I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. “Who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. So let’s read it, make sure we get the whole context, and then I’ll try to explain what I think it means and how it’s relevant. And yes, Joe, if you are a true follower of Jesus, you and your friend, as a true follower of Jesus, can bind and loose in the way that Jesus means it here. In every age of the church, it’s relevant. So what can a local church bind and loose? And what could I and a Christian friend bind and loose? Does this text have any relevant application to the church today?” The church has the ‘keys of the kingdom of heaven,’ meaning, ‘Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven’ (Matthew 16:19). “Hello, Pastor John! Jesus told the disciples that whatever they would bind or loose on earth would be so in heaven.

But is this practice relevant for the church today? Pastor John joins us over Skype today to address this question from a listener named Joe.

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