Mathew 16:19 help understanding?

Question

What exactly does this mean in Mathew?
I didnt understand it quit fully.

I shall give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven;
and whatever you bind on earth [forbid to be done],
shall have been already bound [forbidden to be done] in
heaven; and whatever you loose on earth [permit to be done],
shall have already been loosed in heaven [permitted to be
done].

Answer 1

The keys are the universal symbol of supreme authority. The power of binding and loosing pertains not only to allowing or forbidding, but also to teaching of doctrinal truth. What His Church teaches as binding truth is bound in heaven, a divine guarantee of correct and true teaching. Christ recognized that His Church could not have truth without unity, and could not have unity without true authority. Which is why He ordained the Apostle Simon to be the Rock upon which His Church would be built, and equipped him to fulfill that role by bestowing upon him the charisms of authority and infallibility.

It worked! His Church has constinuously taught the fullness of truth for 2,000 years, united in truth, united in teaching, united in worship and united in administration throughout the world, while manmade religion that ignores this core reality of Christianity continues to fragment into thousands of unauthorized manmade denominations teaching partial truth, in just a few hundred years.

Answer 2

The scripture without additions reads,

" 19 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."

This is a reference to celestial marriage and of the Melchizedek Priesthood. Peter was the head of the Church after Christ died (Christ directed him through revelation, so I guess Christ would still be the head, right? hehe...) and, therefore, Christ gave him the keys of authority to run the Church...

My comment on marriage was a reference to the fact that only through the proper authority can a marriage be bound throughout eternity. All other marriages will end at death. ('Till death do you part.) This authority was the thing Christ was speaking of...

Answer 3

Unfortunately a lot of people think that Jesus was speaking only to Peter when He said this.

In verse 18 Jesus called Peter a "stone" (Petrus), yet when he mentioned the "Rock" upon which His church would be built, He used the word "Petra" (bedrock), the same word that Paul used in describing Jesus as the foundation of the Church in I Corinthians;

I Corinthians 10:4

4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

God would never designate a man as the foundation of His Church, which Paul also specified in I Corinthians 3:11

I Corinthians 3:11

11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

So Jesus is the Rock (bedrock) spoken of when he said He would build the foundation of His Church on a rock, not Peter. This removes the entire concept of the Papacy, for Peter was never designated as the "rock" upon which the Church was built.

In fact, if you carefully read the book of Acts, James was the actual leadfer of the church in Jerusalem.


Ok, on to your questions.

The meaning of the keys to the kingdom of Heaven was later explained by Jesus when He said in Luke;

Luke 11:52

52 Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

The keys for entering Heaven is knowledge of God's will and understanding of His commandments. Knowing what He requires of us and being obedient to those requirements is what grants us access to Heaven. No man has the power to open or lock the gates of Heaven to anyone, as that power is given only to Jesus Christ.

We ALL have the keys of knowledge and understanding of God's Word, and each of us is given these keys through God's Holy Spirit.

As for binding and loosing, if we bind Satan's power here on Earth in Jesus' name, he will be bound in Heaven where he stands accusing believers before God's throne.

By the same token, if we loose someone from disease, etc. in Jesus' name, the power to do so is loosed for us from Heaven, permitting us to perform the miracle.

I hope this answers your questions?

Answer 4

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to answer this question from scriptural clues in the Bible.

We can understand this better if we look at another occasion when Jesus used the word "key." Jesus once told the Jewish religious leaders versed in the Mosaic Law: "Alas for you lawyers who have taken away the key of knowledge! You have not gone in yourselves, and have prevented others going in who wanted to,." Luke 11:52 quoted from the Jerusalem Bible 'Prevented others from going in' where? Jesus tells us at Matthew 23:13: "Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who shut up the kingdom of heaven in men's faces, neither going in yourselves nor allowing others to go in who want to." (JB) The Jewish clergy closed the door on many, as it were, by robbing them of the opportunity to be with Jesus Christ in heaven. The "key" those religious leaders had "taken away" had nothing to do with the forgiveness of sins. It was the key to divinely provided knowledge.

Similarly, "the keys of the Kingdom" given to Peter do not represent power to inform heaven as to whose sins should be forgiven or retained. Rather, they represent Peter's great privilege of opening up the way to heaven by disseminating divinely provided knowledge through his ministry. He did this first for Jews and Jewish proselytes, then for Samaritans, and finally for the Gentiles. Acts 2: 1 - 41; chapter 8 verses 14 - 17 and chapter 10:1 - 48.

Later, what Jesus had told Peter was repeated to other disciples. " I tell you solemnly," said Jesus, "whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven." Matthew 18:18. What authority did Christ here delegate to the disciples? The context shows that he was talking about settling problems between individual believers and keeping the congregation clean of unrepentent evildoers. Matthew 18: 15-17.
In matters involving serious violations of God's law, responsible men in the congregation would have to judge matters and decide whether a wrongdoer should be "bound" (VIEWED AS GUILTY) or "loosed" (ACQUITTED). Did this mean that heaven would follow the dicisions of humans? No. As Bible scholar Robert Young indicates, any decision made by the disciples would follow heaven's decision, not precede it. He says that verse 18 should literally read: What you bind on earth "shall be that which has been bound (already)" in heaven.

Really, it is unreasonable to think that any imperfect human could make decisions that would be binding upon those in the heavenly courts. It is much more reasonable to say that Christ's appointed representatives would follow his directions so as to keep his congregation clean. They would do this by making a decision based on principles already laid down in heaven. Jesus himself would guide them in doing this. Matthew 18:20. .

Answer 5

Jesus said ...'all authority has been given to me' ...Jesus had been delegated that authority because of his relationship and obedience to his Father ...now he was delegating some of that authority to the people that he had trained in his three year ...gospel boot camp.
Jesus expected his apostles to be able to cast out devils ...it was a skill that Jesus had ...and he required his disciples to do it as well ...in fact he was upset when they were not living up to what he had taught them ...in the case where they had trouble dealing with one demon possessed person.
...if the gospel was to be spread ...he had to have effective followers....that were capable of using the tools and doing what he taught them to do.
binding and loosing are tools ...and when used effectively ...can cut a swath through the enemy's kingdom ... and create an atmosphere where captives are set free.

binding:
his instruction was to first 'bind' the devil ..that is ...speak to the enemy using words filled with power in order to render the demon powerless....at that point the spirit ...or spirits (if there were more than one) ...was to be cast out ...again speaking words filled with power ...as Jesus had demonstrated.

loosing:
then he explained that the now empty place that the evil spirit occupied in the person had to be occupied by God's Holy Spirit ...or it would only be a matter of time before the angry devil would gather several other demons and return in greater numbers and power to retake what he thinks is his rightful possession.
they were given the power to 'loose' God's blessings and protection of the Holy Spirit on repentant believers .

binding evil and loosing blessings by speaking with power ...in the same way Jesus did ...is what Jesus meant ...at least in part.

it is a tool that believers still use today ...i have used words in faith to protect those i love ...and cause them to be brought to their senses ...and to salvation ...more than once.
...i even stopped a mean dog that was running to attack me once ...i had nothing to protect me ...i pointed at the dog and said ...i bind you in the name of Jesus...immediately it was as if the dog hit an invisible wall and got knocked out cold.
for me ...that was a clear picture of the power we have over the enemy when the tools are used effectively.

i thanked God for the gift of binding and loosing that day ...believe me.

Answer 6

The “keys” to the kingdom of heaven are the words of Christ (see John 1:12; 17:3). It is important to note that Christ Himself speaks of the “key” here referred to as “the key of knowledge” of how to enter the kingdom (see Luke 11:52). The words of Jesus are “spirit” and “life” to all who receive them (see John 6:63). It is the words of Christ that bring eternal life (see John 6:68). The word of God is the key to the new-birth experience (1 Peter 1:23).

As the words spoken by Jesus convinced the disciples of His divinity, so their repeating of His words to other men, as His ambassadors, was to “reconcile” them to God (see 2 Cor. 5:18–20). The saving power of the gospel is the only thing that admits men and women into the kingdom of heaven. Christ simply bestowed upon Peter and all the other disciples the authority and power to bring men into the kingdom (see John 20:23). It was Peter’s perception of the truth that Jesus is indeed the Christ that placed the “keys” of the kingdom in his possession and let him into the kingdom, and the same may be said of all Christ’s followers to the very close of time.

On "Kingdom of heaven" : As frequently used throughout the ministry of Christ, the “kingdom of heaven” here refers to the kingdom of divine grace in the hearts of those who become its citizens, here and now (see on chs. 4:17; 5:2). No one can ever hope to enter the future kingdom of glory (see 25:31, 34) who has not first entered the present kingdom of His grace.

"Bind" : The entire statement reads literally, “Whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” The meaning evidently is this, that the church on earth will require only what heaven requires and will prohibit only what heaven prohibits. This seems to be the clear teaching of the Scriptures (see Matt. 7:21–27; Mark 7:6–13). As the apostles went forth to proclaim the gospel, according to the commission entrusted to them (see Matt. 28:19, 20), they were to teach converts “to observe all things whatsoever” Christ had commanded—no more and no less.

To extend the meaning of “bind” and “loose” to the authority to dictate what members of the church may believe and what they may do, in matters of faith and practice, is to read into these words of Christ more than He meant by them, and more than the disciples understood by them. Such a claim God does not sanction. Christ’s representatives on earth have the right and the responsibility to “bind” whatever has been “bound in heaven” and to “loose” whatever has been “loosed in heaven,” that is, to require or to prohibit whatever Inspiration clearly reveals. But to go beyond this is to substitute human authority for the authority of Christ (see Mark 7:7–9), a tendency that Heaven will not tolerate in those who have been appointed to the oversight of the citizens of the kingdom of heaven on earth.

Answer 7

Although Jesus' disciples did not understand it, Jesus knew He was abou to be crucified for the sins of mankind. And He was bringing God's kingdom to the earth by establishing His Christian church with His disciples. Here Jesus was tellng Peter that he would be empowered by God to do the same miracles that they had seen Jesus Himself do. They were God's agents upon the earth!

Answer 8

It means to me that if like you are a non-believer and you come to God through my help, then your souls will be bound in heaven.
If I would perhaps heal your illness or remove an evil spirit, that is loosing them from you, not binding them to you as satan would, and you will be healed through Christ's Holy Name, Jesus, on Earth.
Rev. TomCat

Answer 9

It has to do with the things that a man speaks. With the power of what God gives to those who trust Him, certain things may be 'loosed' or 'bound'. It's an act of faith. I suppose that you can say that it is prayed, which it can be, but it can just be spoken, directly at the issue or object. (For faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen) .

Answer 10

Basically its quoting earth and heaven to be the same place, now many other religious folk may say differently but thats what its about.