Binding and Loosing — Keith Malcomson

I want you to turn in your Bibles here this morning to Matthew chapter 12, Matthew 12, but before I go to my message, I want to make a couple announcements and I want it recorded, I want it going out to all of our friends who watch in from other nations as well during today and over this coming week.

I just want to let them know as well as ourselves about things that are coming up. It's only two weeks until we have a Zoom online convention and not us as a church, but a group of leaders from Britain.

I've been meeting with them for about two months, talking about what God is saying to the church in this hour, this crisis that our world is passing through, and so some of these men have organized a convention called Navigating the Pandemic Fog or How to Maneuver Through That.

That's going to be held on the 6th of March from 9 .30 in the morning to 1pm. That may well exclude most Americans, but maybe if you're in some other country of Europe or in Britain, you can join with us.

If you go to our website, you can get all the details for that convention there. There's going to be three speakers. I'll be the first one speaking on the Great Reset and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

There'll be a second speaker called Graeme Bridger, who has worked in economics in England down through the years and he's going to speak on the economy and how this will affect the financial system. Then third of all, we have a speaker called Dr. Henry Reitzig, and he is a medical doctor, worked in Afghanistan and many other nations on a missionary basis, and he is going to be speaking on the whole medical side of this as well as the vaccination.

Very important issues. If this is a burden of yours and you desire to join us, please go in through our website and you can join us there. We've got other things coming up. We've got a School of Christ convention in Germany.

I should have been going just in a few weeks' time, flying to Germany and holding a five-day convention where I'd preach basically from the morning through to the evening, eight times in a day for five days.

Probably I won't be able to get on a plane, neither will they be allowed in Berlin to gather together, so what we're going to do is go online and have our first School of Christ Zoom convention or school.

Again, if you're in Germany or if you're out across Europe and have a desire and a burden for that, please get in touch with us. Of course, we're planning our three-week Bible school here in Limerick for July time.

I just wanted to let everyone else out there. Many of you have become wonderful friends joining us in other nations, and we appreciate you. We pray for you, and we know that even these messages have been a great blessing and a lifeline to you during this crisis, and we pray that continues.

The Spiritual Warfare Series and the Meaning of Binding and Loosing

Please turn with me here this morning as we go to our message to Matthew 12. Really, to be quite honest this morning, and maybe the next few Sundays, is going to be the overflow of other messages and other series.

In other words, these messages, beginning with this morning, is what I couldn't contain in the previous messages. In other words, I had too much to preach. I couldn't deal with it all. I'm walking away from messages going, I can't convey it all in one message.

I hope you'll excuse me if these are only a few crumbs from the table. These are a few leftovers, and yet I believe they're vital. They're significant. I've taken all of these leftovers from our messages on Revelation chapter 12 and the book of Daniel, especially Daniel chapter 10, and I'm just bringing these together in a few messages, which I'm calling spiritual warfare.

I hope you realize we're in a spiritual warfare here this morning. Reading from Matthew 12, and my message this morning is binding and loosing. Binding and loosing from Matthew chapter 12, reading from verse 22 through to verse 29.

It says, Then was brought unto him, that is Christ, one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb, and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and the dumb both spake and saw, and all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?

And all the people, verse 24,. But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow does not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and he said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation.

And every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. So shall then his kingdom stand. And if I, by Beelzebub, cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out?

Therefore, they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then is the kingdom of God come unto you. Or else, how can, and listen this carefully this verse, we're going to be dealing with it.

Or else, how can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man, and then he will spoil his goods? Can we pray together as we come to this message this morning?

And you know, that lady that came to Jesus, she said, You know, even the dogs eat the crumbs off the table. Even in crumbs, there's nourishment. And I pray it will be here this morning. Father, will you reveal, will you speak to us these things that Christ has taught us?

I pray, O God, that you teach us, you instruct us, that you deliver us and protect us from false teaching, from deception. We know that we're in a war. We know that we're in a spiritual war. We know that we're embarking in an unusual evil day, in which is going to be a ferocious spiritual war in the church and outside the church, in society, in politics, in every area of life.

And so I pray through these messages, these simple thoughts, that you will prepare an army, that you'll prepare people who are going to stand in the darkness of night. Lord God, make this church to be clothed with light, the armor of God, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And my God, I pray, make clear here this morning what it means to bind and to loose. I pray, dissolve every false teaching. And Lord God, establish us in the true teaching of the written scriptures. We love you.

And we ask that Christ be revealed this morning. In Jesus' mighty name. Amen. My message, binding and loosing. And as always, I'm not going to preach this or teach this like maybe many others do. But this is my first message in this spiritual warfare series.

It may be short or it may be long. I don't know any better than you do. But we'll trust the Lord in all of that. But here in Matthew chapter 12, we're beginning to look at binding and loosing. We're going to find here in this message this morning that binding and loosing is found in three different chapters in the book of Matthew.

In two of those occasions, only loosing is mentioned. But in three of them, binding is mentioned. Now these two phrases, binding and loosing, are used together in the New Testament in these occasions.

And both times that they are placed together, they are used by Christ. And they're both in this gospel of Matthew. We're going to find them in Matthew chapter 16 and Matthew 18, where binding and loosing is placed together.

Here in Matthew 12, we find that it's only binding that is there. There is no loosing. But I believe in these three portions of Scripture. If we look at them, if we open them up, if we seek to find out what Christ says here, you are going to find the true biblical doctrinal teaching about what binding and loosing actually means.

The word bind, or dio in Greek, means to place in bonds, or to tie up and leave as a prisoner. The word to loose, luo, means to break up, destroy, dissolve, unloose, melt, or to put off what was once restraining you.

Now concerning binding and loosing, there are two different extremes on this. The Bible teaches about binding and loosing. But there are two extremes. One extreme only sees demons in connection with this.

They bind and they loose everything. They'll bind thoughts, they'll bind people, they'll bind words, they'll bind atmospheres. And the same group, they also loose peace, they'll loose money, they'll loose spiritual blessing, or a house.

This is what they think binding and loosing is. They're dominated by that. That is an extreme. But there's also another extreme that reacts against them and becomes proud saying, they're the deceived ones, we know better than that.

We haven't fallen into a trap of demonology, but we have a sound doctrine of binding and loosing. Listen, I'm going to show you this morning that both groups are actually an extreme. But there is a biblical balance teaching that involve both sides of the argument.

And we're going to look at it here this morning, since we are in a spiritual warfare. If you don't understand that, if you think you're on a picnic, if you think you're on a holiday, you're going to get wounded in these days.

I promise you, even in the normal function of the church, if you don't realise there's a real devil, a real fight, a real enemy, if you don't live like that, if you live as if it's a peacetime or that you're in the middle of the millennium, you are going to get hurt.

I believe there's a lot of wrong teaching in the church given by preachers and YouTube Bible teachers. And I believe a lot of their teaching concerning demons, the spiritual world, and spiritual warfare is wrong.

It's in the church, but it's not of scripture and not from Christ. Let me just prove it in one scripture before we go to Matthew 12 here. In the book of Revelation, in chapter 2 and verse 24, we read about the church at Thyatira.

And we read about in that church, there was a woman called Jezebel. She is called a prophetess. She actually had a teaching ministry within that church, and yet she led the members of that church into immoral sexual sin.

There was a real casualness over holiness, and yet she was a Bible teacher, and she was a prophetess. And she had an entire teaching doctrine, very complex, very detailed. She could teach for hours, I am sure.

She was in the church at Thyatira. But listen to what it says. Christ speak in that church. I want you to listen very carefully to verse 24 concerning the doctrine of Jezebel. Listen, quote, that they have known the depths of Satan as they speak.

So notice here, the followers of Jezebel in the church at Thyatira who had been taught, prophesied to, and accepted the ministry of Jezebel, they always said, we have known the depths of Satan. In other words, inside the spiritual movement, in a church in the first century, a literal, real church raised up by God, there was a spiritual movement.

And just one of their teachings, they said, you know what? We know the depths of Satan. What does that mean? It means the deep things of Satan, the profound things, or the hidden things, or mysteries of Satan.

In other words, through our Bible teaching, through our prophetic ministry, we can see into the unseen realm, into Satan's kingdom. And in fact, because of our great spirituality, and the secret knowledge we have, and the gifts of the Spirit we have, we actually see things that the rest of you cannot see.

We have special, hidden, prophetically revealed knowledge about Satan himself, and of his actions, and of his deeds, which never came from the Bible. It was mystical, gnostic, special revelation, but it wasn't knowledge from the Bible.

Can I give you a warning here before we go to this message? The church is filled with people who are binding principalities, demonic powers over cities. I do not believe in that. They believe in name calling.

They call the devil names. They mock him. They scorn him. That's very dangerous. They cast out demons into hell. They have no authority to do that. They talk about breaking soul ties between you and other people.

They talk about breaking generational curses of your father, and going back to your grandparents. They talk about all manners of teaching of spiritual warfare strategies, about anointing door handles in your house, about spiritually clearing out your house, about ley lines, self-deliverance, about putting demons, vomiting demons up in the bags.

Now, I know in this church, you're probably laughing at me because you've been protected from these things. You go, surely no one could believe all these things. Yes, they do, and it's widespread across the church, and yet you can't find it in Scripture.

I believe it's been through special revelations, dreams, prophecies, feelings, that these people think they have special knowledge of Satan's kingdom, and yet like Jezebel's disciples, do you know what?

They're boasting. They're proud that they knew the depths, the hidden thing of Satan, and yet it's a doctrine of devils. It's from the devil himself. They think they have special revelation. No, they're being influenced by the devil.

Here this morning, as we begin to look at the true teaching of binding and loosen, we're going to break up some false teachings, and we're going to establish some true teachings. I've got three points here from Matthew chapter 12, Matthew 16, and Matthew 18, and I want you to turn there with me.

Binding Demons and Loosing the Possessed

First of all, and this is my first point, binding demons and loosening the possessed. Do you hear what I'm saying? Binding demons and loosening the possessed. Brother Keith, you don't believe in binding demons.

Oh, I do. Oh, I do. You don't believe in loosening those who are possessed. Oh, I do, because I believe the Bible. You see, if you don't believe what I'm about to say, then you've reacted to false teaching, and you're not going back to Scripture.

You're laughing at the false teachers. It's easy to mock what is false, but do you believe in the real biblical teaching of binding and loosen? And my first point, binding demons, but loosen the possessed.

In Matthew 12, 29, where we just read here, it says, How can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man, and then he will spoil his house? Again, over in Mark chapter 327, it says, No man can enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man.

And then he will spoil his house. What is the context of this verse about the strong man, binding the strong man, and about the house? What is the context? The context is found in the verses before it.

Just look back a few verses to Matthew 12, verse 22. Listen, this is Christ preaching here. Then was brought unto him, that is Christ, one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb. Notice this possessed person, they had a demon living in them.

Do I believe in demon possession? Yes. Yes, it's real. This demon possessed person was blind. Their physical blindness was because of a demon inside them, not because of anything physical. They were also dumb.

They couldn't speak. Do you know why? Because a demon was literally inside them. You say, Brother Keith, do you believe this? Yes, I'm a Christian. Of course I believe it. It's in the Bible. Jesus taught it.

If you don't believe this, then you're no Christian, I want to assure you. The Bible teaches very clear that there is such a thing called demon possession. And if a demon indwells a man or a woman, it can afflict them physically terribly.

All sickness is not of the devil. All dumbness is not of the devil. All blindness is not of the devil. But there could be a strong man, any person, that caused blindness and dumbness. And he healed them.

Notice he healed a demon possessed person. In other words, casting out demons is a part of healing. It's a part of healing ministry. Healing, this is all a part of being sent forth to preach healing. And he healed them in so much that the blind and dumb both speak and saw.

Look at this individual that came to Jesus. This is the context of the strong man. We begin to understand who the strong man is. If a demon can make a man blind and dumb, that's a strong man. That's a real strong man.

But as soon as the demon is cast out, the person can suddenly speak. They're not dumb anymore. I mean, instantly they can speak. Their tongue is released. And you know what? Their eyes are open and they can begin to see.

It wasn't a medical complaint. It wasn't physical. It was demonic. It was from the devil. Look at verse 24. But when the Pharisees heard him or heard it, they said, this fellow does not cast out devils.

Notice when he healed this person, he cast out devils. But the Pharisees accuse him and say, he did it by bells above the prince of the devils. And Jesus begins to teach them. Then in verse 28, but if I cast out devils by the spirit of God, then is the kingdom of God come unto you.

Now I want you to see very closely the context here. In verse 29, the strong man, that means someone who is mighty, powerful, or uses force against you. What is this strong man? It is a demon spirit. It is a devil.

When this strong man is in the house, it means that a demon is in a person. What is the house? It's the man. It's the individual person. The house is a man. The strong man is a demon. And look, when the demon is in the house, there is an effect.

He binds. He has power. Since I'm telling you about what demon possession is, now look what Christ teaches. This is the biblical teaching of Jesus. He says, if you want to take that house, if you want possession of that house, if you want to move into that house, if you want to own that house, something has to happen first.

Not as you go along. You don't get Jesus saying, I'm going to possess the house, live with it for a time, live in it, and then I'll chuck the demon out. Nowhere does he say that. Look what he says. First, you've got to bind the strong man.

Before you move into the house, before anyone else moves into the house, before Jesus moves into the house, you've got to bind the strong man. You've got to get the strong man out of there. You've got to cast him out of there.

First, bind the strong man. This word, bind the strong man. Now, what's it talking about? It's talking about binding the demon in a person. The word bind means to place in bonds or to tie up. In other words, to make them a prisoner, a captive.

The one that's possessing that man, making him a prisoner, you come along and you bind the demon. You tie the demon up. Now listen, here is one demon possessing one person. The demon is indwelling or inhabiting the person.

And Jesus Christ said, first, he had to bind the demon, which actually meant the act of casting out the demon in verse 28. So casting out is binding the demon. Binding a demon does not mean I bind you, Satan.

That isn't binding a demon. That isn't taught anywhere in the Bible. It is not taught in the New Testament. You can be there saying, I bind you, devil. You haven't bound him according to the teaching of Jesus.

You know, when you're dealing with a real demon in a person, if you bind the devil, you cast the devil out of that person. I mean, they are free. One minute they can't speak, the next minute they can.

One minute they're blind, the next minute they can see. Now this could be like the demonic with 6 ,000 demons in him, a legion. He cut himself. He was a madman. He was crazy. He was dangerous. They would tie him up.

He would break it. He lived in a grave. That is demon possession. People who get mind battles and they're tormented or tempted, they think, maybe I'm possessed. Maybe they have darkness enshroud them.

I want to tell you, that is not demon possession. You know nothing of demon possession. Do you have control over your life? Then you're not demon possessed. Is it just that you have mind battles? You're not demon possessed.

Demon possession is when a demon is a strong man. He inhabits, he indwells, he takes control. Now binding a demon doesn't mean I bind you or speak in words or rebuke the devil. Binding is that you as a Christian, I as a preacher, Jesus as the Christ, cast the demon out and the person goes free.

That is binding the demon. To cast out a demon means to expel it, eject it, or to drive it out. And we do that in the name of Jesus. In Matthew 16, it says, all those believe, these signs will follow them.

Not only will they heal the sick, they will cast out demons. Do you realize it's a part of our commission? If this is foreign to you, if all you've ever done is mock those who talk about binding and loosening, and yet you don't even know this, why not?

You need to be very careful that you don't mock those that abuse this teaching, and yet you don't even walk in the real teaching. You know nothing about this. In fact, if a demon possessed person walked into the church, you would just sit there helpless, scared, not even knowing that you've got authority to cast the demon out.

I want to tell you, this is real saints. I'm talking about literally binding demons and loosening the possessed. You see, there's some Bible teachers say that when they come to this, they concentrate on Matthew 16, Matthew 18, and they say it's got nothing to do with casting out demons.

Actually, they're wrong. Actually, they're wrong. And again, in Matthew 12, the same chapter, down to verse 43 and 44, again, Christ speaks about this, about an individual being indwelt by a demon. And he uses the example of a house again.

And in fact, he says, let me just read it. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places seeking rest and finding none. And he said, I will return into my house. He's talking about a person.

And he's still saying that's my house. I have rights. I live there. And it says, from whence I came out, and when he has come, notice what he finds. The house has been empty. The demon has been cast out of this person.

But when the demon comes back, and he'll always come back to a person. If you get saved out of occultism, out of the devil's kingdom, and you go free, I want to show you, you better make sure Christ is living in you.

It's not enough to walk free of the devil's kingdom. We need someone living within us. If you're just free but empty, you're in serious trouble, I want to tell you. What does Jesus say? When the demon goes back to this man, he finds him empty.

In other words, Jesus isn't living there. Christ isn't there. No demon could get in if Jesus was living there. Utterly impossible. The only reason the devil can come back is because it's empty. There's no Jesus there.

When Jesus is in me, I don't need to fear the devil coming back. I don't need to fear the devil coming back, or the things from my past life, or all the curses, or all of that darkness. If I have Jesus in me, no devil can intrude into the house again.

So he finds it empty. He finds it swept. Another word is clean. I mean, it's cleaned out. Do you know you could have someone who has an experience with God, and they get set free from heroin, but they don't live for Jesus.

They're free. And they go, hey, everything is swept out. I'm clean. Look at the house, I'm clean. Now I've got a job again. Now I can have a relationship with my wife properly again. The house is clean.

But there's no Christ there. And it says, and garnish. The word garnish means to set in order, or to be decorated. Do you realize that that demon can gain entrance again, because the house is empty, and he takes seven demons worse than him, and the end of that man is far worse.

I'm telling you, we're dealing with very real things. I do believe in binding demons, but it means to cast them out of individuals, and to see those individuals come into the church, and be real testimonies for Christ.

Not going through years of ministry, years of counseling, years of, we have authority to cast out the devil. Where Satan is binding someone. Do I believe in loosing in relation to demonology? Yes. In Luke chapter 13, 11, don't look there, but listen.

In Luke 13, we read about a woman who had a spirit of infirmity for 18 years. She was sick in her body for 18 years. Do you know why she was sick for 18 long years? It was because she had a spirit of infirmity.

In other words, this demon spirit had latched onto her, and had made her sick for 18 years. She couldn't get well. You know why? It was a spirit of infirmity. A spirit of sickness. We're told that she was bowed together.

In other words, doubled over. She was bent so that she couldn't stand straight. She couldn't lift herself up. When Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said, Hunter, woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.

Do I believe in loosing, binding and loosing? Yes. Jesus set this woman loose. He didn't have to say, I loose you, or I loose this, or I loose peace, or I loose, loose or release money. No, he loosed this woman.

He actually says, whom Satan had bound these 18 years, she was loosed on the Sabbath day. Do I believe in binding and loosing? Yes, I do. As a church, we are commissioned to bind demons, to cast them out, and to loose those oppressed of the devil.

This is a part of our ministry. Don't mock this type of thing. This is what I believe because it's in Matthew 12. Jesus taught it. Let's go a bit further. That isn't the complete story. In fact, most Christians don't concentrate on Matthew 12.

Binding and Loosing Through Doctrine

They concentrate on Matthew 16, and they teach binding and loosing of demons from Matthew 16, but they're totally wrong. Totally, utterly wrong. My second point, turn to Matthew 16. Binding and loosing through doctrine.

What's doctrine? It's teaching. Sound preaching. Expounding the written scriptures. My second point, binding and loosing through doctrine. It has nothing primarily to do with demons. Nothing to do with saying, I bind you, Satan.

In fact, one of the most major teachings on binding and loosing in the Bible doesn't mention demons at all. It isn't related in praying against the devil at all, or speaking to the devil. Follow me. Matthew 16, verse 19.

Jesus speaking to Peter and to the apostles, I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever, not whosoever, whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

There's a lot of teaching in this chapter. I'm not going into it. We know the teaching of Peter and the rock. Peter is the Greek word Petros. Rock is the word Petra. The Greek word Peter or Petros means a little stone that you build in the wall of a house, a building.

That's what Peter was. Peter, you're Petros. You're a brick in the wall. You're part of the building. You're part of the house of God. But the other word he uses for the rock is Petra. That's the big, large foundation stone that you build a house on.

So Jesus wasn't saying, Peter, I'm building my house on you. He's not saying that. He's actually saying, Peter, it's upon the revelation that I am the Christ, that I'm going to build my church. And he says, Peter, you are Petros, just one stone in the building.

That's all you are, Peter. You're not the rock. It's the revelation of who I am. Now that's what I'm not, I'm not dealing with that in Matthew 16, but I'm just saying that in person. Jesus said to Peter, I give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

What is this key? It's symbolic. It's not a physical key. It's symbolic. It represents something. What do you do with the key? You unlock doors. You open doors that are locked or you lock doors that are open.

In other words, that key has the power to open or close, to stop you going in there or to invite you to come in there. That's what a key does. It opens up a door and gives you access onto it. Now these are keys to the kingdom of heaven.

What do they unlock the door to? The kingdom of heaven. In other words, this key could shut the door to you or open the door to you. And Jesus gives the key to Peter. And he says, because you have the key, when I give you the key, this key, what does it do?

When you have this key, you can bind and you can loose. With this key, you bind on earth what should be bound in heaven. And whatsoever you loose on the earth should be loosed in heaven. Now what is this key?

Let me explain it here. In Luke 11, 32, Jesus, speaking to the lawyers, you know Jesus spoke very strongly to the religious. He was very gracious to sinners, to prostitutes, to drunkards. He always had time.

He let a sexually immoral woman wash his feet. He loved her. But the religious who talked about holiness but were hypocrites, he spoke to very strongly. Luke 11, woe unto you. In other words, I warn you, lawyers, for ye have taken away the key of knowledge.

Who were these lawyers? They were religious teachers. They're scribes. They're leaders in the Jewish religious system. They're called lawyers because they're expert on the law of God. They studied it all day long.

They knew every little letter, every comma. They had an answer for everything. They understood every sentence. They could teach every single truth. And listen to what Jesus says to them. Woe unto you, lawyers, for you have taken away the key of knowledge.

In other words, that key could open up the word of God. There was a key to unlock the Bible and to give knowledge to the people. But what did Jesus say? You have taken away the key. You're not using it to bless others.

Ye entered not in yourselves, and them that would enter in, you hindered. Again, he says in Luke 11, 46. Woe unto you, lawyers, for you laid men are put burdens upon men that are grievous to be carried or to be borne.

And ye yourself touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. So look at these lawyers. They're teaching, puts heavy burdens on people. Laws, commandments, obligations, things that were never taught in the Bible.

They are saying you can't do this and you have to do this. It's not in the Bible. And they lay burdens on people and they don't even try to lift these burdens. Or listen again in Matthew 23, 13. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men.

Do you see what I've just said there? I've said Jesus is rebuking all of the Jewish religious leaders who had the Old Testament. And he says, you know what you've done? You've shut the door to the kingdom of heaven against men by your teaching and your hypocrisy and the things you add to the word of God.

Do you know what you've done? You shut the door to thousands, to millions of people. You've actually shut the door concerning the knowledge of the kingdom of heaven. For you neither go in, neither do you allow others to go in.

They made men twice as much of people going to hell. Now listen, look what it says in this verse 19. Very important here. Look what it says. Don't misunderstand this. Whatsoever you shall bind on the earth should be bound in heaven.

Whatsoever you loose on the earth will be loosed in heaven. Now a lot of people think if I bind something here, then heaven is going to bind it. If I loose something here, heaven is going to loose that.

In other words, I can decree things, speak things into being. I can bind the devil and he's got to be bound in heaven. It's got nothing to do with that. Now I know it sounds like when you read it, but listen, let me give you an exact Greek translation of this verse and listen carefully.

You won't understand what I say here, but I'm going to explain it. The tense of the Greek in this verse is the perfect tense and it's in the passive voice participle. That means nothing to you here, does it?

I can assure you, but let me explain it. It's important you understand this. In other words, this verse is in the past tense and it means it's completely finished. In the Greek, this is not something that you do now.

It's something already complete. It's in the past. It is finished. It's over. Let me give you an easy way to understand it, which would be a correct translation of the Greek. Listen, whatever you shall bind on earth shall have already been bound in heaven.