Matthew 18:15-20 Part 4
Almost twenty-five centuries ago Socrates asked a question which has plagued pagans ever since, and which has impaled arminians and antinomians on the horns of a dilemma. He asked, “Is that which is good loved by the gods (pagan gods) because it is good, or is it good because is it loved by the gods?”
If, on the one hand, that which is good is loved by the gods because it is good, then there is some independent standard beyond the gods to which they are all subject. But if, on the other hand, something is good because the gods love it, then goodness is arbitrary, and the gods determine what it is by brute force (because they are powerful) – since they could have chosen to love something else.
Either way, man is set free to individually determine for himself what is the ultimate standard of goodness. If the good is that which is determined by the gods, then there must be some available options from which to choose. It sets them free to choose. And if the gods love that which is already good, then there must be an ultimate standard above and beyond the gods. And man, because he is cursed by God and dead in sin, naturally (or unnaturally, according to how you look at it) chooses himself and his own self-interest as the final arbiter of the good. He not only determines what is the good for himself, but he does so in the light of the benefit to himself!
But the two horns of Socrates’ argument are no match for the Reformed Christian who knows God’s Revelation of Himself, because, in this case, there’s another option – the true one. And it’s not really an option, since the truth IS – and whether man receives it doesn’t make a whit of difference! But the answer to Socrates’ “dilemma” is simply this: God Himself is the ultimate standard of goodness! Not only is there not a standard of goodness more ultimate than God (and which is recognizable to Him), but neither were there “options” from which God, in His Power, could choose, or “determine” that which is good.
So the ultimate standard for “good” is the nature of God. God is Good. No other standard is required – no options are available. So when God created the heavens and the earth, it was good. When He caused the sun and the moon and the stars to shine “upon the earth,” it was good. When He created the creatures “upon the earth,” it was good. When He created man “upon the earth,” it was good.
Separate from, and transcendent above, His creation, God is imminently involved in His creation. God is completely separate and distinct from His creation, and He is transcendently Sovereign over it (having brought it into being). At the same time, God isn’t “aloof” from all He has made, even though He is Sovereign and transcendent over it. He is “with” it and intimately involved in it. That’s why Paul can say, in Romans eight, that the creation “groans” for its redemption. Sin entered into the creation by man; and God cursed it.
Man was cursed, and creation was cursed; and a Redeemer, Reconciler, Restorer, was required in order for it once more to be “good”. The Sovereign and transcendent Creator/God is imminently involved in the work of “restoration” and “redemption”. Job could say, “I know that my Redeemer lives.” And believers can pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” On the earth… (the phrase in our text – verse eighteen)
One of the greatest passages in all the Scripture (Deuteronomy twenty-nine through thirty-two) is Moses’ pronouncement of victory (reconciliation, restoration) on the earth – in space and time. Equally sublime is the speech of Solomon to the nation of Israel at the dedication of the place of public worship – First Kings chapter eight:
“Lord God of Israel, there is no God like Thee, in heaven above or on the earth beneath, Who keeps covenant and mercy with Thy servants that walk before Thee with all their heart… and now, O God of Israel, let Thy Word, I pray Thee, be verified, which Thou spakest unto Thy servant David my father. But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, ‘the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee’; how much less this house that I have built?”
And the transcendent and Sovereign God came and occupied the replica of His Throne-room, which had been built by the hands of men.
And in the fullness of time, the Son of God, the transcendent and Sovereign God of heaven and earth, came to dwell among men. And in the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel of John we hear Him pray these words:
“I have glorified Thee on the earth; I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.”
The promised Redeemer God-Man came into the world to glorify the Father upon the earth!
And as Almighty God the Son, He, Himself, stated that He had power – on earth – to forgive sin! And He said,
“all authority was given to Me in heaven and on the earth.”
In the place that has been cursed because of sin – among men who are cursed because of sin – the Redeemer has all authority. And He must reign (First Corinthians chapter fifteen) until He has put all enemies under His feet – when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. And all of His people shall be made alive in Him. And He, then, shall deliver up the Kingdom to His Father. Reformed, reconciled, restored.
In Revelation chapter fourteen, the apostle John sees the angel with
“the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth; to every nation, and kindred and tongue and people, saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.’”
“And upon this Rock I shall build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
“Truly I say to you, whatever you shall bind on the earth shall be in a state of having been bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on the earth shall be in a state of having been loosed in heaven….”
“Now thanks unto God... (Second Corinthians chapter two) Who always causes us to triumph in Christ, and makes known the savor of His knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ – in them who are saved, and in them that perish. To the one, the savor of death unto death; and to the other the savor of life unto life….”
“I know that My Redeemer lives….” The Transcendent and Sovereign God – the Creator of Heaven and the Earth – tabernacles with men – the “second Adam,” the “quickening Spirit” in Whom men are rebirthed. All who are in Adam die; but all who are in Christ are made alive. The Sovereign God has all authority on the earth – to redeem men and restore the creation – in history! He has all authority on the earth to complete the work, putting all His enemies under His feet, and returning the creation to His Father – the curse removed! Once again it will be good!
And we in Christ – rebirthed into Him – are a sweet savor unto God; it is a savor of life unto life for those who are believing. And it is a savor of death unto death for those who will not believe. When we are received, Christ is received. When we preach the Gospel of God, Christ Himself is heard. We are a sweet odor in the nostrils of our Creator.
And when we go to a brother in sin and put him to the proof, Christ is heard. And when we take another brother or two to put a sinning brother to the proof, Christ is heard. It is a sweet savor unto God the Father. And when we, as a Church, put a brother to the proof, Christ is heard. And when the Church excommunicates a brother who will not repent of his sin, it is the savor of death unto death; and it is a sweet savor of Christ unto God.
Verse eighteen is a matter of transcendence and imminence. The transcendent and Sovereign God is on the earth. He is imminently involved in terminating the curse and reconciling the world unto God the Father. The Throne Room/Glory Cloud of God now tabernacles with men; and He has all authority –
“that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, of those on the earth and of those under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ….”
And the whole creation “waits for the manifestation of the sons of God….”
“The creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God….”
“We are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us….”
In Christ we “yield ourselves unto God, as those who are alive from the dead….”
We are foreloved, and predestinated, and called, and justified, and sanctified in Christ – having been baptized into His death and raised up in His resurrection; and we participate, as joint-heirs, in all the blessings of God. And we participate in His suffering, and in His death, and in His resurrection, and in His glory, and in His victories over His enemies. We participate in His Power and in His Authority. In Him we judge the world; and when we speak His Truth, He speaks! We are overcomers – in Him. As He overcomes the world, we overcome the world!
Paul says,
“Now to Him that is of power to establish you according to my Gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the Commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith….”
The Transcendent and Sovereign God is imminent on the earth, reconciling the world unto the Father. He has all authority on the earth; and when His newborn babes are received – He is received! When His people speak the Truth of God, He speaks! And He is their witness. When two or more are gathered in His Name (under His authority) to convict a sinning brother, with the Truth of God, He is amidst them!
“Truly I say to you…” verse eighteen, “whatever you shall bind on the earth shall be in a state of having been bound in heaven; and whatever you shall loose on the earth shall be in a state of having been loosed in heaven….”
Newborn babes in Christ do no violence to the authority of Christ the King when they pronounce nothing but that which comes from His mouth, and execute faithfully what He has commanded! Christ the King – the imminent God the Son – has all authority on the earth! Therefore when we speak nothing except that which He has spoken, then we do so with His authority; when we do that which He has commanded, we do so with His authority.
Two or three gathered together to convict a brother in sin “binds” that which is in a state of having been bound in heaven, and “looses’ that which is in a state of having been loosed in heaven. The corporate Church, speaking the Truth of God to convict a brother in sin “binds” that which is in a state of having been bound in heaven, and “looses” that which is in a state of having been loosed in heaven. The Church, excommunicating an unrepentant brother in sin “binds’ and “looses” that which is in a state of having been bound and loosed in heaven. The imminent Christ has authority both in heaven and on the earth. As His people speak nothing but what He has spoken, then what is bound is bound; and what is loosed is loosed!
What folly, what self-esteem, what arrogance, what blasphemous drivel it is for man to claim the power of a magi – to possess the authority to bind Satan, to exorcise demons, to raise the dead and heal the sick, to remit sin, to speak with the authority of new revelation!
“To the Law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them…!”
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those that are bound.” (Isaiah sixty-one)
“…Whatever you shall ‘bind’ on the earth shall be in a state of having been bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on the earth (set at liberty) shall be in a state of having been loosed in heaven….”
“For thus saith the Lord God; behold, I, even I, will both search My sheep, and seek them out…. I will feed My flock …. I will seek out that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will ‘bind’ up that which was broken….” (Ezekiel thirty-four)
“…Whatever you shall ‘bind on the earth shall be in a state of having been bound in heaven….”
“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the bundles of the yoke and set the oppressed free?” (Isaiah fifty-eight)
“… and whatever you shall loose on the earth shall be in a state of having been loosed in heaven….”
“For He hath looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth; to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death….” (Psalm one hundred two, verse twenty)
“… and whatever you shall loose on the earth shall be in a state of having been loosed in heaven….”
Bringing all of Scripture to bear upon the context of verse eighteen now, the word “to bind” means to bring under authority; and “to loose” means to set at liberty.
Convicting a man who is in sin, with the Truth of God, is bringing him under authority of Christ the King. If he should not repent, excommunication is loosing him from authority – delivering him over to Satan. Hence the binding and loosing on the earth of that which is bound and loosed in heaven. On the other hand, the words are used in another way as well. Those who are under the authority of the flesh are blind, deaf, sick and in prison to darkness. And the Gospel of Jesus Christ “binds” up their wounds, opens their eyes and ears, and frees them from their cursed imprisonment. It “looses” them from the curse and sets them at liberty to be bound under the law of the spirit.
But, again, it is by the “Rhema” – the Word of Truth – by the witness of Christ, that a matter is bound or loosed on the earth. And the Greek text makes it clear that whatever is bound or loosed on the earth is that which is in a state of having been bound and loosed in heaven; for Jesus Christ has all authority in heaven and on the earth. And when a matter is bound or loosed on the earth by His Word, it is also bound and loosed in heaven by His Word.
In verse nineteen, Jesus reiterates. If multiple witnesses (sumphoneo) (which is required by Law) “sound together” – speak in harmony together with the Rhema – the Word of Truth, then God the Father will honor their prayer. When they ask according to the Word of Truth, then the Father gives unto them whatever they ask; for Christ is amidst two or three brought together in His Name – His authority. Each “Rhema” is established against a sinning brother. The authority of Christ the King binds and looses that which is bound and loosed in heaven.
We are commanded to speak the Words of God, teaching and preaching and discipling the nations, instructing them in obedience to what Christ has commanded! And when we are received, Christ is received. When we speak His Word, men hear Him. When we confront a brother in sin, every word of Truth is established – Christ as witness.
There is no standard of goodness beyond God; nor holiness, nor justice, nor truth. God is good. And every Word which proceeds from His mouth is good. And all that He has created is good. We have no other standard but His Word. We have no other standard for thought, word or deed but His Word.
When we speak, may it be with His Word; may the creation be restored; may the curse of sin be loosed from its authority; on the earth may the knowledge of God cover the earth as the waters cover the sea; may Christ the King reign victorious over all the nations and peoples and tribes and tongues – to the glory of God the Father. May the disciplines of the Church be according to His Word – that we might be a sweet savor of Christ in the nostrils of God our Father.