Binding Satan

There are many Spiritual warfare experts who believe that by just saying the right words we will be able to limit the power and influence of Satan over people and places (territories).

In their view, we should bind Satan from any attempt to influence our church services or disrupt our evangelistic plans.

They cite scriptures such as Matthew 18:18 and Matthew 16:19, but in neither of these passages do we find Jesus teaching on spiritual warfare. The correct context has to do with church discipline and how to deal with a situation when one brother sins against another.

The expressions “bind and loose” were common Jewish legal idioms, and Jesus used them here to teach the disciples that what they announce on earth is something that has already been determined in heaven. To bind means to forbid, refuse or prohibit. To loose meant to permit or allow.

As Spirit-filled men, Peter and the other disciples were divinely guided to discern and declare what God had already permitted or prohibited in heaven, ensuring that their earthly judgments were in alignment with God’s sovereign will.

When the apostles bound something or forbade it on earth, they were carrying out the will of God in the matter. Likewise, they were fulfilling God’s eternal plan when they loosed something or allowed it on earth. 

The apostles were given the unique capacity to exercise church discipline when one brother sins against another. It was a corporate responsibility given to the apostolic group, whose decisions and actions were considered divinely directed.

Refer to the below NASB translation which gives a more complete understanding of the text:

Matthew 16:19 (NASB)

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

While it is true that during Jesus’ ministry He did cast out demons the purpose was mainly to display His messianic claims by showing that He had power over demons.

But do we possess the power to bind Satan as some have claimed to do so?

No, there is no Biblical justification for such practice and neither is the practice consistent with scripture. Let’s consider some facts about binding Satan:

The Devil in the Bible is described as a roaring lion

In 1 Peter 5:8, it is explicitly stated that Satan roams around free, as a lion does. If this is true, then it would mean that we do not have the authority to bind him since he “freely” moves about.

1 Peter 5:8 (NKJV)

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

It is Christ who will ultimately bind Satan.

Scripture makes it clear that Satan will only be bound during Christ’s second coming, when He binds him for a thousand years in the lake of fire.

Revelation 20:1-3 (NKJV)

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

Michael the Archangel did not bind Satan even though he could have.

The Archangel Michael did not bind Satan even when he had the opportunity, knowing that God alone was responsible for binding him.

Jude 9 (NKJV)

Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

Concluding remarks

When Jesus was speaking to the apostles (in Mathew 16:19 & 18:18), He was telling them that they had a special task on earth as their words of authority would reflect God’s will for the church.

Jesus did not say that God would obey everything they did on earth, but that they should do whatever God has already willed to take place on earth. The church does not get man’s will done in heaven; instead, it obeys God’s will on earth.

Every time any man preaches the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit, he is using the keys. 

In particular, the keys refer to binding and loosing. During their preaching in various areas, the apostles held the keys of the kingdom, and as Jesus built His Church, people would either be freed from their sins (forgiven) or shackled in their sins (remain unforgiven)

Lastly, here are two statements from prominent preachers exposing the subject of binding the devil.

Voddie Baucham – “Do the rest of the churches know ya’ll got satan, this week? and do you let him go every week? If you can bind him, then I’m just gonna go on record here, and say you can keep Him.” 

Justin peters – “Find the person who keeps letting Satan back out and bind HIM.”