Thursday, June 7, 2012

Whatever You Bind


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 4:3eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:13until 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.

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