19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19)
22When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (John 22:23)
Thoughts: These passages are most ignored in the church today. The Roman Catholic church interprets this as giving the keys to Peter and the Pope is the spiritual descendant of Peter. The Protestant church would say that the church, not Peter has the keys. The kingdom of God is not open to everyone- as if everyone deserves it just because they are born. However, it is not shut to everyone despite our displeasing the King of the kingdom with our disobedience of His ways. The King has provided a door. The church has the keys to the door- through preaching and repentance. Jesus also said (Mt. 16) that the kingdom of heaven is like a threshing floor with both wheat and weeds that is sorted out by Him in the end. He also said the kingdom is like a net with good and bad fish in it to be sorted out. When people do not repent the church has not only the right but the duty to keep those who would corrupt the rest from doing so. Yet this must be done with great grace and care- remembering the Prodigal Son came back and the woman caught in adultery was not stoned- and Jesus said the one without sin would throw the first stone. The hope of discipline is to glorify God's holiness, to keep the church from corruption, and to restore the one being disciplined.
Prayer: Lord, thank you that you have enabled a key to the kingdom. Give us grace to use it wisely..
Lord’s Day 31
Q & A 83
Q. What are the keys of the kingdom?
A. The preaching of the holy gospel and Christian discipline toward repentance. Both of them open the kingdom of heaven to believers and close it to unbelievers.1
Q & A 84
Q. How does preaching the holy gospel open and close the kingdom of heaven?
A. According to the command of Christ: The kingdom of heaven is opened by proclaiming and publicly declaring to all believers, each and every one, that, as often as they accept the gospel promise in true faith, God, because of Christ’s merit, truly forgives all their sins. The kingdom of heaven is closed, however, by proclaiming and publicly declaring to unbelievers and hypocrites that, as long as they do not repent, the wrath of God and eternal condemnation rest on them. God’s judgment, both in this life and in the life to come, is based on this gospel testimony.1
Q & A 85
Q. How is the kingdom of heaven closed and opened by Christian discipline?
A. According to the command of Christ: Those who, though called Christians, profess unchristian teachings or live unchristian lives, and who after repeated personal and loving admonitions, refuse to abandon their errors and evil ways, and who after being reported to the church, that is, to those ordained by the church for that purpose, fail to respond also to the church’s admonitions— such persons the church excludes from the Christian community by withholding the sacraments from them, and God also excludes them from the kingdom of Christ.1 Such persons, when promising and demonstrating genuine reform, are received again as members of Christ and of his church.2
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