What Are the "Keys of the Kingdom"? — Matthew 16:19

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In Matthew 16:19, Jesus makes the following statement to the apostle Peter:

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

What was Christ Jesus referring to when he told Peter he would give him the “keys of the kingdom”? What is the meaning of this metaphor that our Lord is using in Matthew 16:19?

The Heidelberg Catechism, question and answer 83, states,

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.

Jesus is referring to the kingdom of heaven, his kingdom that is not of this world.

First, as the Heidelberg Catechism points out, it is important to note that in this verse Jesus is referring to the kingdom of heaven, his kingdom that is not of this world (John 18:36). The loosing and binding he is talking about is his everlasting and heavenly kingdom, not a worldly one.

Second, consider what he means by loosing and binding. Loosing something in the context of the church is opening it—opening the kingdom of heaven to hearers though the words of the gospel of Christ.

The preaching of the gospel proclaims Christ’s kingdom has come to us, opening the hearts and minds of those who hear it to the glory of Christ and the good news of his salvation. On the other hand, binding something is to close it. In the context of Christ’s kingdom, it is to close the kingdom to unbelievers.

The Word preached and Christian discipline are the “keys of the Kingdom.”

Those who reject Christ are bound and kept from his kingdom. The goal of biblical church discipline is repentance and restoration; yet some will obstinately refuse the correction and counsel of Christ’s appointed leaders of his church.

Christian discipline is a means Christ Jesus has appointed to primarily lead people to repentance. In Matthew 18 Jesus uses the same binding and loosing metaphor (v. 18) in the context of how the church should deal with sin among its members. This relates the two passages, Matthew 16:19 and Matthew 18:18, to each other.

The church is God’s agent on earth in this age to preach the gospel and administer Christian discipline. We can rejoice that God has given us both the Word preached and the means to lead us to repentance when sin causes us to stray from God’s good and perfect law.

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