The Binding Key

[Lamb]

John 20:21-23 "Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Jesus gives the authority of the Church, the office of the keys. He gives the authority to forgive or withhold forgiveness. This does not mean that our sins were not atoned for by Jesus and it does not say those sins are not forgiven by God. The binding key is the announcement that the unrepentant sinner refuses to repent and desires to remain in his sin, which is rejecting the grace given to him. Forgiveness is received by faith and if we reject that we are sinning we reject the forgiveness won for that sin...so the connection of the binding key is that the sinner refuses to believe in his sin which rejects the forgiveness.

 

[user1234]

John 20:21-23 "Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Jesus gives the authority of the Church, the office of the keys. He gives the authority to forgive or withhold forgiveness. This does not mean that our sins were not atoned for by Jesus and it does not say those sins are not forgiven by God. The binding key is the announcement that the unrepentant sinner refuses to repent and desires to remain in his sin, which is rejecting the grace given to him. Forgiveness is received by faith and if we reject that we are sinning we reject the forgiveness won for that sin...so the connection of the binding key is that the sinner refuses to believe in his sin which rejects the forgiveness.

Hi, Lämm.
If I may ask...
When you start threads like this, are they your own opinions/conclusions ... Or a collaboration with others and then posted in agreement ... Or someone else's teaching altogether, that you're re-quoting or re-wording?

I'm not judging, just curious, but I do have a reason for asking.

 

[Lamb]

Hi, Lämm.
If I may ask...
When you start threads like this, are they your own opinions/conclusions ... Or a collaboration with others and then posted in agreement ... Or someone else's teaching altogether, that you're re-quoting or re-wording?

I'm not judging, just curious, but I do have a reason for asking.

If I am posting something I don't agree with then I state that outright. If I'm quoting someone I will post a link or a reference to who said it in some manner such as a title of a book. I'm usually posting things that pertain to what I believe unless I'm questioning what someone else believes and then I also post my beliefs as well within the thread. Does that answer all your questions?

 

[user1234]

If I am posting something I don't agree with then I state that outright. If I'm quoting someone I will post a link or a reference to who said it in some manner such as a title of a book. I'm usually posting things that pertain to what I believe unless I'm questioning what someone else believes and then I also post my beliefs as well within the thread. Does that answer all your questions?

No. I wasnt talking about posting in general, or replying to others in an ongoing dialogue, I meant specifically when you START A NEW THREAD, like this one,

is it something you discussed with someone and then agreed to start a thread about it and collaborated on the wording? Or...

Is it from a previous text/teaching/sermon that you perhaps agree with and decided to post a thread about? Or...

Is it just your own opinion that you came up with, either thru private prayer or prsonal scripture reading?

I was just curious how you go about starting threads of this nature ... Particularly this one, and some others similar to it, that's all. :tea:

 

[Lamb]

No. I wasnt talking about posting in general, or replying to others in an ongoing dialogue, I meant specifically when you START A NEW THREAD, like this one,

is it something you discussed with someone and then agreed to start a thread about it and collaborated on the wording? Or...

Is it from a previous text/teaching/sermon that you perhaps agree with and decided to post a thread about? Or...

Is it just your own opinion that you came up with, either thru private prayer or prsonal scripture reading?

I was just curious how you go about starting threads of this nature ... Particularly this one, and some others similar to it, that's all. :tea:

I am a prolific reader. I get ideas for new threads throughout the day from driving down the road, to reading sermons online, to reading other message boards, to singing hymns, to chatting with friends, to seeing memes on Facebook, etc...the list goes on and on.

God encouraged me that this forum needed to be created and thankfully my friend Romanos provided that outlet. At some points I thought the site would die and that God was finished with it. But then he brings into my mind a thousand topics to discuss. So I just add them as they pop into my head.

 

[Pedrito]

From Post #1:

John 20:21-23 "Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

It would seem that Jesus conferred upon those present at that point, either the indwelling Holy Spirit or the power to exercise the remitting and retaining that follows.

That sparks two questions.

1. How does that compare to what happened at Pentecost?

2. What did Thomas miss out on, seeing that he wasn't present (John 20:24)?

 

[Cassia]

Matthew 18:18
Truly I say to you, Whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
John 20:23
Whosever sins you forgive, they are forgiven them; and whosever sins you retain, they are retained.​

To bind means to condemn, and to loose means to forgive. The Lord's way of condemning allows for one's own words to do the condemning.

Matthew 26:25
And Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, I am not the one, am I, Rabbi? He said to him, You have said it yourself.​

Only the Lord was able to condemn the woman caught in adultery and He would not. It makes me wonder if the power to bind and lose won't end up being a test upon the church because it was also a test of Jesus' authority when He forgave the man lifted down thru the ceiling. The Pharisees condemned Him because "only God can forgive"

John 16:8
And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and concerning righteousness and concerning​

In conviction people condemn themselves. But it is God who forgives.

1 Corinthians 4:5
So then do not judge anything before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then there will be praise to each from God.
1 John 3:20
Because if our heart blames us, it is because God is greater than our heart and knows all things.​

 

[Pedrito]

Actually, there is a third question.

Post #1:

John 20:21-23 "Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Jesus gives the authority of the Church, the office of the keys. He gives the authority to forgive or withhold forgiveness. This does not mean that our sins were not atoned for by Jesus and it does not say those sins are not forgiven by God. The binding key is the announcement that the unrepentant sinner refuses to repent and desires to remain in his sin, which is rejecting the grace given to him. Forgiveness is received by faith and if we reject that we are sinning we reject the forgiveness won for that sin...so the connection of the binding key is that the sinner refuses to believe in his sin which rejects the forgiveness.

Question 3.

Why would Jesus need to bestow the Holy Spirit onto the disciples, for them to be able to tell people that "the unrepentant sinner refuses to repent and desires to remain in his sin, which is rejecting the grace given to him", and that "Forgiveness is received by faith and if we reject that we are sinning we reject the forgiveness won for that sin..."?

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I remember seeing specific reports in the past of false (unregenerate) preachers proclaiming that same style of message for financial gain. Maybe others remember as well.

So if that proclamation can be made without the Holy Spirit, could the significance of John 20:21-23 be somewhat different from what has been suggested?

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Perhaps the answer to Question 3 can be included with the answers to the former two questions in Post #6:

1. How does that [John 20:21-23] compare to what happened at Pentecost?

2. What did Thomas miss out on, seeing that he wasn't present (John 20:24)?

Proverbs 3:13: Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
Proverbs 8:11: For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

I, for one, wish to be happy through wisdom and understanding.

(And I have not overlooked: Psalms 111:10; Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 9:10; Proverbs 15:33; and other verses – I pointed that out just in case anyone was tempted to turn attention away from the questions asked.)