Ryan

Don wrote:

On Mat 18:18 my understanding is that this was said to the original disciples and is a Jewish idiom for deciding about something, to bind is to forbid and to loose is to permit, which is exactly what happened at the Jerusalem council.

Don, if something is forbidden and you continue to do it unrepentantly, you are cutoff… right?  From this scripture, I do not see a teaching that says the original disciples were able to add to God’s word or subtract from it. I see perfect agreement with what Jesus said, that if they forgive someone, they will be forgiven, and if not, they will not be forgiven. The revealed will of God is constant, but declaring that someone is bound to their sin or not is something that is wrought out through the process of church discipline. And this is where binding and loosing comes into play.