The Incredible Power of Authority

Do you recognize the authority you have? How is it related to the authority you live under? Knowing our authority is a powerful tool to help us fulfill our spiritual potential and responsibilities.

In a setting with just his disciples, Jesus set forth some profound teaching to help them. He challenged their thinking and gave them a powerful promise. Let’s listen in:

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

He said to them, “But 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. 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. 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.” Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

Matthew 16:13-20 (ESV)

Six Essential Truths

Here are six essential truths to learn from this teaching.

Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Notice the certainty of what Peter said: not ‘I think’ but ‘you are!’ Jesus declared that this truth was revealed to him by God the Father, further confirming his confession.

The rock of the confession of the confessor (rock) is the foundation of the church. Jesus uses two words to describe rock the first is what he said of Peter which is a large rock broken off a bigger rock. The second word he used for rock describes the confession which is a huge rock, like Gibraltar. This means the church is built on Jesus as Messiah, the unique Son of God.

Jesus builds the church. We don’t build the church. We put too much effort into strategy and church growth. Our work is to follow the Spirit of Jesus daily in obedience. By the way, Jesus told us to make disciples not to build the church!

The Gates of hell do not prevail against the church. The power of the church crushes hell! The true church never becomes dead and impotent. And notice that it is hell that is on the defensive here!

We are given the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus is the Messiah and of he reigns over the Kingdom of Heaven. We open the kingdom by our proclamation of the gospel.

We have authority to bind and loose. This authority is in concert with the will of God in heaven. To bind is to imprison or prohibit and to loose is to set free.

Binding and Loosing

The grammar of this sentence is literally, “whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.”

It is a little awkward to understand but know that when we bind and loose on earth, heaven follows what we have done. So our binding and loosing, done in agreement and in accord with the will of God, moves heaven to act!

Finally, we ask what needs to be bound? What needs to be loosed? Here are few things that need to be bound: distraction, apathy, criticism, ignorance, rebellion, selfishness, fear, pride. Here are some things that need to be loosed: focus (mission), zeal (power), mercy, knowledge, obedience, grace, faith, humility.

From a different perspective, we can see other things that need to be loosed and bound. How about loosing: the chains of addiction, failure and sin. Jesus came to give freedom. We need some things bound in our lives, too: the attraction of the substance, lies of Satan and the allure of evil.

There is great power in the words of Jesus here! We need to embrace them!

I would love to hear your thoughts on authority. Share them in the comments below or on our Facebook page.