I've missed so much in such a short time lol. Let me outline where/how the translation comes from in this post (in case anyone becomes curious of its origin or validity).
I'm going to dig a little in the parsing code to explain this but I'll try to make it user friendly. Parsing code (attached or embedded in a Greek word) gives the voice, tense, and mood of a word.
Voice; Active, middle, passive.
active=doer of action, middle=performs act on self, passive=act is performed on.
So if "boy, ball, and hit" are the words used:
(for the word "hit")
active = the boy hit the ball.
middle= the boy hit himself with the ball.
passive= the boy was hit by the ball.
If 3rd person, plural, active is used on "boy" it would read, "the boys hit the ball.
Perspective; 1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person.
Singular; me/I/my, you/your, her/him/he/she/that.
Plural; we/us, you/y'all/all y'all, them/they
Tense: past, present, future, perfect, Imperfect
^ I won't line out all the rules but the above as an example of how the Greek is translated.
Here is the King James and the NASU versions so you can see how they translated it:
Matt 16:19
whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
KJV
Matt 16:19
whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."
NASU
You see in the two translations it can appear that it is saying two different things.
KJV can be seen as saying if you bind/loose it here, it will then be bound/loosed in Heaven.
NASU looks more like it is saying "If you do it here, it was already done in Heaven".
In the Greek word "leluména" translates to "shall be loosed" (in Heaven).
The parsing on the word is:
Perfect tense:"The action has already been completed and the actor is at rest". I.E. The action is done and it's results remain. Christ' work on the cross is rendered in the "perfect tense". The results of that action will remain forever.
Passive voice:The actor performs the action on itself. The actor = Heaven.
Note that it is not rendered in the future tense "will be", and that it is not rendered in the past tense "has been", but the perfect tense, "has been completed and the results can currently be seen in Heaven".
This is a lot tougher to simplify than I thought it would be.
Hopefully you can see the subtle differences.
In one, a person can think that what ever he says, God will make happen.
In the other, What ever we happen to do will have already been completed in Heaven.
But look closely...
Jesus said in John 8:28
Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.NASU
When we are walking in the flesh then the things that we think and do are from the flesh.
When we are walking in the Spirit then the things that we say and do are of and from the Spirit of God.
As we mature we become more like Jesus and come to know His heart and the heart of the Father.
One way to look at this verse, is that as we are shown things by God we are to speak them. Like God saying, "I want you to announce what I am about to do".
We know that we cannot force God to do anything and especially if what we proclaim is against God's will. The immature ask for much that is not good.
In context of Mat 16:19 Jesus said He would give Peter the keys to the kingdom of God.
"key" in Greek represents "authority", "power of" and "ability".
And whatever he bound/loosed on earth it would have been bound/loosed in Heaven.
Keep in mind the context: Peter just told Jesus that "He was the Christ the Son of the living God". It is on this foundation that I will build my church. Then He warned the disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ (yet, it wasn't time).
And Jesus empowered the apostles with power and authority that He did not give to everyone for the purpose of building and founding the church.
In Matt 18:15-20 in context:
15 If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.
16 "But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED.
17 "If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
18 "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.
19 "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.
20 "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."
If a brother is in sin and you go through all of the correct steps to attempt to convince him of his sin and he refuses to listen, then treat him as an unsaved person. You have now just declared what God already has. A saved person will have been convicted before this step and repented of the sin.
Again talking TO the disciples, (verse 19)
"Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.
The first two examples are specific cases, the last one looks like free reign for all.
Is God going to do something against His will if we get together and pray for it? Remember the anointing that the apostle had and that Jesus is talking to the apostles here in all three cases.
I think the more mature and in tune with God that we are though, the more we speak His will and this will apply to us. But nobody places ultimate unregulated power in the hands of the immature or evil.
"Let us make man in our own image".
Our sanctification conforms us to His image.
Even the immature get it right from time to time, and we experience God "moving" when we speak from time to time. Hmmmm.
It was asked, "I wonder what would happen if we really knew who we were in Christ?"
This question strung a chord in the center of my chest and brought me back a few years. This will seem a little unbelievable but take it for what it's worth (I gave a reader's digest version of an intense time that God allowed me to really commune with Him in a different thread).
On one day during that first initial intense period I was in prayer and praise and meditation. God started to open up a "picture of understanding" (best way I can describe it) and as I began to comprehend what it was He was showing me I realized just what the OP was asking. I felt as if, just as I fully understood what, why and how the manifest power of God works (just like it did in the apostles lives), (just as I began to really understand) that the door to that understanding was closed, the memory of "how" faded (like a screen wipe) in a few seconds but I was left remembering the event but not able to see the details. Does that make sense?
I genuinely believe that God allowed me to see "what would happen if we really knew who we were in Christ" for just long enough to recognize it. I couldn't tell you why, that was years ago. But I am left with the memory of, due to who we are in Him, if we truly understood the relationship - ALL of Gods children have that right now. Very few (if any?) tap into it.
With great power comes great responsibility and requires great wisdom and maturity to handle it. Remember John asking Jesus if he should call down lightning from the sky to smite? Kids will do alot of stuff to show off becasue they just can't help themselves.
My question is, I wonder how long it will take me to mature into "who I am in Christ"?
