Pictured to the left is a copy of a version of the Holy Bible, known as the MODERN ENGLISH VERSION ( MEV ). Matthew 18:15-20 read as follows:
"15 'Now if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, then take with you one or two others, that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. But 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 will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 'Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are assembled in My name, there I am in their midst.'"
The word "bind," in verse eighteen ( above ), is synonymous with the word "teach," for example. Therefore, Jesus ( see verse two ) taught the disciples ( see verse one ) that the authority for whatever they taught on earth was derived from heaven, it was derived from the heavenly Father. By comparison, the word "loose" means that whatever was not authorized by the heavenly Father was not taught by the disciples.
Jesus said in John 7:16, "My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me." See also John 3:16, 17, for example. Thus, an implication associated with verse eighteen is that the teaching of the disciples was the same as the teaching of Jesus. This concept is also taught in 2 Peter 3:2, for example ( cf. Matthew 10:1-4 ( especially verses 1 and 2, for example ), for example ).
Jesus made the statement in verse eighteen in the context of a brother dealing with another who sins against him; this being in a local congregation of the New Testament church ( the church of Christ - see Matthew 16:17, 18 ( especially verse 18, for example ), Romans 16:16, and Ephesians 1:15-23 ( especially verses 22 and 23, for example ), for example ): the phrase "two or three," in verse twenty, refers to the entire assembly of a local congregation. Verse fifteen ( above ) has a cross-reference to 1 Corinthians 9:19-21. Paul ( see 1 Corinthians 1:1; 16:21, for example ) wrote, here, of winning others in the sense of saving them ( please read verses nineteen through twenty-three to get the immediate context ). The phrase "you have gained your brother," in verse fifteen, means winning your brother back to a relationship of walking in love ( see Ephesians 5:2, for example ). The consequence of not walking in love is the destruction of a brother ( see Romans 14:13-15 ( especially verse 15, for example ), for example ). Jesus' teaching of gaining a brother is echoed by the apostle Paul, for example, in his teaching ( though the passage in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 refers to saving brothers and sisters who are not Christians ( see Acts 2:38, 41, and 47; 11:19-30 ( especially verse 26, for example ), and Galatians 3:26, 27, for example, and cf. Acts 17:16-34 ( especially verse 29, for example ), for example )). Jesus ( see John 13:31 ) said in John 13:35, "35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
Moreover, Jesus teaches, in verses nineteen and twenty ( above ), that in order for the public prayers of a local congregation to be heard and answered by the heavenly Father, there must first be unity among them: this is indicated by the phrase "if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask," in verse nineteen. Please study the Holy Bible ( which is God's word - see Psalm 119:65-73, 142, 151, John 17:1, 3, 17, and 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16, 17, for example ). If you have any questions about the Holy Bible, you can contact me by e-mail at:
<rewillis1_1@juno.com>
<Russell E. Willis>.
