. All the other doctrines, though they may be true and
important, are not binding as essentials for salvation because to be binding
takes the universal church. When Jesus said whatever you bind, He was speaking to the whole church, not just one segment
of it.
Non-Essentials
There are many
important and true doctrines on which the universal church has never agreed and
therefore are not binding as essential for salvation. On these there must be
liberty to disagree and to debate without dividing. Again, by dividing I mean
declaring others as unbelievers. They can still call themselves Christians if
they believe in the essentials found in the Nicene Creed. That, however, does
not mean they are saved.
Two Kinds Of Christians
(Saved and Unsaved)
Many Christians only believe with the head and
not with the heart. There are two kinds of Christians: head faith Christians
and born again Christians. Just like there were Israelites circumcised in the
flesh but not in the heart, so there are Christians baptized in water but not
in the Spirit. Only God knows who is saved and not saved. But we can be assured
that “that the unrighteous will not inherit the
kingdom of God? [The Bible says,] Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor
covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the
kingdom of God” (1 Cor 6:9-10).
If a man is baptized and says he believes and
is not living in scandalous sins like those just mentioned we take his word for
it and welcome him to the Lord’s Table. Only God knows the heart and God will judge
those witch hunters who think they can read the heart.
Are Roman Catholics Christians?
So, do we say that the Roman Catholics and
other denominations that believe in the Nicene Creed are outward Christians?
Yes. But only God knows who is an inward Christian. Can an outward Christian
believe false doctrines? Well, do you know of anyone that is perfect in all his
ideas and doctrines? Don’t get me wrong. There is no excuse and there must be
liberty to debate the issues. But we must include all as outward Christians who
believe in the essentials of the faith. In essentials God commands unity.
But that does not mean we all have to belong to
the same denomination. There must be liberty in the nonessentials and the unity
must be in the Spirit and not just in the flesh.
This teaching is important because God hates
the divisive spirit. There is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph
4:5).
•
Psalm 133:1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers
dwell in unity!
Ephesians 4:13
until we all attain
to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature
manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ
The Nicene
Creed
I believe in one God, the Father
Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the
only-begotten Son of God, begotten
of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very
God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all
things were made.
Who, for us men and for our salvation,
came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary,
and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He
suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the
Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father;
and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose
kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the
Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the
Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the
prophets.
And I believe in one holy catholic and
apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look
for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
