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O2. Acknowledging and Utilizing Our Spiritual Authority.    [Make a Comment]

We are to acknowledge & appropriately utilize our spiritual authority to "bind" & "loose".

This precept is derived from His Word (blessed be He):

Key Scriptures

BINDING & LOOSING

Matthew 16:18-19
I also tell you this: you are Kefa," [which means 'Rock,'] "and on this rock I will build my Community, and the gates of Sh'ol will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.

Matthew 18:18
Yes! I tell you people that whatever you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.

Matthew 18:19
To repeat, I tell you that if two of you here on earth agree about anything people ask, it will be for them from my Father in heaven.

FORGIVING SINS

Matthew 18:21-22
Then Kefa came up and said to him, "Rabbi, how often can my brother sin against me and I have to forgive him? As many as seven times?" "No, not seven times," answered Yeshua, "but seventy times seven!"

Mark 11:25
And when you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive your offenses.

Luke 17:3-4
Watch yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. Also, if seven times in one day he sins against you, and seven times he comes to you and says, "I repent," you are to forgive him.

John 20:23
If you forgive someone's sins, their sins are forgiven; if you hold them, they are held.

James 5:14-15
Is someone among you ill? He should call for the elders of the congregation. They will pray for him and rub olive oil on him in the name of the Lord. The prayer offered with trust will heal the one who is ill - the Lord will restore his health; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

HEALING & CASTING OUT DEMONS

Matthew 17:14-20
As they came up to the crowd, a man approached Yeshua, kneeled down in front of him, and said, "Sir, have mercy on my son, because he is an epileptic and has such terrible fits that he often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your talmidim, but they couldn't heal him." Yeshua answered, "Perverted people, without any trust! How long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me!" Yeshua rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, so that from that moment he was healed. Then the talmidim went to him privately and said, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" He said to them, "Because you have such little trust! Yes! I tell you that if you have trust as tiny as a mustard seed, you will be able to say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there!' and it will move; indeed, nothing will be impossible for you!"

Mark 16:17a
And these signs will accompany those who do trust: in my name they will drive out demons ...

Acts 9:32-35a
As Kefa traveled around the countryside, he came down to the believers in Lud. There he found a man named Aeneas who had lain bedridden for eight years, because he was paralyzed. Kefa said to him, "Aeneas! Yeshua the Messiah is healing you! Get up, and make your bed!" Everyone living in Lud and the Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

Acts 14:8-10
There was a man living in Lystra who could not use his feet - crippled from birth, he had never walked. This man listened to Sha'ul speaking. Sha'ul, looking at him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, "Stand up on your feet!" He jumped up and began to walk.

James 5:14-15
Is someone among you ill? He should call for the elders of the congregation. They will pray for him and rub olive oil on him in the name of the Lord. The prayer offered with trust will heal the one who is ill - the Lord will restore his health; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

RAISING FROM THE DEAD

Acts 9:35b-41
Now in Yafo there was a talmidah named Tavita (which means "gazelle"); she was always doing tzedakah and other good deeds. It happened that just at that time, she took sick and died. After washing her, they laid her in a room upstairs. Lud is near Yafo, and the talmidim had heard that Kefa was there, so they sent two men to him and urged him, "Please come to us without delay." Kefa got up and went with them. When he arrived, they led him into the upstairs room. All the widows stood by him, sobbing and showing all the dresses and coats Tavita had made them while she was still with them. But Kefa put them all outside, kneeled down and prayed. Then, turning to the body, he said, "Tavita! Get up!" She opened her eyes; and on seeing Kefa, she sat up. He offered her his hand and helped her to her feet; then, calling the believers and the widows, he presented her to them alive.

JUDICIAL AUTHORITY

Deuteronomy 17:8-13
If a case comes before you at your city gate which is too difficult for you to judge, concerning bloodshed, civil suit, personal injury or any other controversial issue; you are to get up, go to the place which ADONAI your God will choose, and appear before the cohanim, who are L'vi'im, and the judge in office at the time. Seek their opinion, and they will render a verdict for you. You will then act according to what they have told you there in that place which ADONAI will choose; you are to take care to act according to all their instructions. In accordance with the Torah they teach you, you are to carry out the judgment they render, not turning aside to the right or the left from the verdict they declare to you. Anyone presumptuous enough not to pay attention to the cohen appointed there to serve ADONAI your God or to the judge - that person must die. Thus you will exterminate such wickedness from Isra'el- all the people will hear about it and be afraid to continue acting presumptuously.

Matthew 18:15-18
Moreover, if your brother commits a sin against you, go and show him his fault - but privately, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he doesn't listen, take one or two others with you so that every accusation can be supported by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to hear them, tell the congregation; and if he refuses to listen even to the congregation, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax-collector. Yes! I tell you people that whatever you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.

THE POWER AUTHORITY OF FAITH

Matthew 17:19-20
Then the talmidim went to him privately and said, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" He said to them, "Because you have such little trust! Yes! I tell you that if you have trust as tiny as a mustard seed, you will be able to say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there!' and it will move; indeed, nothing will be impossible for you!"

Matthew 21:20-21
The talmidim saw this and were amazed. "How did the fig tree dry up so quickly?" they asked. Yeshua answered them, "Yes! I tell you, if you have trust and don't doubt, you will not only do what was done to this fig tree; but even if you say to this mountain, 'Go and throw yourself into the sea!' it will be done.

Mark 11:22-24
He responded, "Have the kind of trust that comes from God! Yes! I tell you that whoever does not doubt in his heart but trusts that what he says will happen can say to this mountain, 'Go and throw yourself into the sea!' and it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, trust that you are receiving it, and it will be yours.

Luke 17:5-6
The emissaries said to the Lord, "Increase our trust." The Lord replied, "If you had trust as tiny as a mustard seed, you could say to this fig tree, 'Be uprooted and replanted in the sea!' and it would obey you.

THE POWER AUTHORITY OF PRAYER

Matthew 7:7-11
Keep asking, and it will be given to you; keep seeking, and you will find; keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps asking receives; he who keeps seeking finds; and to him who keeps knocking, the door will be opened. Is there anyone here who, if his son asks him for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? So if you, even though you are bad, know how to give your children gifts that are good, how much more will your Father in heaven keep giving good things to those who keep asking him!

Matthew 21:20-22
The talmidim saw this and were amazed. "How did the fig tree dry up so quickly?" they asked. Yeshua answered them, "Yes! I tell you, if you have trust and don't doubt, you will not only do what was done to this fig tree; but even if you say to this mountain, 'Go and throw yourself into the sea!' it will be done. In other words, you will receive everything you ask for in prayer, no matter what it is, provided you have trust."

Mark 9:27-28
But Yeshua took him by the hand and raised him to his feet, and he stood up After Yeshua had gone indoors, his talmidim asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" He said to them "This is the kind of spirit that can be driven out only by prayer."

Mark 11:22-24
He [Yeshua] responded, "Have the kind of trust that comes from God! Yes! I tell you that whoever does not doubt in his heart but trusts that what he says will happen can say to this mountain, 'Go and throw yourself into the sea!' and it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, trust that you are receiving it, and it will be yours.

John 14:12-14
Yes, indeed! I tell you that whoever trusts in me will also do the works I do! Indeed, he will do greater ones, because I am going to the Father. In fact, whatever you ask for in my name, I will do; so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me for something in my name, I will do it

Commentary

Amazing as it seems, disciples of Yeshua have been given spiritual authority to permit or prohibit things to happen on earth that are reflected in heaven. This is sometimes referred to as "binding" and "loosing", and is conditioned upon our using the authority in a way that is consistent with God's will. The authority is given to us as servants of Yeshua, and whereas it is our decision when to use it, it must be understood that we do so "in the name of Yeshua", and that it is Yeshua and not we that brings the result to pass.1

"Loosing" from disease and "binding" of healing is a spiritual authority we have been given among others. According to the Scripture, we have authority (in the name of Yeshua) to declare healing, to cast out demons, and even to raise from the dead. In the western world we experience our authority to cast out demons fairly often, to heal not so often, and to raise from the dead almost never. We do, however, receive testimonies from believers of these happening in other parts of the world where all three appear to be substantially active. Why not also here in the western world is speculative.

A special explanation is needed concerning our authority to forgive sins pursuant to John 20:23, as we generally consider that in Yeshua's exclusive domain. John 20:23 states:

If you forgive someone's sins, their sins are forgiven; if you hold them, they are held.

Clearly, this is an extension and secondary application of our authority to "bind" and "loose", but it is limited to sins that are committed against us personally and is not authority to forgive sins generally. One way to understand this is to first consider Luke 17:3-4, which commands us to forgive sins that are committed against us if the perpetrator of the sins repents (Luke 17:3-4). God gives that authority to the victims of sin in order to put a burden on the perpetrator to approach the person he or she injured and try to make it right. The John 20:23 Scripture should be looked at in the same way.

Finally, batei din have authority to "bind" and "loose". Reminiscent of Deuteronomy 17:8-13, God gives authority to our batei din to hear and decide cases, and He honors those beit din judgments that are appropriately rendered:

Matthew 18:17-18:  If he refuses to hear them, tell the congregation [the beit din]; and if he refuses to listen even to the congregation [beit din], treat him as you would a pagan or a tax-collector [unbeliever]. Yes! I tell you people that whatever you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.

So, therefore, if a beit din makes such a finding we are to treat the adjudged person as no longer a believer.2


1. It is not we who do the miracles, but rather they are caused by our declarations on earth being reflected in Heaven.

2. In the New Covenant, the judicial authority of the Apostles (and today's elders) replaced that of the Sanhedrin.


Classical Commentators

This Mitzvah is not addressed by any of the classical commentators.

NCLA: JMm JFm KMm KFm GMm GFm

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