📖 Biblical Definition
Binding and loosing is the rabbinic vocabulary Christ uses in Matthew 16:19 and 18:18 to describe the authority given first to Peter and then to the church: whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. In rabbinic context the verbs meant declare forbidden and declare permitted; in church context they extend to discipline, declaration, and intercessory authority.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
(Mt 16:19; 18:18.) Christ's grant of authority to the church to declare forbidden / permitted, and to bind and loose in pastoral judgment.
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Rabbinic background: asar (to bind, declare forbidden) and shara (to loose, declare permitted) were technical halakhic verbs. Rabbis bound and loosed in their rulings on the Mosaic law.
Christ extends the vocabulary to the church: pastoral discipline (Mt 18:15-18, the offending brother), declarative authority (Mt 16:19, Peter's confession-grounded keys), and prayer (Mt 18:19-20, agreed prayer's power).
📖 Key Scripture
Matthew 16:19 — "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
Matthew 18:18 — "Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
John 20:23 — "Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained."
Matthew 12:29 — "Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man?"
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Two errors flank binding-and-loosing: Roman over-extension (papal infallibility) and charismatic over-extension (binding demons by name with no biblical warrant). The actual New Testament practice is church-discipline-grade.
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Matthew 18 grounds binding and loosing in pastoral discipline of the church: the offending brother, the gathered two or three, the agreed prayer, the heaven-recognized verdict. The authority is real; its first application is local-church discipline and the declaration of sin's forgiveness on confession.
The strong-man passage (Mt 12:29) extends the vocabulary into spiritual warfare: Christ binds the strong man before plundering his goods. The saint, in Christ, participates in this binding by exercising authority Christ has given. But the practice should track Scripture closely.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek deō (to bind) and luō (to loose).
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Greek deō — to bind, tie; rabbinic asar.
Greek luō — to loose, untie; rabbinic shara.
Usage
"First application: local-church discipline and forgiveness-declaration."
"Strong-man binding precedes plundering his goods."
"Practice should track Scripture closely."