Binding and Loosing - Part Two

"And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved." - Acts 15:1 KJV

"When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question." - Acts 15:2 KJV

"And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.

“But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.

“And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter." - Acts 15:4-6 KJV

"And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.

“And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith." - Acts 15:7-9 KJV

"Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke [the Law of Moses] upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they." - Acts 15:10-11 KJV

James answered,

"Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: but that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood." - Acts 15:19-20 KJV

While Jesus gave Peter authority to bind and loose, the second time Jesus mentions it, it is to the disciples.

"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." - Matthew 18:18 KJV

In this case, both the authority to declare law and to annul law was taken by the apostles and the elders with the whole church. Circumcision and the Law of Moses was annulled for the Gentiles. The law that was declared for the Gentiles was the four requirements. (Acts 15:24, 28-29).