Matthew 18:15 – 20 NIV
15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of
you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one
or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two
or three witnesses.’ d 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they
refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever
you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it
will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my
name, there am I with them.” [1]
As believers, we often yearn for what we term ‘God’s manifest presence.’ We want to feel, if you will, God’s presence. Jesus teaches us how we can know that He Himself, God’s Son, is with us in this way and that experiencing His presence is not meant just for our mere spiritual pleasure.
When we examine Matthew 18:15-17, we find Jesus teaching us what to do when a fellow believer sins against us or wrongs us. He gives us three steps to follow to resolve the offense, and He makes it plain. Step one, go to the person to point out the offense, just the two of you (nobody else); if he or she listens to you, recognizing the offense, the issue is resolved. I dare say that eighty to ninety percent of all conflicts would be resolved immediately if we adhered to step one. Step two, if he or she does not listen, involve one or two others as witnesses to resolve the offense. You should not taint these witnesses to be on your side before this meeting. Finally, if steps one and two fail, Jesus instructs us in step three to take the matter to the church, most likely leaders in the church. If he or she still refuses to listen, then he or she is to be treated like an outsider.
In Matthew 18:18, we arrive at what I initially believed to be this post's subject: binding and loosing. Resolving conflict is how we exercise forgiveness and the love of God through Jesus Christ. When we violate steps one, two, and three and deal with offenses in our own way, we tarnish the witness of the body of Christ. Our own sins are amplified far beyond those who brought the offense when we fail to forgive one another, which means we miss the mark on how we have been instructed to love one another as Christ has loved us (John 13:34-35), which then means the watching world cannot see or tell that we are disciples of Christ. All of this leads us away from the command to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20) and to be Christ’s witnesses in the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). So now when we read Matthew 18:18 about binding and loosing, we understand what needs to be bound and what needs to be loosed. Sin and its spiraling outcomes must be bound, and love marked by forgiveness must be loosed.
What do you think? Are we loosing what should be loosed or binding what should be bound? Or is it that when we go our own way, we are loosing what should be bound and binding what should be loosed?
Loose love and forgiveness. Bind sin or offenses by choosing to follow what Jesus has taught us in this text and through His very life.
Please recognize that in this passage, you or I could be on either side of the conflict. Just as someone may have offended us, we, too, may have been the offender (Matthew 5:23-24). No matter what side we land on, we should follow Jesus' steps to resolve the matter.
Binding and loosing are done in community or fellowship with other believers, and our yearning for God’s presence is satisfied as Jesus emphatically teaches us in Matthew 18:19-20 that “… if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
When we agree about anything we ask for, it will be done by God, our Father in heaven. Why? Because when two or three of us gather in Jesus’ name, (keep in mind step one and step two), He is with us! When we follow Jesus together, He is with us! Immanuel (Matthew 1:23), which means “God with us,” is with us! To God be the glory for what He does through us when we gather in His name and agree!
There’s no better way to close out this post than to pray the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples to pray. As we pray this prayer, note the plural pronouns, note the references to God’s will on earth as it is in heaven, note the reciprocity of forgiveness, note the request for help not to sin … Let us note the volume and magnitude of this whole prayer together in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Matthew 6:9-15 NIV
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“ ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
[1] The New International Version (Mt 18:15–20). (2011). Zondervan.
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