The Keys of Forgiveness

Now that we've looked at authority, what it means and what kind we have, let's examine another aspect of authority that we often hear about: "binding and loosing." 

Keys to the Kingdom, a photo by Steve Snodgrass on Flickr.

What comes to your mind when you hear that phrase? Today it is often applied to demonic presences, as in "binding the strong man" (Mark 3:27). Addictions are said to be bound and loosed, people say that we can bind poverty and loose prosperity. Health issues and guilt are some other issues that can supposedly be bound and loosed. However, we might just find that this authority has a lot more to do with forgiving one another than with casting out demons.


Matthew 16
Let's look at the context for this phrase in Matthew 16:13-20. Jesus has just asked his disciples who they think He is, and Peter came out and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus might have thought, "Ah, Father, I see. So this is the one that You've decided to reveal these things to (vs. 17)." Then Jesus starts talking about the Kingdom of Heaven and gives Peter the keys to it, saying, "whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." It sounds like Jesus is giving Peter carte blanche, doesn't it? We have to ask ourselves a few questions:

1. What was the significance of keys?
2. What does binding and loosing in the Kingdom of Heaven look like?
3. Was this authority to bind and loose limited to Peter alone?

What was the significance of keys?

The idea hearkens back to Isaiah 22:22, "Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder,/When he opens no one will shut,/When he shuts no one will open." The key on the shoulder was once a common sign of authority. It labelled someone as the official messenger or servant of king and gave them power to work on behalf of king. By giving keys to Peter, then, Jesus was not making him "Peter Almighty," but rather setting him up as a servant to administer authority in Jesus' name.

What does binding and loosing in the Kingdom of Heaven look like?
How did Peter use his authority to loose and bind later on in his ministry? In Acts 2:14-40 we see him proclaiming the Kingdom of Heaven for first time at Pentecost. He is acting with the authority of risen Lord, establishing the church. In a sense, then, he is unlocking the Kingdom of Heaven to welcome all who believe. Peter and John later unlock the Kingdom for the Samaritans in Acts 8:14-17 when they lay hands on them and the Spirit comes. In chapter 10 he goes to the Gentiles and unlocks the Kingdom for them after a vision. This is what it looks like to have the keys to the Kingdom.

Now are you getting an idea of what it means to bind and loose on earth and heaven? It means releasing people from their sin into freedom.

Was the authority to bind and loose limited to Peter alone?
Other translations talk of forbidding and permitting instead of binding and loosing, and this gives us another perspective. "Forbid" and "permit" are Rabbinical words used for the Law (for example, you are bound from doing work on Sabbath). When Jesus uses these words he does so in the pluperfect tense, "shall have been" or "shall have already been." So we might read, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall already have been loosed in heaven." It sounds like the same thing that Jesus said about only doing the will of His Father (John 6:38). Doesn't this put a different twist on things? 

There is no reason to believe that what Jesus said applied to Peter alone, neither was He giving Peter carte blanche. He gave Peter the authority to follow behind Heaven and bind what Heaven had already bound and loose what Heaven had already loosed.  

In looking over Peter's ministry we see that wherever Peter went was where Jesus had already been. Peter didn't plan out the redemption of the Samaritans and Gentiles, he was as surprised as everyone else, but the Lord already loosed their salvation. The world has come to see Christians as stupid because evangelicals have taken this authority to bind and loose and applied it to pretty much whatever we wish, while the Catholic church has put Peter in charge as Jesus' successor on earth. But that was not the original intent of the Kingdom authority. 


The idea here is that Peter is following Jesus' lead, just like we should. We should put the brakes on when we talk about kingdom authority, because we have to have confidence that Jesus is already doing something before we go out to name it and claim it. 

Binding, Loosing, and Forgiveness
So how are we supposed to know what and when to bind and loose? Read Matthew 18:15-20. Jesus talks about how to deal with a brother in Christ who sins; if he will not listen to reason he should be cast out of the church. Then He says this, "Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."

He then ties in another idea, "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." Is this more carte blanche? Should the church pray, then go buy lottery tickets? You can't take this out of context. The Greek word for "agree" (sumphóneó) is what we get the word "symphony" from. Even just two people can make a symphony (Matthew 18:20), but they must be in total agreement. I dare you to find an entire church body where everyone is in total agreement with one another on something that is not God's will! 

But did Jesus just change the subject, moving from binding to prayer? No, in vs. 21-23 it all comes back around. "Then Peter came and said to Him, 'Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?' Jesus said to him, 'I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves....'" 

Practical Application
How do all of these concepts (binding, loosing, forgiveness, prayer, the Kingdom of Heaven) work together? It all comes back to the idea of sin and binding or loosing (forgiving) someone from it. If a sinning brother doesn't repent, Heaven hasn't loosed him so you can't either. You must follow the lead of Heaven. If he does repent, you are free to loose him from that sin. Note: this doesn't mean that you should not forgive a brother as far as you are concerned (the penalty for not doing so is to reject forgiveness for yourself), but it does mean that you should "let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector" (Matthew 18:17).

Holding to what Heaven has already decreed is powerful, and forgiveness is one of the most powerful tools we have in the Kingdom of Heaven. Remember, we have the authority to execute Heaven's judgment. All must be done in accordance with Heaven's will. The keys to the Kingdom gave Peter this authority with the Gentiles, the same authority that you and I have with one another.