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Makestraightpaths.com examines the
teachings of the religious group variously known as “the Family,” “The Family
International,” the “Children of God,” or the “Family of Love,” and evaluates
these teachings from a Christian perspective.
This page is one of a series looking
at the unique Family doctrine of the Keys of the Kingdom.
The Keys of the
Kingdom
Matthew
16:19 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. NKJV
This verse,
spoken by Jesus to the apostle Peter, refers
metaphorically to the 'keys of the kingdom.' Most Bible commentators see
this phrase as a metaphor referring either to the spiritual authority
that all Christians have when they preach the Gospel or to Peter's
specific role in bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles. That is, the verse
means that Christians are permitted to proclaim the salvation that is
available in Jesus Christ, or that Jesus was predicting Peter's key role
in opening the door of faith to the Gentiles. For a compilation of
various commentaries on this verse,
click here.
However, the
Family has a unique teaching regarding the ‘Keys of the Kingdom.’ Alone
among Christian and pseudo-Christian groups, they believe these keys to be a mighty spiritual force
available to those with enough faith. Or rather, available to Family
members with enough faith, as other Christians haven’t heard of
this force, and therefore do not believe.
The
‘Keys of the Kingdom’ are said by the Family to be a
spiritual entity created by God by which great spiritual power is made
available to Family members. Family
members have been given hundreds of pages of material published on the
keys. Some of this material consists of 'promises' that Family members
are told they may claim in order to get their prayers answered. Other
'keys' publications borders on the ludicrous, reading like a low quality
science fiction story, with descriptions of flying saucers, called 'key
craft.' Some material published on the 'keys' is almost blasphemous,
claiming that the 'keys' are 'one with Jesus' and 'one with the Word.'
Family members are encouraged to memorise hundreds of specific ‘key
promises,’ to visualise the keys, to call on the keys in prayer, and to use
them in any and every situation to obtain great spiritual power,
supernatural strength and miraculous answers to prayer. The keys are,
according to Family publications, one
of the biggest revelations God has imparted to mankind in recent years. The Family is told that
these keys contain far more power than anything previously imaginable. The
keys are divine, they are ‘one with Jesus
and the Word’, they are ‘magical’. The keys have become a core Family
doctrine changing the way members pray, praise and see themselves.
Because of the immense power attributed to the keys, due
to the crucial role imputed to them, and as they have been assigned such
a pivotal position in Family members’ lives it is necessary to examine
how they fit into God’s plan as revealed in the Bible. It is a biblical
principle to test everything with Scripture: Jesus told the Pharisees
that if they searched the Scriptures they would discover that the Old
Testament spoke of Him. When Paul brought the Gospel to the Bereans,
they searched the Scriptures to see if these things were so. After
diligent
study brought realisation that Paul's message was indeed the truth, the Bereans believed
and became Christians. 'Searching
the Scriptures' is especially important when it comes to new revelations,
new doctrines that somebody claims comes from God. The Bible
repeatedly warns believers to be on guard against the Devil’s deceit.
The purpose of this web site is to examine Family doctrines
from a biblical perspective, not a ‘Family’ standpoint. Therefore, this
page
will contain no quotes from
GNs
about the keys, no excerpts from Family
publications. Make Straight Paths is written from the viewpoint that the Bible is the ultimate standard of measurement, and
must be used to pass judgement on all other writings. The Bible is the
foundation of Christian faith, not Martin Luther’s writings, not the
Pope’s encyclicals, and not Family-produced material. Family members who
are true Christians are saved only because they believe John 3:16, not
Family material. Conversely, any Family members who do not have faith in
the Bible cannot be called Christian no matter how strongly they believe Family
writings.
Unless
otherwise stated, the Family doctrine of the ‘Keys of the Kingdom’ will be referred to
on this page as ‘the keys’. So,
when there is a reference to ‘the keys,’ in general it will refer to the
Family doctrine of mighty spiritual power specially bestowed to the
Family through ‘calling on the keys’. So when there is a statement like,
‘the keys are not in the Bible’ it should be understood that the
reference is to the Family interpretation of the phrase mentioned in Matthew 16:19.
The keys and the Bible
When attempting to discuss this topic from a biblical
standpoint there is an immediate, significant problem. It is impossible
to make a Bible study on ‘calling on the keys’ or ‘keycraft’ or ‘using
key promises’ because the keys are not in the Bible. Matthew
16:19 uses the phrase ‘the keys of the kingdom of heaven’, and there are
a few other passages in the Bible where the word ‘keys’ is used in a
metaphorical sense. However, there is no argument about this point, even
in official Family publications. The ‘keys of the kingdom’ as used by
the Family, as a great and mighty spiritual force, as the end-time
prayer-facilitator, as a vehicle for unlimited spiritual power unleashed
in the last days, is not in the Bible. The ‘keys of the kingdom’
as used in the Family are strictly an extra-biblical ‘revelation’ given
specifically to the Family. The doctrine of ‘Calling on the Keys’ is not
in the Bible, and Family publications do not attempt to say that it is.
The ‘keys’ are a new revelation.
Although the Family does not attempt to claim that the
keys are in the Bible, they did publish a GN claiming to give biblical
support for the principles behind the keys. For a discussion of that GN,
click here.
So how
does one conduct a Bible study on a topic that is absent? How may Christians
search the Scriptures when the object of their search cannot be found?
What conclusions can be drawn from the fact that the keys are absent
from the Bible?
The key’s absence
The Bible is the living Word of God. It is the
manifestation in paper and ink of what Jesus manifested in flesh and
blood. Jesus is the Word made flesh, God incarnate and the Bible is the
written expression of the truth of God. Therefore, the first conclusion
that can be drawn from the fact that the keys are not in the Bible is
that they are inessential. Essential doctrines are in the Bible.
Everything else is either optional or incorrect.
Therefore,
Christians who live a Bible-centred life do not need to worry about the keys.
If they follow the Bible, they will have God’s power manifested through
them,
they will bear much fruit, they will show the fruits of the Holy Spirit,
they will
be given gifts of the Holy Spirit. They can live a spirit-filled,
fruit-bearing life without the 'keys.' They won’t miss out
on anything; they will never be lacking in God’s power; His strength will
be always available to them. They won’t need ‘more power’ because they have
God’s power. They will never be unprotected because they will have His angels
watching over them. They have Jesus Himself in them helping them to grow
and
learn and make decisions. There is absolutely nothing that they would miss
out on: the keys are inessential. That is, the unique Family doctrine of the
keys being a powerful spiritual entity is inessential. It is unnecessary.
There are two other possibilities that must be considered when discussing any
extra-biblical doctrine. There is the possibility that either the keys do not
exist or that they do exist, but they are of demonic origin. The Family 'prophets'
may have been mistaken or deceived when they
recorded messages about this doctrine.
Allowing these possibilities permits the Bible to be the standard
for all truth and error. It is a personal declaration that God's Word in the Bible may judge
whether all teachings are true or false.
The power of God
The book of Colossians has a relevant passage about the
source of spiritual power.
Col 2:6-10
6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord,
so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in
Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and
overflowing with gratitude.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through
philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men,
according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than
according to Christ. 9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in
bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the
head over all rule and authority
NASU
Jesus
Christ is the foundation for Christian faith. Christians are rooted in Him
that they may grow and bear fruit (vs.6-7).
Verse 8 contains a warning to be on guard not to be
deceived.
Verse 9 says that all God’s
power, all His majesty, all His might dwells in Jesus.
Verse 10 triumphantly proclaims that Christians are 'complete' in Him. The ASV says ‘in Him ye are
made full’; the NIV says ‘you have been given fullness in Christ’. As
believers
walk in Jesus and let Him live in them, He manifests all of
His fullness.
All authority has been given to Jesus (Matt 28:18).
Everything that exists is in submission to Him.
1 Peter 3:22 who has gone into heaven and is at God's
right hand — with angels, authorities and powers in submission to
him. NIV
Jesus' power is above all else.
Eph 1:19-23
19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who
believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of
His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him
from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly
places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion,
and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the
one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet,
and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His
body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
NASU
The Bible says that Jesus has all power.
He
fills all in all (Eph 1:23 NASU). He is the Author and Giver of everything
everywhere (TLB). He fills everything in every way (NIV).
Therefore, any
attempt to access power through the 'keys' implies another source of
spiritual power. Such a source can only be in opposition to God. In
other words, biblically speaking, there are now only two possible conclusions
regarding the 'keys': either they do not exist at all, or they do exist
in deceptive, demonic opposition to Jesus Christ.
Jesus and the keys
The Family teaches that Jesus operates through the keys.
They teach that He uses the keys as a kind of agent to transmit His
power. Family members 'call on the keys' believing that they are
accessing Jesus’ power.
This theory, of
course, is not in the Bible.
The Bible talks at length about miraculous answers to prayer and about the
power of the Holy Spirit manifested through God’s children, but it
does not say that Jesus sends His power through 'keys.' Therefore, this
theory must be disregarded.
However, Family teaching about the keys goes beyond a
mere conduit of Jesus' power. The Family has taught that the keys have a life
of their own, almost like a fourth member of the holy Trinity. This
blatantly unbiblical teaching borders on the blasphemous.
Symbolic keys mentioned in the Bible
‘Keys’
are used figuratively or symbolically several times in the Bible apart
from Matthew 16:19.
Luke 11:52 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away
the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered
those who were entering. NASU
Rev 1:18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive
forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. NASU
Rev 3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is
holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will
shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this: NASU
Rev 9:1 Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which
had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to
him. NASU
While
there is a lot of debate about the interpretation of some of these passages
(particularly the passage written to the church in Philadelphia), there
is one very clear fact: there is no suggestion that these
references to 'keys' are in any way connected with each other or with the passage in
Matthew 16. None of these Scriptures indicate great power given to
believers, none signify an extra means of Christians appropriating
power, none testify to a mysterious entity ‘one with Jesus and the
Word’. It would be a gross misuse of Scriptures to link them together in
support of the Family’s doctrine.
Conclusion
The
most significant fact about the Family doctrine of the keys is one that
instantly consigns it to the ‘unimportant’ bin: this doctrine is
extra-Biblical. It is wholly unsupported and utterly without Biblical
foundation. It just isn’t there. The only reason it needs to be
considered is that the Family has
insisted on holding it aloft, loudly trumpeting that it is an important new Christian doctrine.
However, as this doctrine is not supported by the Bible, it may be
disregarded as insignificant.
Actually, the
fact that the Family elevates this doctrine to such magnitude is
a reason to abandon it as potentially dangerous. Magnifying an
insignificant or false teaching
out of proportion causes a loss of perspective on the
teachings that are true. Placing an exaggerated worth on an obscure
doctrine causes a neglect of the major doctrines. There is great danger in neglecting the Bible in
favour of an unbiblical theory that should have no bearing on Christian life.
Further, there is the distinct possibility that the
Family doctrine of the 'keys' is actually a deceptive, demonic teaching,
designed to lead people away from the Lord.
The
Bible is the core and foundation of Christian belief. If it does not
occupy that place, we may no longer refer to ourselves as Christians.
Christians are defined as those who follow the teachings of Jesus Christ
as revealed in the Bible. If Family
members are to consider themselves Christians, they must believe the Bible first and foremost. It is the Bible that
is the inalterable eternal Word of God, upon which we depend for
salvation, for the plan of God, for the mind of Christ. It is the Bible
alone that teaches about the true spiritual foundation of our life.
The Family's teaching about the 'keys' is unbiblical and
therefore, there are three possibilities about it: The keys are
insignificant, they do not exist, or they are of demonic
origin.
See also
Commentaries on Matt16:19
Examination of the Family's defence of
the keys
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