I’ve been thinking, since “pleading the blood” for protection is closely related to the Word of Faith concept of “binding” Satan and “loosening” blessings, I thought it might also be helpful to go over Matt 18:18 where Jesus said, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Wolves in sheep’s clothing interpret this to mean Jesus wants us to “bind” Satan, his demons, sickness, poverty, etc. and “loose” health, wealth, etc. Yet, Scripture never supports such interpretations. They are taking this verse (and many others) out of context.
To understand what Jesus is saying it’s important to pray for discernment concerning these wolves…. who cherry pick “proof texts” to make them mean one thing, when in fact they mean another. The context of this text actually begins in Matt. 16:13 where Christ was telling Peter that He was about to establish the New Testament Church and that the gates of hell couldn’t prevail against it. In vs 19 Jesus said, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” The “keys” referred to has to do with the new covenant gospel of grace, which is the only entrance into God’s kingdom, not thru legalistic works such as “binding” Satan. Even in Mark 16:18 where it says “They shall take up serpents”….we have a perfect example of God’s promise of protection, rather than a command to perform.
God’s people are already given authority to proclaim His eternal plan of redemption without having to worry about “binding” evil first. For the gates of hell can’t thwart God’s plan or the people God chose before time began (2 Tim.1:9) for noone can snatch them out of His hand (John 10:29). As far as Christians are concerned, Jesus has already reduced Satan and his demons to mere scorpions and slithering serpents that we can simply trample upon, for our feet are to be prepared with the gospel of Jesus Christ whereever we go (Luke 10:19-20, Eph.6) and we can rejoice when our focus is on the kingdom of heaven….. rather than the kingdom of darkness.
This is great news, for we can rest in Jesus knowing that Satan was bound by Him at the commencement of this church age! Jesus said, “How can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? And then He will spoil his house”(Matthew 12: 29). And in reference to His pending death on the cross….Jesus said, “Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out” (John 12: 31). Satan was bound by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross (Matthew 12:28-29, Luke 10:17-20). There the serpent’s head was crushed and the forces of evil were triumphed over!!
Therefore, Satan has already been restricted at the cross!! (Matt 28:18-20). While he still has certain power—-like a dog on a short leash, he can’t prevent God’s chosen people from being added to the Church. And though he still “seeks who he may devour,” the key word here is “may,”….he must gain access thru sin and God would have to allow it. For God alone has reserved the right to have Satan bound or loosed, allowed or disallowed. Therefore, if we insist on rebuking and binding Satan ourselves …….we are actually usurping God’s authority!……Extremely dangerous ground!! Jude 9
Actually, the words “bind” and “loose” were used by the Jews back then, in the sense of “forbid or allow.” Likewise, the apostles laid down the “law of the Spirit of life in Jesus” (Rom. 8:2) under the new covenant of grace, defining what was prohibited and permitted. For example, in Acts 15:20 they kept new believers “bound” to abstain from things polluted by idols, sexual immorality, things strangled and from blood…… but they “loosed” them from the law of sin and death and the old covenant burdens that were no longer nessessary (such as tithing, which was replaced by free-grace giving).
For,”where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”!!! (2Cor.3:17)
John 20:23 also reveals that the church is given authority to “remit or retain” the sins of congregants thru church discipline (ex-communication), with the goal of restoring fellowship and purging the church of leaven that could leaven the whole lump. But since it’s rarely practiced today, “doctrines of devils” that shipwreck faith and bring legalistic bondage, are infiltrating the church. Which may be one reason God’s judgement has come upon modern churches that promote them. By doing so they’re actually hindering the spread of the true gospel by mixing it with lies.
Case in point, Christians don’t have to bind Satan because Christ has already bound him. And what Christ has already attained for us, we don’t have to try to conjure up on our own, ….which only attracts demonic attacks thru unbiblical practices that focus more on Satan and ourselves than upon God …..who alone deserves all the glory. Therefore, since God is in control and our only protection….. a more biblical way to address the issue of evil is to pray the way Jesus taught us to pray in the first place…..
“Lead us not to temptaton, but deliver us from evil, …..for thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory forever, Amen.” (Matt.6)
“Standfast therefore in the liberty where Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with a yoke of bondage” Gal.5:1
Hope and pray this helps someone.
Christ Rescued Me! 
This comes down to some Christians’ idea that there is some intrinsic power in their words – that by speaking in “Jesus’ name” it adds authority. Also that they somehow have a key into the spiritual realm, a realm that is ‘out there’. They would also tell you that our body, soul and spirit are distinct yet will claim to ‘feel’ the spirit. These ideas are so interwoven in established Christian thought that its almost impossible to separate. I wonder if it comes from a sense of impotence – that we must somehow bridge the gap between what we believe and what we experience.
Chris, I do believe there’s a root to all this mess…..a faulty view of salvation.
Naturally, if the foundation isn’t right nothing else will be either.
This is why I go into so much detail explaining the gospel biblically.
One way I’ve learned how to tell a false gospel from the true is whether it exalts man or God. And man “speaking things into existence” is definitely a false gospel!!
And you’re right that it stems from a sense of impotence because a false gospel has no power—they have to try to conjure up something on their own instead.
Only the true gospel has the power of God, Rom. 1:16.
I have just recently revisited some of the erroneous teachings on demons that I had been taught . A book by Derek Prince titled “Thou shall Expel Demons”. I thank God for His mercy and faithfulness in bringing me to the truth of His Word. I too had been taught that this scripture in Matt. was to be used for power over demons and spirits. I have come to realize that most of what I had been taught was 99% of the time scriptures taken out of context and as you say “cherry picked”. When you read in CONTEXT the scriptures they use don’t even apply to what they teach. Unfortunately we have several decades of this type of false teaching technique. Even today I still have to catch myself, when I “think” I know or understand what a verse or scripture is about….and go back and read it in context. Most times I find that I was once again taught error. When I skimmed through this book I was totally dumb founded at how many errors and twisting of scripture I found……I can remember when I first got the book and thought it was just the greatest thing. I am thankful that I didn’t throw this book out as it is a reminder to me of how far I’ve come by His grace. Great article. God bless.
Hi Pat! You’re right, it does help to look back and see how far God’s grace has brought us. I kept a few (burned most of them) of my old “Word of Faith” books too, just so I can remind myself every so often of the tricks they use to twist scripture. And how they make it all sound like salvation and every other spiritual blessings is in our power to achieve or conjure up on our own. They never talk about how faith and righteousness are freegrace gifts from God.
Last night I even dared to watch Creflo Dollar for the first time in years, just to see what new twists he was putting on his so called gospel of grace. Same ol, same ol…..saying we had to learn (from him of course) how to “enter into” God’s grace. He would try to cover his tracks by saying it’s nothing we do, Jesus did it all on the cross…..and then turn around in the same sentence and say, “BUT”……we have to “positively confess” it constantly, we have to use our faith to appropriate all God’s blessings, we have to have “righteousness consciousness” instead of “sin consciousness.”
Worse yet, he said if we confess our sin (which is biblical) then we had “sin consciousness.” He said we needed to confess our righteousness instead——everytime we sin.
I couldn’t believe it!! The craziness only gets worse over the years…..
2Tim.3:13… “Evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived”