Hello, thank you for joining me today for Give Him 15.

The title of today's post is experiencing the abundant life Jesus promised.

In yesterday's post, we talked about an important Greek word used in the New Testament in the context of prayer. The word is die, D-E-I, which means

very important, that which is necessary, even binding, as in a legal sense, that which is right, proper or necessary in the nature of a case,

that which is prescribed by law, duty, custom, etc.

And from a sense of duty, one must, what one must do.

This word is used in Luke 181 to tell us prayer is absolutely necessary in order to overcome in life. Another important passage using this word is Matthew 16, 18, and 19. Jesus said, I say also unto thee,

thou art Peter, and upon this rock I'll build my church, and the gates of hell won't prevail against

it, and I'll give you 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.

Bind, deo is the Greek word, DEO, is a different form of the same word.

Jesus, king of the kingdom of heaven, is referencing the spiritual authority he would give his Ecclesia, the church, to carry out his will on earth.

And Ecclesia, of course, was a legislative assembly.

The footnote in the Passion Translation makes this very clear.

They say, quote, this is not a religious term at all, but a political and governmental term that is used many times in classical Greek for a group of people who have been summoned and gathered together to govern the affairs of a city.

For Jesus to use this term means he's giving the keys of governmental authority in his kingdom to the church.

The meaning of Deo, bind. The word for bind in verse 19 is consistent with this legal

spiritual authority Christ gave his ecclesia.

Deo speaks of rulings that are legally binding.

They must be honored.

This is why some translations, including the Passion translation, use the word forbid to translate Deo.

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