Treasures New and Old

Spiritual Warfare: Binding and Loosing

In this article, I wish to recap the weapons of our warfare as it relates to mind warfare but add an important aspect to those weapons, and that is binding and loosing as an ability we were given by Jesus Christ as part of our prayer life. Most of the armor described in Ephesians 6:10-18 is defensive in nature, but the Word and all prayer (I see like a dagger) are offensive. As part of that offense, we have the authority to bind and loose things as per Jesus’ instructions. For more detail on the armor and its importance and use, revisit the article entitled “Spiritual Warfare: Offensive and Defensive Thought Warfare“. Let’s begin.

Ephesians 6:10-18:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Warfare Armor as It Relates to Mind Warfare

l. Pre-War Preparation

Good soldiers drill and drill long before they go into battle. We ought to do the same thing. Bible memory, meditation, surrender to Christ daily are all part of the drill.

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” We simply cannot do spiritual battle alone. We do not have within ourselves the power, the dynamite to do so alone. We must be empowered by Jesus Christ as we are fully surrendered to Him.

“Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” We are talking about wiles that are lies, deceptions, accusations, temptations, insults, and other mind related fiery darts that the world, Satan, or his minions will throw at you: like false stories in the media, Internet, books, movies, and even misguided friends.

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Our battle in the mind is not fleshly. Our battle is for truth, specifically God’s truth. We must guard against all outside sources and those subtle whispers and innuendos that come flying our way.

“Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” I am reminded that: (1) There will be “evil days”. (2) We need to be able to stand firm in our faith in Christ.

ll. Our Defensive Protection

“Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth,” The best way to stand in battle is under cover (not just concealment) or so armored that the darts of the enemy can’t break through. Our protective covering of our loins is God’s Word, His truth. When attacks of the enemy come, we call up the truth in our minds just as the attack forms. You can’t do this unless you have the truth already memorized and internalized by meditation.

Put on the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate covers the front of your body. Spiritually, it represents covering your front as you face the enemy and not while denying we are fighting a mental attack. Righteousness is the justification we have in Christ – with Christ’s righteousness.

Shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. The Greek is, literally, having underbound the feet (Strong’s G5265). This included two parts: (1) the sandals or shoes fitted with nails to hold firmly in the ground; and (2) greaves that were fitted to the legs and designed to defend from hacking danger allowing the soldiers not have to worry about their shins.

With the preparation: prepared with the gospel of peace. The sense is that the Christian soldier is to be prepared with the gospel of peace to meet attacks similarly to the ancient soldier who guarded himself by the sandals or greaves which he wore. The word preparation means: properly, readiness, fitness for, and the idea is that they were to be ever ready to go forth to preach the gospel.

“Taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” Faith is the victory that overcomes the world – and our mind battles. As we live from faith to faith and increase in our faith, our mind battles get easier to win. The just shall live by faith. Faith in God’s Word lets us quench the lies and temptations thrust at us by all evil sources.

“Take the helmet of salvation,” 1 Thessalonians 5:8-10: “But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.”

lll. Our Offensive Weapons

Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: pretty much self-explanatory. The offensive weapon we have at our disposal is simply God’s Word. As we memorize and meditate on God’s Word, it becomes the best weapon we have to both reject wrong thinking and replace it with right thinking.

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit,” All prayer is a state of mind that we need to be in constantly. “Pray without ceasing.” Talk often to the Father. As you pray for others, you are also turning your mind from self to others which is a good way to learn to deny the flesh.

“Watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” We are to be watchman and that is especially true regarding what we allow to pass through our minds. We are to remain vigilant, and even when things seem desperate, when we slip and fail, we don’t give up. We ask God to forgive and strengthen and we go on.

Part of “All Prayer” – Binding and Loosing

The concept of binding and loosing is taught in the Bible. Consider these two verses:

Matthew 16:19: “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.“

Matthew 18:18: “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.“

Jesus is speaking to Peter and the other disciples. Jesus is telling Peter that as a member of the kingdom and a holder of kingdom keys (authority) that he has the right (symbolized by the possession of the keys) to bind and loose things on earth which will also be bound or loosed in heaven. This includes preaching the gospel and opening the kingdom of heaven to all believers and shutting it against unbelievers. The Book of Acts shows us this process at work. By his sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-40), Peter opened the door of the kingdom for the first time. The expressions bind and loose were common to Jewish legal phraseology, meaning to declare something forbidden or to declare it allowed.

Peter and the other disciples were to continue Christ’s work on earth in preaching the gospel and declaring God’s will to men, and they were armed with the same authority that He possessed. Matthew 18:18 refers to the binding and loosing in the context of church discipline. The apostles do not usurp Christ’s lordship and authority over individual believers and their eternal destiny. But they do exercise the authority to discipline and, if necessary, excommunicate disobedient church members.

It’s not that the apostles were given the privilege of changing God’s mind as if whatever they decided on earth would be duplicated in heaven. Rather, they were encouraged that, as they moved forward in their apostolic duties, they would be fulfilling God’s plan in heaven. When the apostles bound something or forbade it on earth, they were carrying out the will of God in their matter. When they loosed something or allowed it on earth, they were likewise fulfilling God’s eternal plan. In both Matthew 16:19 and 18:18, the Greek text makes the meaning clear:

“. . . whatever thou mayest bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in the heavens, and whatever thou mayest loose upon the earth shall be having been loosed in the heavens” (Matthew 16:19, Young’s Literal Translation).

Jesus taught that believers have a special task on earth. Like Paul, our words of authority reflect God’s will for the church. When Paul declared an anathema on those who pervert the gospel, we know that anathema was declared in heaven:

Galatians 1:8-9: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”

Binding as Part of Warfare

Binding is like a spiritual handcuff. You can bind a demonic spirit much like tying something up with rope or chains. You cannot bind a person’s free will, but you can bind any demons affecting or influencing that person. If you are trying to talk to or minister to somebody or pray for someone, and they seem impossible to get through to, it can be helpful to bind up the spirits influencing that person which will handcuff the enemy so you can directly and effectively minister to that person without having them continually held back by the enemy’s interference.

What does it mean to bind on earth? It refers to your physical location. Right now you are here on earth. Jesus is saying that the authority to bind and loose are provided for us to use right here on earth.

What does it mean for something to be bound in heaven? If you look up the word heaven in the Greek, you’ll find another word called “air”, which is where the spirits dwell. The Bible also says that we are seated with Christ in heavenly places. This is referring to heaven as a realm. The Bible tells us that we are seated in the heavenly realm with Christ (Ephesians 2:6). As believers, we are now seated above the angelic realm and seated with Christ! So the word heaven here is referring to the spiritual realm, the air, where the spirits dwell and operate. In Ephesians 2:2, Satan is known as the “prince of the power of the air”.

Therefore, when you bind something here on earth, it will be bound in the spiritual realm as well. This gives us the ability to bind our spiritual enemies, because they dwell within the spiritual realm.

Binding is a powerful witnessing tool: What keeps a person from accepting Jesus? The god of this world, Satan, has blinded their minds from the light of the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4). Jesus gave us the example of binding the strong man so that his house can be plundered (Mark 3:27). If you have been trying to witness to somebody and seem to be getting nowhere, try binding the spirits of darkness that are preventing that person from seeing the light in the gospel.

Loosing as Part of Warfare

Loosing, like binding, can be done here on earth and takes effect in the spiritual realm. Loosing, however, refers to the loosing of a captive or person in bondage. You bind demons, and you loose the captives. When Jesus set free the woman with the issue of blood, He said unto her, “Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity” (Luke 13:12).

Some Verses about Binding and Loosing

Numbers 30:2-3: “If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind (asar – to yoke, hitch, or fasten (Strong’s H631)) his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth. If a woman also vow a vow unto the LORD, and bind (asar) herself by a bond, being in her father’s house in her youth;”

Psalm 149:8: “To bind (asar (Strong’s H631)) their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;”

Proverbs 3:3: “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind (qashar – to tie them, join together (Strong’s H7194)) them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:”

Proverbs 6:21: “Bind (qashar (Strong’s H7194)) them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.”

Isaiah 61:1: “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up (chabash – wrap firmly, gird about (Strong’s H2280)) the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;”

Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal (igomai – to heal, make whole (Strong’s G2390)) the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set a liberty them that are bruised,“

Hosea 6:1: “Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind (chabash (Strong’s H2280)) us up.”

Matthew 12:29: “Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind (deo – to bind, tie, knit (Strong’s G1210)) the strong man and then he will spoil his house.“

Matthew 13:30: “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind (deo (Strong’s G1210)) bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.“

Matthew 16:19: “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind (deo (Strong’s G1210)) on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose (luo – to loosen, break, destroy, dissolve, put off (Strong’s G3089)) on earth shall be loosed (luo) in heaven.”

Matthew 18:18: “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind (deo (Strong’s G1210)) on earth shall be bound (deo) in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose (luo (Strong’s G3089)) on earth shall be loosed (luo) in heaven.”

Matthew 22:13: “Then said the king to the servants, Bind (deo (Strong’s G1210)) him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Binding and Loosing as Part of Our Own Mind Warfare

Part of our mental battle is to remove darkness from our thinking and ourselves and replace it with God’s light, His truth. Consider this verse carefully:

Luke 11:36 (emphasis added): “If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.”

Are you made of parts? Yes, you are. We have a body, a soul, and a spirit. We have a mind, our will, and we have emotions. Many of us have also compartmentalized our minds into different areas of thinking as we concentrate or focus on very different things.

Jesus wants us to have all of our parts (whatever they may be) filled with His light. Therefore, we need to bind those thoughts and attacks on our mind so that they no longer can influence us and then loose those areas of our mind that need to be bathed in the light of God’s Word. When we have a specific sinful habit we just can’t seem to conquer, we need to surrender that area of our life to Christ, bind any outside influences that attempt to stimulate us to sin again, and loose that area to Christ to be free to serve Him. You may need to do this numerous times until you have victory. As part of that loosing, we add God’s Word in that specific area to flood that part of our life with His light.

Hedges

Hedges are a way to loose someone from Satanic influence. God declared that a hedge of thorns creates a wall that stops someone from getting evil benefits and from enjoying their sin. Ever try walking through a really thick, dense hedge of thorns? Consider:

Hosea 2:6: “Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.”

God also refers to what I call a protective hedge and warns us that we need to “take our place in the hedge” to protect:

Ezekiel 13:5: “Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.” Also Ezekiel 22:30; Mark 12:1; Job 1:10; Isaiah 5:5.

Final Reminder:

2 Peter 3:1-2 (bold added): “This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior:”

We still have a lot to learn, and as we close this portion of this series of articles, we need to be reminded of several things:

We must ever be in a state of readiness to mange our minds. The moment we become casual about mind management; we are likely to become a spiritual casualty.
The goal is a pure mind that is pleasing to Christ which includes rejection of those errant thought that wander into our minds.
We can’t leave an empty battlefield (so to speak). We need to replace rejected thoughts with spiritually acceptable thoughts, and the best way to do this is to memorize and meditate on God’s Word.

Maranatha!

Bro. Joe

References

Strong, J. Strong’s Talking Greek_Hebrew Dictionary. Wordsearch. (2020). Wordsearch Bible. [computer software] . Nashville, TN: LifeWay Christian Resources. (Original work published 1890).

Young’s Literal Translation. Meyers, R. (2005). e-Sword. [computer software] . Franklin, TN: Equipping Ministries Foundation. (Original work published 1898).

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