The Word of God is one meal with many courses. If we try and pull out one verse and make a theology out of it, we do a disservice to the Word of God and to the people who hear the words we are preaching. Many people have heard a lot and seen a little. One of the reasons for this is because we have not heard the Word of God spoken as the truth in which it was sent, rather we have a mixture of many things with the Word of God that sound good but don’t produce anything of substance.

I was reading Matthew 18 this morning and verse 18 says, “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.” We have been taught to bind and loose many things, this verse is popular in many settings, but especially in prayer meetings. The challenge is, the enemy is still running rampant in our culture, country and personal lives, because this verse is not about what we have been taught. If this verse is read in the context of the one dish (sermon/discourse) Jesus was speaking it in, we would profit from it, but since it has been extracted out as a one verse theology about binding and loosing, we do not even know what Jesus was telling us to bind and what to loose.

In context, Matthew 18:15-35 is one discourse and the subject is forgiveness of someone who has sinned against you. Now put binding and loosing in that context, if we loose people (forgive them) for the sin they have committed against us, heaven looses them, if we bind them (don’t forgive them) from the sin they committed against us, heaven does not loose them from it either. This is powerful and puts great responsibility on us to be people who are forgiving not with lips but from our heart. It is even a greater call when you hear Jesus’ final words on this subject “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.” (Matthew 18:35)

My friends, one of the greatest weaknesses of the body of Christ is that we expect to be forgiven but we do not want to forgive. This is an injustice the kingdom of God does not tolerate. If you don’t forgive, you can’t be forgiven, it is a sowing and reaping principle. We must forgive others, no matter the sin they have committed against us. Jesus calls people wicked who are forgiven but don’t forgive. We as the body of Christ talk a lot about repenting for the seen sins of our nation, but the hidden sin of believers is unforgiveness and this is the real point of repentance we need to realize if we want to see as much as we are hearing. Selah!