39. Bound and Loosed in Heaven
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.
Matthew 18:18 Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
This fantastic promise is given to the church on earth: you have keys that effectively open and shut the kingdom of God; you have the power to tie up or lock anything on earth or to untie or set free anything on earth, and it shall be so bound or loosed in heaven. God declares done what you have declared. When you forgive the sins of anyone they are forgiven by God. When you do not forgive sins they are not forgiven by God, instead the person is still bound in chains of sin. It is awesome to think that God would stoop to limit His working of the forgiveness of sins to the actions of humans on earth.
God could and indeed does forgive sins directly to the heart of the penitent believer alone in his closet, but His preferred means is to use human voices to speak out loud what God Himself would speak. Thus He uses His people to speak, announce and declare the Gospel of forgiveness of sins to other people. There is something to be said for “hearing” the Word of Christ, for so faith cometh.
God has given the church (the believers in Christ) to authority to speak and declare words of Grace and loosening of chains; however, these humans do not have the authority to decide finally whether one’s sins are forgiven or unforgiven. That choice is only God’s. But church people do have the authority to declare what God has revealed in His Word. They are able to declare with the authority of Scripture that the Lord forgives the sins of the penitent believer and does not forgive the sins of the unrepentant unbeliever since he cannot receive the free gift. Humans are not capable of knowing the hearts of others, whether faith to receive is present or not, and so could be mistaken in their pronouncements.
Therefore, God has lifted up some spiritually mature, Biblically literate, persons to study to know how to rightly divide the Word of God, distinguishing and rightly applying Law and Gospel, repentance and faith according to the Word. The human church is given the authority to announce and declare the forgiveness of sins, but not the authority to make a personal decision to apply or deny forgiveness.
That being said, it does not diminish the power and reality of speaking out loud and hearing by the ears the Absolution. Neither does it prevent one from taking seriously the denial of forgiveness, or excommunication. Either way it leads to genuine repentance and faith in Christ. The comfort is meant for the Hearer. It is he who receives the promise.