Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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"Bands" are permanent connections, through which influences, both good and evil, are brought into our lives. There are connections within the body of Christ that benefit us, and we would be loath to have these connections broken. There are "bands" that nourish and are essential to the health of the family of God. These bands are the fellowship of the saints and the love we have "one to another", through which all the goodness of Christ flows from one member to another. Without a strong connection with one another in the Spirit, without that strong fellowship that Jesus gives us, the body becomes dysfunctional and disjointed.
Peter exhorted us to "love the brotherhood"; that is, love the connection we have with one another in Christ, and love the fellowship through which the good in you comes to me, and the good in me flows to you. Our fellowship in the love of God is our lifeline, our hope of perfect sinlessness and purity before the Lord. The love of God we share is the "bond of perfection"; that is, the bond that makes us perfect. If we love one another, then we hate the things that disrupt fellowship. And if we hate those things that disrupt fellowship, then we eschew those evil things and avoid them.
Fellowship must be exercised in order for us to receive its full benefit. It can become strong or weak, depending upon the regularity of its use. In other words, we must bless others in the body with our gifts if we would keep open the channel through which our blessings will come from them. We must exercise ourselves in love and labor.
This is true vertically, toward God, as well as horizontally toward other people. When David commanded his soul, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name", he was strengthening the bond that connected him with the Father, from whom all blessings flow. It is good to exercise ourselves in praise, for that helps to secure the "band" of fellowship with Christ from whom the body is nourished with heavenly manna. As we exercise ourselves in praise to God, we strengthen that connection upon which all our hopes rest. If we neglect that fellowship, we become spiritually weak, and are more susceptible to the sickening influences of other spirits and people who are not connected to God at all.
There are also "bands of wickedness". These are permanent connections to the influences of unclean spirits. These connections are made by persistent disobedience to the will of God. They are strengthened by a continual return to the same evil. The person who has thus fallen under the spell of fellowship with evil is no longer free to cease doing that evil thing. The unclean spirit grips him, controls his decisions, and his mind. A "band of wickedness" is an open door to an evil influence.
Those who please God help others by loosening the bands of wickedness that hold them tight. They do this in several ways. They may, if anointed by God to do so, command the tormenting spirit to depart, and immediately sever the bond. Or they may inject into the heart of the one who is in bondage the liberating medicine of God's Word, truth that is the antidote to every false way. They may also help loose wicked connections simply by living holily before others, so that by their example, they provoke those to call on God who inwardly want to be free from their awful yoke of sin.
Whenever we do our part, as God has given us to do it, to loose the bands of wickedness from another, we are keeping the True Fast of God. It is one of the elements of a truly holy life, a life that will be blessed both here and now and endlessly in the presence of our Creator.