01.23.2016 New Testament: Matt 16.19

To read the Bible in a year, read Matthew 16 on January 23, In the year of our Lord 2016

By Don Ruhl

Peter confessed the divine sonship of Jesus and that He was (is) the Christ. Then Jesus confessed the name of Peter and promised that the gates of Hades would not prevent the building of the church, and Jesus promised that He would give Peter something else quite amazing,

“And I 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). 

With the keys, Peter and the apostles had authority from the Christ Himself to declare the entrance terms into the kingdom. What a privilege the Lord had granted to man! Mere men would go into the world, announcing how to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The Lord did not give the job to angels, nor the Holy Spirit, and not to anyone but the church and preachers.