Tag: Prosperity Gospel

Christian, Jews

What Is the Real Meaning of Binding and Loosing?

Cindy Dawson

 Jesus told His disciples, “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.” Matthew 18:18 NASB

What do you think Jesus is teaching His disciples in this passage? Many people believe He is teaching how to engage in spiritual warfare.

But if you study this verse in context, it will become clear that Jesus is not talking about spiritual warfare or special powers. Jesus is talking about conflict resolution in this passage. Read the verses that precede v. 18 to examine the context:

 Now if your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother.  But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that on the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be confirmed. And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, he is to be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 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.” Matthew 18:15-18 NASB Read full chapter

In the Jewish tradition, a rabbi would “bind” (meaning forbid) a certain thing. Or they might “loose” (meaning permit) an activity which might be questionable.

Verse 18 means that what is permitted or not permitted is determined in heaven, not on earth.

As you study the context, it will become clear that Jesus was not teaching on spiritual warfare. He was not teaching His disciples that they could speak to spiritual forces of darkness and “bind” them, meaning to tie them up, taking away their power.

I believed this at one time, but as I studied His Word, God corrected me. As we listen to Bible teachers, we must always consider the context. If we don’t, false teaching can deceive us. (False teaching is often dependent on taking verses out of context.) Never underestimate the power of deception. It is no small, inconsequential enemy.

Never underestimate Satan’s power, and never underestimate his ability to deceive us … “

Billy Graham

The Apostle Paul admonishes Timothy, his son in the faith:

“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.  For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 2 Timothy 4:2-4 NIV Read full chapter

Jesus said, “Consider carefully what you hear,” Mark 4:24 NIV

This passage emphasizes the importance of discerning truth from falsehood, rather than passively absorbing information. 

The key to spreading deception is to convince the audience that the information being taught comes from Revelation Knowledge, something other churches don’t understand because they have a religious spirit. This is pride.

I know this because I experienced it. But the Lord opened my eyes.

If you want to know more about my experience with false teaching, see my post, Rescued From Word of Faith HERE and What Does the Word of God Say About the “Prosperity Gospel”? HERE.

My prayer is that the Church will be wise and discerning by loving the truth, and examining God’s Word daily. I hope that this study on binding and loosing will be helpful as you study God’s Word, the Bible.

In His Love, Cindy

Do you want to know more about Jesus? See my page Who Is Jesus?

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you.”

Psalm 122:6

RealChristianWomen.blog

Christian

How Do I Know If That’s True?

Cindy Dawson

Why do people believe a lie?

Many times, people believe a lie when that lie is something they want to be true. Sometimes people believe a lie because they have heard it so many times. In fact, a study at Villanova University proved just that. If a person hears something often enough, they will start to believe it’s true.

Is there any way to know what is really true and what is not? There is! God’s Word is true. The longer you study it, the more you will realize how true and relevant it is today!

One of the best things you can do to protect yourself is to commit to a “Read the Bible in a Year” chronological reading plan. The reason I recommend it so highly is that you will be exposed to “the whole counsel of God’s Word” and begin to see God’s Word as the complete story of Christ.

At the very least, read the New Testament cover to cover at least once a year (although twice a year would be better). But remember that the Apostle Paul encouraged Timothy saying,

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16 NIV

Paul is talking about the Old Testament! It must not be neglected because it has much to teach us! Some preachers have said the Old Testament is not relevant today, but that is clearly a contradiction of 2 Timothy 3:16.

Many preachers claim God wants you to be wealthy and rich. That’s called the “Prosperity Gospel” and it’s very popular. (Possibly one of those things people believe because they want it to be true.) But the Bible says something different.

“These are the things you are to teach and insist on. If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.” 1 Timothy 6:2-5 NIV

Errant teaching thrives when specific verses are taken out of context, as in the two examples above. We can pray for discernment, but we must still check what is preached against the Word of God.

Let’s take Harriet as an example. Harriet goes to church on Sunday, has a devotional at home (usually a passage from Psalms, and reads random verses for encouragement. She even attends a Ladies’ Bible Study in which they study the latest best-selling book of a well-known Christian author. For the most part, Harriet gives well-known Christian personalities a lot of respect and she trusts their teaching. She has attended church her whole adult life.

Here’s the question I have for you: Is Harriet a mature Christian woman? Is she safe from false teaching? She thinks she is. But is she? Is she developing discernment? Take another look at Harriet’s habits. She depends almost entirely on Bible teachers to guide her beliefs. She has never read the whole Bible, not even the entire New Testament. Is she well-equipped to recognize false teaching or is she vulnerable? You decide.

In his book, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment, Tim Challies compares spiritual discernment with identifying counterfeit currency.

Challies writes, “We can best know what is wrong by first knowing what is right. Experts on counterfeit currency know this as well. They train others first to know the traits of genuine currency… Experts in counterfeit money study every aspect of their currency including how it feels and every detail of its appearance and color. Only after they do this are they shown counterfeit currency. And guess what? They know immediately what is not real!”

In the same way, the better we know the Bible the easier it will be to discern truth from error.

“I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.” Psalm 119:16 NIV (emphasis mine)

Learn more about discernment in the following articles:

 How To Be a Discerning Christian

Why Do Christians Listen to False Teachers?

The Skill of Discernment

In His Love, Cindy

Do you want to know more about Jesus? See my page Who Is Jesus?

Photo by Kristina Paparo on Unsplash

RealChristianWomen.blog