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Here's my take on "binding and loosing. Matthew 16:19 says, "and I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven:" Here it's singular. In Chapter 18 it's plural, so it's not just Peter, but all of them!
Keys is a Hebrew symbol of authority. A person that had the keys was in charge. He says I'll give you the keys, the authority. We know keys unlock things for entrance.
Literal translation of Matthew 16:19:
"And whatsoever thou shall bind on earth shall (have been) bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall (have been) loosed in heaven."
The Perfect Tense verbs in the Greek text tell me that Jesus is not giving them or the church the authority to go around binding and loosing. In Chapter 18, Matthew tells us that it has do with sin.
In 1 John 3:8, the word "loosed" is used for how Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.
When a person gets saved, they are loosed from Satan. So the church has authority to either bind someone to their sins or loose them from their sins. What gives us that authority? It's something that has already been established in heaven.
Thou shalt bind that which has been bound already in heaven. It's a condition. And thou shall loose on earth things that shall have been loosed in heaven already. The church is here to declare that which has already been determined in heaven. We're only proclaimers!
What right do I have to tell anybody that they need to receive Christ and His death for them on the cross to be saved? I have the authority to tell people that we've got the key. We (Christians) have got the key that unlocks the door. His name is Jesus!
If you receive Him, I have the authority to tell you that you have been loosed from your sins. If you refuse Him, I have the authority to tell you that if you continue to reject Him throughout your whole life, you'll be bound to your sins and you will die in your sins.
Blessings to you both!!!
Back to the discussion we were having. My thoughts about that and what I have been tought are:
In Matthew 16:19 and John 20:21-23, Jesus gives the apostles the right to forgive sins. So what does that mean? That they can take God's right to forgive or not? Well this doesn't sound right, does it?
I will go to that incident in Corinth whre a brother was having an affair with his father's wife. Paul suggests the members of that church to ( 1 Cor 5:4-5) " 4In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,5To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."
A similar case is described in Matthew 18:15-18. It is the case that a brother sins to another brother and dispite the church telling him to repent he wouldn't repent, so Jesus said "17And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.18Verily 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."
The above are cases that the church has the right to bind and free, forgive or not. The right of the church to exlude somebody from the congregation and deliver him to satan.
But a question may arise. What if the church is wrong and the specific brother is right. We know from history that many churches took advantage of those verses and exluded believers for all sort of reasons, even political reasons. I firmly believe that in such cases God doesn't pay any attention to such decisions, actualy He is the one who forgives or not.
But I would also like others to comment on those verse and see what they believe.
Have a blessed week.
Before I turn in, here's one I meant to ask you about.
You gave your interpretation on John 20:21-23. and paralleled it with Matthew 16:19.
Here's how it went.
Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.,
You interpreted this passage of scripture as the following;
( We, the church, have the right to forgive or retain the sins of people, only that it has to be done according to God's will.)
Giannis we don't have "The right " to forgive or retain the sins of people!
I believe as ambassadors for Christ We have the Gospel to present to the lost sinner. If you win a soul by way of the Gospel, you have loosed on earth that is already loosed in Heaven.
Only Christ can forgive sins.
God bless and Goodnight.
It costs something to be a disciple of Christ. To live for Christ is to let go of all our possessions, pick up our cross, and follow Him. We no longer live for ourselves, we live for the King. If Jesus can die on the cross for our sins, the least we can do if give him our life and proclaim the gospel to the whole world. "If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead. By: William Law
"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple." Luke 14:26
Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." Matthew 16:24-25
"We have suffered from the preaching of cheap grace. Grace is free, but it is not cheap. People will take anything that is free, but they are not interested in discipleship. They will take Christ as Savior but not as Lord." By: Vance Havne
Jesse, Jesus tells us that its impossible to live a worldly life, and still follow him!
GBU
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: WHO CAN KNOW IT?
Sometimes just because it felt right doesn't mean it was right, or spirit led.
Look at Peter in Matthew 16:22-24.
Peter never knew what get behind Christ meant until the filling of the Holyspirit.
Afterwards Peter ministered boldly the rest of his life knowing his fate.
"He would die".
I believe God gave his Church ministers Teachers, Preachers, ect and instructions by Paul how to function for orderly conduct.
And I believe that's whenever, wherever and however we meet.
I so called spiritually and Holy conduct shouldn't turn up a few notches upon entering the Church buildings.
We are a called out people who should carry out our orderly and organized conduct to a visual and conflicting world.
Christ was the head of the Church and even though he came to gather the lost sheep of Israel, he conducted himself the same way outside of Jerusalem as he did inside Jerusalem.
If we stay behind Christ and his word we will be Spirit led and when we get off course it's the Spirit that will correct us.
God bless.
To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I (Paul) forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ;
Doesn't the above remind us of the discussion Peter had with Jesus:
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."
Also when Jesus appeared to his disciples after His resurrection?
John 20:21-23,
"21Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 23Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
We, the chuech, have the right to forgive or retain the sins of people, only that it has to be done according to God's will.
Your thinking is from human perspective, a stumblingblock, not from GOD's perspective- Matthew 16:23-23.
In Romans 5:9 Paul was speaking of the salvation of the wrath, NOT of the salvation of the tribulation. It seems you don't know to distinghish between WRATH and TRIBULATION. When Paul, author of Romans, returned to Lystra, and Iconium and Antioch- Acts 14:22-, he said to the believers to exhort the disciples to continue in the faith, because we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of GOD(as is written in Revelation 11:15-18 and 1 Cor.15:24-26).
Furthermore, you repetidly say in your post the Father WRATHED against His Son, the Christ, the Messiah, what you are preaching will NEVER happended, GOD the Father NEVER wrathed against His Son, so what you wrote is devilish, in fact is satanic. As was revealed to Isaiah "Surely he -JESUS, the Messiah- hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, He was WOUNDED for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the CHASTISEMENT WAS UPON HIM (NOT THE WRATH OF THE FATHER AS YOU IN MALIGN SENSE WROTE) and with His stripes we are healed. Yeah, GOD NEVER wrathed against His own Son. By the way, your evil post is a confirmation of what is written the Word of GOD: "he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth"- John 3:31:
Your interpretation of Scriptures is not different of the man of sin, son of perdition- Genesis 3:1, but equal. GOD forbid us.
Well, in fact "no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him- Matthew 11:27. It's it.
Your overriding message is not even recognisable to anyone truly living in God's Spirit. The best advice I can give you is to pray for humility and pray that you will learn to Fear God my friend, as this is the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs 9:10
The Way. Matthew 16:24 "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."
I pray that you can find humility my friend, and remember: we do not know when our time is up.
GBU
I find that getting into arguments with those who don't want to listen is a waste of time. Yes, we should share the gospel message of salvation as the Lord leads, but what we have (Christ) is precious, and if someone refuses to listen, we simply walk away and not cast our pearls before the swine.
Now, is it wrong for us to "tell them that unrepentant sinners will go to hell?" No!
You say that you also feel somewhat hypocritical because it's not up to you to decide who goes to hell and who doesn't.
That is true. It is not up to us to decide. But, you should not feel hypocritical for telling someone that.
Please allow me to share this with you:
In Matthew 16:19, it says, "and I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven:" Here it is singular. But in Chapter 18 it is plural. So it is not just Peter, it is all of them!
Now, "keys" is a Hebrew symbol of authority. A person that had the keys was in charge. You can go back to some of the earlier documents in the Old Testament and see that the person that had the keys was in charge.
And some of the kings would get a little frustrated because whoever had the keys was in charge, and if you can't find him, of course you make the king mad, and they would have a new key bearer pretty soon!
He says I'll give you the keys. I'll give you the authority. We know that keys unlock things for entrance.
It says, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Let me share with you what it is literally saying from the Greek:
Whatsoever thou shall bind on earth, shall (have been) bound in heaven."
Please know that this is very important to understand, and I'll give it to you again. It reads "And whatsoever thou shall bind on earth shall (have been) bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall (have been) loosed in heaven."
I am out of space so I need to send a part 2
Here are some Scriptures for you that speak about Hell (Hades, as opposed to Gehenna or Tartarus): Matthew 11:23, Matthew 16:18; Luke 10:15, Luke 16:23; Acts 2:27,31; Revelation 1:18, Revelation 6:8, Revelation 20:13,14. Yes, Hades is a very real place where the dead pre-Cross went, both the righteous & unrighteous. And they had to go there when they died, for the Work of the Cross was not completed & their salvation was not secured. Only the shed Blood of Jesus could save them & us - they had to wait for it & their release from Hades.
The picture of mankind in Romans 3 (of Jew & Gentile) tells us that all are sinners & that circumcision or the Law gave no profit to the Jew. Only the "faith of Jesus Christ" & by His Redemptive Work can a sinner be justified by faith. I see nothing in this chapter about the "Salvation of OT Believers" - only of 'faith vs the law', for instruction to the Church in Rome, and by extension, believers beyond them in space & time.
So, when Peter was called PETROS, or Cephas in Aramaic, and remember in John Chapter 1, Jesus said you will be called Cephas. Well, at this particular time in Matthew 16:18 is when Jesus named him PETROS. It's a spiritual name. It's a rock. But it's not a foundation stone. That's PETRA, and that's Jesus.
Simon Peter, Andrew, and their father were from the village called Bethsaida, on the Northeastern side of the Sea of Galilee. They later moved to Capernaum to continue their fishing business, as recorded in Mark 1:21, and Mark 1:29. The reason for the move was because Capernaum was the Lord's home during much of his public ministry.
Luke 4:38-39 tells us that Peter was married. In this account, Jesus heals Simon Peter's mother-in-law who was sick with a fever. Simon Peter's wife also accompanied him on some of the missionary journeys as told to us in I Corinthians 9:5.
Simon Peter also appears to be the leader of the Apostles. In all four lists of the Apostles in the New Testament, Simon Peter is named first. Matthew 10:2-7; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:13-16; Acts 1:13.
In Acts Chapter 2, when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the disciples, Peter was the one who gave the first sermon.
In Acts Chapter 4, Peter is the one answering to the Sanhedrin (the religious council of the Jews). They pulled the disciples in and said you cannot preach the resurrection anymore in the name of Jesus. It was Peter who responded and spoke for the disciples.
In Acts Chapter 5, Peter is the one administering discipline in the Church. So, he's a leader.
In Matthew 16:18, the text that says, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church," the word "this" is called the Near Demonstrative, meaning Jesus was pointing to Himself.
In the New Testament, Peter (PETROS) is Simon Peter, and Jesus Christ is called PETRA. The church is built upon Christ, not Peter! There is a group that has split off and they believe that this text is saying that Jesus said, "You are Peter, and upon this rock, that Jesus was pointing to Peter and saying upon you, I will build my church." Well, the grammar of the verse, and the usage of the word throughout the New Testament won't even allow it.
The reason I bring this up is that it allows me to introduce something else to you. What a person believes about a text is important. You can say this person teaches this, and another person teaches that, and somebody else teaches something different, but you can't leave it at that. You can't leave it at what a person teaches. You have to also ask why?
For instance, a person can come along and say "Well, Jesus is talking about Peter here. He's not talking about Himself," and then just start talking about something else. And it's like wait a minute, you hold that position, but why do you hold that position from the text? So as a Christian, it's not just a matter of saying so and so teaches this, and so and so teaches that. The question has to be asked "Why do they teach it?"
If somebody comes along and says the two Greek words being used here, one of them means trash can, and the other means pole, then we have a problem because each teacher is using Greek to back up what they're saying it means. So, one of these guys is wrong!
My encouragement to you is not just to take various teachings that people teach, but find out why, especially if you are wondering if it's right or not. They should tell you why from the text or be available to tell you why. You can't just ask what. You have to ask why.
There are eight Simons in the New Testament. This Simon is designated in the New Testament as Simon Peter.
Peter's father was named Jonas. In Matthew 16:17, Jesus called Peter "Simon Bar-Jona, or Jonas. Bar means "son" in Aramaic and Jonas is Aramaic for John. So, Peter's original name is "Simon son of John."
Peter had a brother named Andrew. Andrew was the first to meet Jesus and come to know Him as Messiah as recorded in John 1:35-40.
Andrew introduces his brother Simon Peter to Jesus in John 1:41-42
At this time, that is, when Peter came to Jesus, Jesus tells Simon Peter that in the future he will be called Cephas, which is Peter in Aramaic. Both Cephas, and PETROS for Peter mean the same thing.
During the Lord's ministry when He was traveling in the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus applies the name Peter to Simon as recorded in Matthew 16:18. Jesus said, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
The name for Peter, when He says thou art Peter, the Greek word is PETROS. The Greek word for "rock," upon this rock, is PETRA. These are two different Greek words.
PETROS means "rock" or pebble. And PETRA means "foundation stone." They are two different things. One is a large foundation stone, and PETROS for Peter is a small stone or a pebble.
The word PETRA also is used for Jesus Christ in the New Testament. 1 Corinthians 10:4 is an example about the rock that followed the Jews in the wilderness, and this rock was Christ. And the word rock is PETRA.
Peter calls the Messiah PETRA in I Peter 2:7.
Always nice to hear from you, and thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I see it as: It is His way, not our way. Regarding the kingdom, hopefully it should be residing in us as in Luke 17:21 but we must be aware of 1 John 3:28 and Matt 6:24 as well as trying to save our lives, and surely we need to Matt 16:24 and must surely die to this life/world Matt 16:25.
And finally, Matthew 16:26
"For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
GBU
Greetings in Christ JESUS
Perfect. Perfect.
"Bit of advice, don't go to the Greek. A simple verse to explain it all is 1 John 5:7"
The Holy Spirit never uses us to interpret Scriptures by the letter, even in Greek, it is very danger thinking from human perspective, a stumbling block, not from GOD's perspective- Matthew 16:22-23.
He that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from above is above all. John 3:31
1John 3:1-3
1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of GOD: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.
2 Beloved, now are we the sons of GOD, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.
3 And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as e is pure.
Yet, as you wrote, "Our core values we know for sure but secondary issues we don't", which is what we need to emphasize & build up one another on, rather than on matters we know little or nothing about. Yet, it's always an interesting exercise to ponder even over such things. Blessings.
Thanks for responding, it's been a busy week, sorry for such a late response.
Part 1.
Acts 7:35-38 emphasis is on Moses not the Church. besides this gathering/church is the Nation Israel, Not Christ church "that he would later build mentioned in Matthew 16:18.
Christ have not been crucified yet, so the church couldn't have already been built.
The church was not built on the sacrifices of goats and calves, nor would it be built while the first tabernacle stood.
Church definition.
a calling out that is (concretely) a popular meeting especially a religious congregation (Jewish synagogue or Christian community of members on earth or saints in heaven or both
As you mentioned, In Matthew 16:18 Jesus says upon this rock he will build HIS CHURCH.
So, this rock that Jesus mentions in which he will build his Church, is a rock of offence and a stumbling block to the Jews, so this gathering "The Church " is not the gathering in the wilderness.
GIGI
Galatians 3:29. Is not talking about any promises back to the land here on earth. It's not a Kingdom verse at all. It's about a contrast between Salvation by faith and the works of the Law. That's not a land promises!
Theme; Galatians 3:1-2.
Vs 14) That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Also, Hebrews 11 is a chapter about faith!
The new Jerusalem comes down from heaven "After" The Millennium kingdom here on Earth. Revelation 21:1-2.
Revelation 20:7. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
See Part 2.
Acts 7:38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:
Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock{the LORD Jesus Christ}I will build my church{the Eternal Church, All True Believers throughout history, the ISRAEL OF GOD}; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Mark 4:34 But without a PARABLE spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.
The historical events that God records in the Bible are absolutely accurate in their historical account. But God did not record these events in the first instance to give us a history lesson. They are recorded to teach us some aspect of the Gospel which is God's Judgment and Salvation program for Mankind and this World.
And the Book of Jeremiah, like the entire Bible, is exactly that.
Thank you for your reply
Allow me to add a few more elements for analysis. JESUS was talking about the fulfillment of the Scriptures about Himself -JESUS is GOD-, when Peter rebuked Him, so He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of GOD, but merely HUMAN concerns." Matthew 16:23NIV
When Peter rebuked JESUS, an unexpected spiritual environment emerged out of the darkness and the Enemy spirit took a clincher/hook in the literal sense, and articulated the pseudo human goodness in Peter's mouth to put a stumble in the way of JESUS, as happened in temptation.
The lesson I draw for myself from the spiritual environment that emerged out in that moment involving Peter in his weakness before the Master, it is that as a human we must have much care to fall not in the same error of Peter Apostle, using our human conceptions and going against the Scriptures, even if our words seems be good and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom.
We need a lot of discernment, no? Ephesians 4:26-27KJV - Sin not ...:
Neither give place to the Devil.
Furthermore, Ephesians 6:10 to 18 in very important for us the lasts, mainly now at midnight, a hour of great danger, according the Word of GOD, and more a TURN of a Day in our GOD's watch as in Genesis 3:8-11 and NOW in Revelation 16:13-15.
GOD BLESS
See, our Lord JESUS said Judas Iscariots was a devil. John 6:70-71 : -->70 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
71 He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.
About Peter is different, first he was not a devil, but a true disciple of the LORD. What really happen? JESUS had just said to the disciples and reveals how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. The sound that comes out of Pedro's mouth contradict LITERALLY what JESUS had just said: Matthew 16:22 - Then Peter took JESUS, and began to REBUKE Him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. In that moment Peter spoke by the spirit of a mere or common man made of the dust, as it happened in Genesis 3:1, the spirit of Christ was replaced by the spirit of man born of Devil, bnorn of sin. It's terrible. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of GOD, it's is danger, very danger, to speak of the Word of GOD-the Word is GOD - by the spirit of man, and not by the Holy Spirit. It is very danger to peach the Word of GOD by the letter, the Holy Spirit doesn't do this because the letter kills, kills the souls.
GOD BLESS
Think about the evidence Christ presented that He was indeed the Messiah. Indeed; supernatural blindness HAD to be given; for Jesus even told people to believe Him even for the sake of His works ( John 14:11). And the verse was indicative of His being part of the Godhead. There were HUGE numbers of people being miraculously fed at least twice; people healed of blindness which had NEVER occurred even with the Old Testament miracles ( John 10:21); people who had demons cast out of them; as well as the miracles entrusted to the 12 Apostles and the 70 sent out two by two ( Luke 10:11). There was the undeniable proof of natural phenomenon at the crucifixion ( Matt. 27:54); as well as the 500 witnesses that saw Him; including the Apostles AFTER He was Resurrected and they all died except for John as martyrs; clearly they knew and believed the truth since denial would have saved their lives.
Unbelief therefore is something learned. Children are all born into sin; but scripture makes it clear that they have angels beholding the Father continually and that they were drawn to Christ (see Matt. 18:10). Children came to Christ ( Mark 10:13-16) and praised Him as a fulfillment of Psalm 8:2 and mentioned by the Lord in Matthew 21:16. To deny the obvious requires a hardness of heart and soul; and deliberate rejection of known truths; which of course made the condemnation of the Pharisees greater than most; and was much of the reason Jesus excoriated them in nearly the entirety of Matthew 23. They knew the prophecies but were blinded because of their obsession on the law and all other traditions that were added to put men in bondage and to render mercy and justice meaningless ( Matthew 23:23) with their myopic tunnel vision. The rest of the world if NOT enlightened by the Spirit only looked at Christ as some great miracle worker but didn't worship Him as God in the flesh.
Hence Matthew 16:17 must occur for true salvation.
If we look at the time after Jesus was in the wilderness and began His public ministry; we see what begins as a few healings and public teachings in His hometown appear to rapidly grow with travel to surrounding areas where He cast out devils and did many healings. As late as Matthew 16:20 Jesus told to His Disciples not to tell anyone He was the Christ. The same instruction is in the Gospels of Mark as well as Luke. Jesus would speak Parables; eventually as the ONLY method of explaining these hidden truths to the general public. ( Matthew 13:13). This shows how deep the concept of Predestination is shown 2 verses later in Matthew 13:15 when He explains because of hard hearts they will not be given information needed to be saved. We must come to Christ on His terms; and at His drawing or prompting ( John 6:37). This concept also shows that Christ never was seeking acclamation and didn't want to be set up as King on this earth before the time either; without understanding that He had to be the suffering Savior first. When a man asked Jesus to help him with unbelief ( Mark 9:24) we need to keep in mind that when on earth He was able to raise men from the dead; today we need to trust that He has power over death; hell and sin but we don't have any certainty that He will use a person to perform a healing through the power of the Spirit today. Nonetheless we should ask the Lord in prayer all things which we will apart from those things which are just for our own selfish desires; He ever intercedes for us according to God's will ( Heb. 7:25). Finally; Jesus knew that mere facts wouldn't save anyone; as evidenced in the rich man's pleas from Hades in Luke 16:31; and all other instances Jesus was harassed for healing on a Sabbath Day-they couldn't ever deny the miracles but accused Him of working on the Sabbath and blasphemy declaring that He was the "I AM" ( John 8:58).
Before discussion on the giftings in the Spirit which Christ would utilize; I thought the general content of the messages would be pertinent to the subject at hand. Healing was something in the miraculous that Christ seemed to be unrestrained in procuring throughout His traveling ministry; with the exception being the Pharisees and those in His own hometown.
Mark 6
4 But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.
5 And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief.
The above example may be a classic case of "not seeing the forest through the trees." Those who knew Him best really knew Him the least. Seeing who He is; of course only comes through Divine guidance. Mark 7:29 shows the example further explained in Matthew 16:17 where it says that only the Father reveals this kind of information. In any case; Christ would go out of His way even to a Syrophoenician woman; to perform a healing ( Mark 7:26).
So; let us briefly review Jesus' ministry to others as we earlier examined His personal prayer life.
Ministry to the Pharisees and those of His hometown. Unbelief was; to say the least a fundamental principle in ministry to his local contacts and the Pharisees. It was; you may say a "necessary evil" as the Pharisees were entrusted to the law (which they added many further ordinances to put men in bondage). There was still a procedure whose framework Jesus expected people to follow; but not their hypocritical actions ( Matthew 23:3). So until Jesus was crucified and Resurrected He needed to deal with them; largely so that the rest of the Jewish believers could be able to worship in the soon to be abrogated Old Covenant ways.
Ministry to the crowds.
Ministry to individuals.
Ministry to the Disciples
More to come.
We need to differentiate between the inner man; or our hearts and our actions; which express what is going on within us. It is much like a disease which may be present before anyone can diagnose it. The act of sin is a process that starts with allowing our minds to consider something ungodly; and as believers that often is associated with thoughts from Satan or his minions influencing us (such as in Matthew 16:23). In that case we see how what would seem like the best humanitarian approach to a close friend protecting another was against God's greater purposes; which may in Peter's logic have seemed like righteous indignation. Instead; it betrayed his own blindness toward what Christ had repeatedly predicted and was being ignorant of what the Spirit had recently revealed to him about Christ being Lord and Savior. Weaknesses can therefore be either used for God's glory ( 2 Corinthians 12:10) as stated by Paul; or something that can be a repeated snare; as seen by Peter's boasting that he would even die for Christ ( John 13:37). This illustrates once again how we must never lean to our own understanding or strength in boasting.
Sanctification therefore continually transforms us as we mature in the faith. We are operating in forgiveness for all sins; past present and future IF truly saved. That is crucial for when we do sin we must ask forgiveness ( 1 John 2;1-2); and be restored; reclaiming our blood bought standing. If there is a lifestyle of sin which would mean deliberate repeated actions without any remorse it is evidence that there is no contention between the Spirit and flesh ( Gal. 5:17) and salvation can be questioned. Restoration is only possible if we are truly children of God.
1 John 2:25
"And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life."
But to receive this promise we must do what?
In addition to believing that Christ is our Savior, repenting from sin, receive baptism, and finally and most important, we must live for Christ, by rejecting this world, picking up our cross and following Jesus. Just tells us how he expects us to "live our lives" in order to receive the promise of eternal life!
Matthew 16:24
"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."
25For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Most Christian's today (including me) want to believe they are already Saved, and no matter what - we already have OUR salvation. We want to live our worldy lives, accumulating more money, buying more material things, participating in all types worldly things to get ahead and make our lives easier. We seem to fill most of our days attending sports events, and all types of other worldly things, rather than pursuing Godly activities that Jesus tells us we must do.
The big question that we need to ask ourselves: Are we exchanging our "promise of Salvation" for worldly things"? And are we living our lives as commanded by Jesus?
Jesus never tells us we get a free ticket to Salvation by just believing, and we don't receive our salvation until we receive it at the great judgement day. So then, if we want to receive "the promise" don't we need pick up our cross and follow Jesus?
GB
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 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.
In verse 18 the "rock" is Christ Himself, not Peter. And the "church" is the "eternal church" i.e. All whom God has saved, not the local churches and and denominations.
Verse 19 more properly translated, as I understand it, should read like this
: And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall having been bound in heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall having been loosed in heaven.
In other words, the action is God's action reflected in the action of true believers as they are faithful to the Word of God. It is not God's reaction to the action of the believers; it is the other way around.