Can A Born-Again Christian "Bind" And "rebuke” The Devil?

One of the hardest struggles of being a disciple of Jesus is to win the battle of forgiveness because it goes on in the mind and in the thoughts. True spiritual warfare must be targeted at breaking spiritual strongholds, not people. Anger, bitterness, hate, and unforgiveness all originate in the mind. We must pray fervently to avoid these strongholds in our lives as well as in the lives of others. We must never give up; rather, we should be confident that we have been promised the victory already as we walk daily in humility, yielded to the Lord.

Binding the Strong Man

Another verse that is quoted to validate the belief that we can 'bind' the enemy is:

"Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house." (Matthew 12:29 ESV)

In context, the verse is regarding the unforgivable sin of Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The Pharisees had made the blasphemous accusation that Jesus was doing the work of satan and not God. Let's take a look at the verses in context:

"Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, "Can this be the Son of David?" But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons." Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." (Matthew 12:22-32 ESV; see also Mark 3:22-30; Luke 11:14-23)

Jesus shows us only a superior power can drive out another. The point of the passages is not about "binding," but about the effect of superior power. Jesus had many contacts with demonic spirits, but it is never said that He went about "binding" them.

The Bible says that satan will be "bound" before the thousand-year reign of Jesus, and then "loosed" for a season AFTER it is fulfilled. This future tense is the only proper application of this concept to spiritual warfare.