[Excellence]

And don't even try the "whatever you bind here on earth will be bound in heaven"... won't work. I have been down that road.

Then what does it mean if not what it is thought to mean?

[TheBattman]

Then what does it mean if not what it is thought to mean?

It is not the "binding" of someone's sin. This is a reference to spiritual battle. To bind spirits (evil/satanic). The heavens in this case is translated from the term for "the air" - the realm of spirits. We, as believers in Christ, are given the power to bind spirits -