Binding and loosening. Did you ever wonder why so many believers suffer with sickness and disease when our scriptures clearly convey that Jesus already took these, and it was no small task for Jesus either. Isaiah 53 informs us it was by His stripes we are healed. Forty nine stripes were laid across Jesus' back with a cat of nine tails. Small bits of bone and rock were woven into the tails of this specialized whip. Each time the whip was brought down upon Jesus' back, it was jerked back by the professional whip-master. With each jerk back small pieces of flesh were pulled from Jesus' back. Jesus suffered horribly to provide physical healing for His beloved body, but very few saints are healed. Most suffer through the sickness or disease until they either succumb to its ravages or are healed by the natural process of bodily function. There is very little difference between the lost and the saved in this regard. Why?
The key is found in this power to bind or loose. What ever the Church binds on earth is bound in heaven. According to John 7:38 we have the ability to loose the Holy Spirit, who is in our hearts through the confession of Jesus as Lord. In this verse Jesus calls the Holy Spirit Living Water. He says this Living Water will flow out of the bellies of all those who believe in Him. Since the Living Water is the Holy Spirit, it is also the zoe life of God, the healing power of God, the power of God to work miracles. It stands to reason if we damn up the flow of this Living Water, we are going to have a hard time receiving any of its life giving properties. We have the power to bind or to loose. Further, any hindrance that we put in the way of this Living Water flowing freely from our bellies, will only hinder us from receiving the rich bounty found in our salvation.
The choice is ours. Do we bind the Zoe life of God in the earth, thereby binding its flow from heaven? Or do we commit ourselves to allowing the rich bounty of the life of God to flow freely into our home, church, and community? In 1Corinthians 12,13,&14 Paul spends a good bit of time trying to bring some understanding, clarification, and order to the Corinthian church, but in the end he says, "Do not forbid any one from speaking in tongues." I might ask the question, "Which is more important, orderly services, or releasing the life of God?" Obviously, Paul understood the laws of binding and loosening. Paul knew that if the Corinthians damned up the zoe life of God by not allowing its life giving flow to pour out of their bellies, they would no longer have any manifestations of the nine gifts of the Spirit, gifts like the working of miracles, gifts of healings, and words of wisdom and knowledge. While the Church of today is very busy controlling the gift of tongues, which is the Holy Spirit pouring forth from believer's bellies according to Acts 2:4, they have nice orderly services, but very few manifestations of the life of God. Some prefer it that way.
We can spend the rest of eternity on our knees fasting and praying for the Lord to manifest Himself with signs and wonders, but the keys are in our hands. We have the power to loose God in the earth today. He flows freely out of our bellies by faith. Jesus commanded His Church to wait for the baptism with the Holy Spirit. This is the only command Jesus gave specifically to His Church. Do you think maybe obedience might be important? Since Jesus' love for us is without question and unfathomable, might we receive some benefit from obedience to this command? It is through this baptism that the life of God can flow from in our hearts into our world. Isn't it about time we preached the whole gospel of Jesus Christ? The one that includes the command found in Acts 1:4? We can disobey this command on several levels, from a refusal to submit to our Lord's command to be baptized with the Spirit, to refusing to allow the rivers to flow from our bellies. From refusing to exercise faith in the words of Jesus concerning the water, to hindering others from speaking the rivers out. We can teach against God's Word and interpret it to mean something entirely different than what it says, or we can ignore those passages altogether. All of these are binding the life of God on earth, and they will bind its flow from heaven. The next time you need a miracle from God, just ask yourself, am I binding or loosening? And remember there are a whole lot more believers out there that are either binding or loosening.