QC and SG accountability

We discussed what Jesus means when He says (Mt 16:19, 18: 18)  that “whatever (we) bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever (we) loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”. The first quotation is to Peter, and the second generalizes this power to all the disciples. Matthew 16 presents the ‘rock’ on which Christ builds his church either as Peter himself (the archetype of the faithful confessing Christian) or Peter’s confession (as that which all who belong to the church must share). There is no hint here of the continuing apostolic succession claimed by Roman Catholics, or of supremacy of leadership of the church in all matters (c.f. Paul’s correction of Peter in Gal 2:11-14, James’ leadership of the Jerusalem council in Ac 15:7-21)

“Binding” and “loosing” in this context refers to the power to discipline in the church regarding right and wrong conduct for those in the kingdom (cf.18:19). This would be equivalent to the setting of permissions and restrictions in church. The entire community of disciples has the authority to declare the terms under which God forgives or refuses to forgive the sin of wayward disciples. It is noteworthy that the Greek tenses for binding and loosing in heaven can be more accurately translated  “shall have been bound” and “shall have been loosed”. This would indicate that God does not delegate ultimate authority to Christians independent of His own, but that the faithful exercise of this authority follows His ordained will and is ultimately fulfilled by Him.

The “keys of the kingdom” refers to the authority granted to preach the gospel. Peter is the first to preach the gospel to the Jews at Pentecost (Ac 2), to the Samaritans (Ac 8) and to the Gentiles (Ac 10). The parallel passage in John 20:23 (“If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld”) gives the same idea: the church as a whole proclaims forgiveness of sins, and those who believe have their sins forgiven.

We also asked the question: “Is corporate prayer more powerful than individual prayer”. This follows from the other verses in Matt 18: 19-20 (“¹⁹ Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”) I think it is difficult to invoke Mt 18:19-20 “if two of you agree...where two or three are gathered” as an argument that corporate prayer is more effective. The context of this passage has to do with the authority required to impose church discipline. Christ is always present with every believer at all times in every case. (Although it is notable that Jesus’ promise in 18:20) amounts to a claim of omniscience = deity). 

We are directly encouraged to pray for one another (Js 5:16), and since this injunction is to the church at large, it is reasonable to take this as a command to pray corporately. It is natural for the church to pray corporately for the needs of its members, because we all share common concerns as members of one body (1 Cor12:12ff). The issue of efficacy is not primarily in view. The prayers of a ‘righteous person (individual, Js 5:16)’ would seem to be sufficiently effective .The issue of membership of one body and the expression of our relationship with one another is perhaps of greater importance. The Bible is not explicit on this point. Certainly there are both OT (Est 4:16) and NT (Ac 12:5, Js 5:14, 2 Cor 1:11, 1 Th 5:25, 2 Th 3:1) examples of corporate prayer and calls to corporate prayer. I think, therefore, that there are hints that on occasion, God moves His people to pray in corporate unity at times when individual prayers might not have been answered. So we should take the opportunity to pray corporately as well as individually!