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.

 

Commentaries on Matthew 16:19

Matt 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

The Family has a unique interpretation of Matthew 16:19, in which the 'keys of the kingdom' are said to be a mighty spiritual force available to Family members. For an explanation and discussion of this Family doctrine, click here.

This page contains excerpts from a number of commentaries on Matthew 16:19 written by various scholars and preachers. None of the writers cited on this page have any connection with Make Straight Paths.

 

John MacArthur

You want to know how we can know what heaven is approving and disapproving? It's right here, isn't it? I have the authority if a person comes up to me, I can say to that person, "Have you received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?" If he says yes, I say then your sins are forgiven...your sins are loosed. If someone says to me, "I have never received Jesus Christ." I have the authority based on the Word of God to say to that individual, "Your sins are retained, your sins are not forgiven." And I have the authority to know that what I said to that individual, heaven has already said because heaven has revealed it right here. That's that authority. It is not some authority isolated from the Word of God. That's why the promise of the keys came on the heals of a divine revelation from the Father. As long as the Father is giving you the Word on the basis of the revelation of the Father, you have the authority. And I can say to a person you are forbidden to do that. Why? Because the Bible says so. I can say to another person you're free to do that because the Bible says so.

So that Peter had that right. The disciples had that right. So does the church because we have heaven's word on the matter. You understand? So it isn't some authority based on title. It isn't some authority based on office, or some human worthiness, or some elevation or some intelligence level, or some wisdom level. It is that the authority of the church lies in the fact that the church has heaven's word on everything and it can take heaven's word and make it authoritative in the lives of people.

Now, beloved, that is why we never compromise the Word of God cause it's the only authority we have. And God has put His church in the world and given His church His word so that His church can stand as a light, as a standard setting the pattern that is God's pattern. We pray Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, and it can be as we enact heaven's decisions by the implementation of this Word of God which is authoritative. That's why I say so often that the church has to take God seriously. We're God's standard in the world. And we have to say to this world you can't do that. Your sins are bound on you. That's what heaven says in this book and heaven is in agreement with us, it's already settled there.

So, the church is the authority in the world. That's right. And those who are in the church are authoritative in the world as long as they enforce the Word of the living God revealed to them through the Spirit. And so we have authority. And we don't worry about what the world says, we're not going to change our message. We're not going to compromise. Our reason to exist in this world is to glorify God and we glorify God when we hold up the standard of His Word, don't we?

From The Church that Christ Builds, Part 2 by John MacArthur

 

Allen Ross

The meaning of the binding and loosing in the verse probably refers to people and not to teachings (see 18:18 for “whatever”). The keys then speak of the permission of entering the kingdom or being excluded from it. The meaning of this idea is clarified by the teaching of Jesus in Luke 11:52. There Jesus denounced the teachers by saying that they had taken away the key of knowledge and had not only failed to enter the kingdom themselves but had hindered others from doing so. This meant that by their approach to Scripture they were making it impossible for people under their teaching to accept the revelation about Jesus and enter the kingdom. In strong contrast, Peter, by confessing Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God, had received the revelation and so was to be given the “keys.” The metaphor of the “keys” refers then to the clear teaching about Christ and the proclamation of the Gospel. Peter, by proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, which by revelation he was understanding more and more, would open the kingdom to many and shut it to others. See Acts 2:14-39 and 3:11-26, and the result that the Lord was adding to the church those who were to be saved (Acts 2:45). There we see how Jesus would be building His Church. But the proclamation of the Gospel message would also alienate and exclude people as well (see Acts 4:11-12; 8:20-23).

From Peter’s Confession And Christ’s Church by Allen Ross

 

(From ‘Life with Father’, Copyright: © 1995 Discovery Publishing, a ministry of Peninsula Bible Church.)

 

Ron Ritchie

Before the cross, God the Father had revealed to Peter that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Based on that revelation Jesus had then said, “...I will build My Church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it.” And then he gave Peter and the other apostles the “keys of the kingdom of heaven” to open the doors of salvation to the Jews, the Samaritans, and soon the Gentiles (Matthew 16:13-19).

(From ‘Life Dissolves Prejudice’ Copyright (C) 1995 Discovery Publishing, a ministry of Peninsula Bible Church.)

 

Jesus’ teaching here was a reminder as well to the disciples who were called to build the church of Jesus Christ after his resurrection. He had told Peter on an earlier occasion that he was going away, but before he went away he was giving him a task. He would build the church upon the fact which Peter had already confessed, that he was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. He said, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall [have been] bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall [have been] loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19.) This teaching was in fact a reminder of the Great Commission our risen Lord gave his disciples: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20.)

(From ‘Are You Prepared For Jesus’ Second Coming?’ Copyright (C) 1995 Discovery Publishing, a ministry of Peninsula Bible Church.)

 

David Guzik

The idea is not that Peter will admit people to heaven, but that Peter opened the door of the kingdom to both the Jews (Acts 2:38-39) and the Gentiles (Acts 10:34-44).

From David Guzik's Commentaries on the Bible

 

IVP Commentary

Jesus Authorizes His Agents to Admit People to the Kingdom (16:19)

The authority belongs not only to Peter (v. 19) but to all who share his proclamation of Jesus' identity (18:18). The realm of heaven here contrasts strikingly with the powers of Hades, or "Sheol," the realm of the dead thought to lie beneath the earth (16:18; compare Heb 2:14; Rev 1:18). Keys opened locked doors or gates, but the carrying of keys especially symbolized the authority of the person who bore them. One who carried keys to a royal palace was the majordomo, as in Isaiah 22:22 and Revelation 3:7. Supervisors held the keys to the temple courts among Jesus' contemporaries (as in ARN 7, 21B), and in Jewish lore prominent angels carried certain keys (for example, 3 Baruch 1:2; compare b. Ta`anit 2a).

Whether Peter thus acts as "prime minister" for the kingdom (see Brown, Donfried and Reumann 1973:96-97) or perhaps as a "chief rabbi" making halakhic rulings based on Jesus' teachings (Meier in Brown and Meier 1983:67), he clearly acts with enough delegated authority (compare Acts 10:44; Gal 2:7). Whereas Israel's religious elite was shutting people out of the kingdom (23:13; compare Lk 11:52), those who confessed Jesus' identity along with Peter were authorized to usher people into God's kingdom.

Scholars have proposed many interpretations of "binding and loosing," but in Jewish texts these terms ('asar and hittir or sera') could refer to authority to interpret the law, hence to evaluate individuals' fidelity to the law as in 18:18 (see comment there). In this context, however, the nuance may be somewhat different from 18:18: Peter and those who share his role (others share it in 18:18) evaluate not those who are in the community, but those who would enter it (10:14-15, 40; this is a role assigned to overseers in the Qumran community-compare 1QS 5.20-21; 6:13-14). In both functions-evaluating entrants and evaluating those already within the church-God's people must evaluate on the authority of the heavenly court. The verb tenses allow (and according to some scholars even suggest) that they merely ratify the heavenly decree (see comment on 18:18; compare Mantey 1973 and 1981; Keener 1987).

Peter must thus accept into the church only those who share his confession of Jesus' true identity (16:16). Of course the church should emulate Jesus' practice of welcoming the unconverted (9:10), but this is not the same as acting as if all comers were true disciples of Christ regardless of their commitment. Today some churches both admit into membership the unconverted and fail to take the message of Jesus' identity to the unconverted outside their walls. The danger of building a church on those not committed to Christ's agendas is that in time the church will reflect more of the world's values than Christ's; this was one way some originally abolitionist churches compromised with the slave trade (Usry and Keener 1996:102-5).

God's Plan Established on Christ, IVP Commentary

 

 Mathew Henry:

The other part of this charter is, to settle the order and government of the church, v. 19. When a city or society is incorporated, officers are appointed and empowered to act for the common good. A city without government is a chaos. Now this constituting of the government of the church, is here expressed by the delivering of the keys, and, with them, a power to bind and loose. This is not to be understood of any peculiar power that Peter was invested with, as if he were sole door-keeper of the kingdom of heaven, and had that key of David which belongs only to the Son of David; no, this invests all the apostles and their successors with a ministerial power to guide and govern the church of Christ, as it exists in particular congregations or churches, according to the rules of the gospel. Claves regni caelorum in B. Petro apostolo cuncti suscepimus sacerdotes-- All we that are priests, received, in the person of the blessed apostle Peter, the keys of the kingdom of heaven; so Ambrose De Dignit. Sacerd. Only the keys were first put into Peter’s hand, because he was the first that opened the door of faith to the Gentiles, <Acts 10:28>. As the king, in giving a charter to a corporation, empowers the magistrates to hold courts in his name, to try matters of fact, and determine therein according to law, confirming what is so done regularly as if done in any of the superior courts; so Christ, having incorporated his church, hath appointed the office of the ministry for the keeping up of order and government, and to see that his laws be duly served; I will give thee the keys. He doth not say, “I have given them,” or “I do now;” but “I will do it,” meaning after his resurrection; when he ascended on high, he gave those gifts, Ephes. 4:8; then this power was actually given, not to Peter only, but to all the rest, <Mt 28:19-20; Jn. 20:21>. He doth not say, The keys shall be given, but, I will give them; for ministers derive their authority from Christ, and all their power is to be used in his name, <1 Cor. 5:4>.

            Now, 1. The power here delegated is a spiritual power; it is a power pertaining to the kingdom of heaven, that is, to the church, that part of it which is militant here on earth, to the gospel dispensation; that is it about which the apostolical and ministerial power is wholly conversant. It is not any civil, secular power that is hereby conveyed, Christ’s kingdom is not of this world; their instructions afterward were in things pertaining to the kingdom of God, <Acts 1:3>.

            2. It is the power of the keys that is given, alluding to the custom of investing men with authority in such a place, by delivering to them the keys of the place. Or as the master of the house gives the keys to the steward, the keys of the stores where the provisions are kept, that he may give to every one in the house his portion of meat in due season <Lu. 12:42>, and deny it as there is occasion, according to the rules of the family. Ministers are stewards, <1 Cor. 4:1; Titus 1:7>. Eliakim, who had the key of the house of David, was over the household, <Isa. 22:22>.

            3. It is a power to bind and loose, that is (following the metaphor of the keys), to shut and open. Joseph, who was lord of Pharaoh’s house, and steward of the stores, had power to bind his princes, and to teach his senators wisdom, <Ps. 105:21-22>. When the stores and treasures of the house are shut up from any, they are bound, interdico tibi aqu et igne-- I forbid thee the use of fire and water; when they are opened to them again, they are loosed from that bond, are discharged from the censure, and restored to their liberty.

            4. It is a power which Christ has promised to own the due administration of; he will ratify the sentences of his stewards with his own approbation; It shall be bound in heaven, and loosed in heaven: not that Christ hath hereby obliged himself to confirm all church-censures, right or wrong; but such as are duly passed according to the word, clave non errante-- the key turning the right way, such are sealed in heaven; that is, the word of the gospel, in the mouth of faithful ministers, is to be looked upon, not as the word of man, but as the word of God, and to be received accordingly, <1 Thes. 2:13; Jn. 12:20>.

            Now the keys of the kingdom of heaven are,

            (1.) The key of doctrine, called the key of knowledge. “Your business shall be to explain to the world the will of God, both as to truth and duty; and for this you shall have your commissions, credentials, and full instructions to bind and loose:” these, in the common speech of the Jews, at that time, signified to prohibit and permit; to teach or declare a thing to be unlawful was to bind; to be lawful, was to loose. Now the apostles had an extraordinary power of this kind; some things forbidden by the law of Moses were now to be allowed, as the eating of such and such meats; some things allowed there were now to be forbidden, as divorce; and the apostles were empowered to declare this to the world, and men might take it upon their words. When Peter was first taught himself, and then taught others, to call nothing common or unclean, this power was exercised. There is also an ordinary power hereby conveyed to all ministers, to preach the gospel as appointed officers; to tell people, in God’s name, and according to the scriptures, what is good, and what the Lord requires of them: and they who declare the whole counsel of God, use these keys well, <Acts 20:27>.

            Some make the giving of the keys to allude to the custom of the Jews in creating a doctor of the law, which was to put into his hand the keys of the chest where the book of the law was kept, denoting his being authorized to take and read it; and the binding and loosing, to allude to the fashion about their books, which were in rolls; they shut them by binding them up with a string, which they untied when they opened them. Christ gives his apostles power to shut or open the book of the gospel to people, as the case required. See the exercise of this power, <Acts 13:46; 18:6>. When ministers preach pardon and peace to the penitent, wrath and the curse to the impenitent, in Christ’s name, they act then pursuant to this authority of binding and loosing.

            (2.) the key of discipline, which is but the application of the former to particular persons, upon a right estimate of their characters and actions. It is not legislative power that is hereby conferred, but judicial; the judge doth not make the law, but only declares what is law, and upon an impartial enquiry into the merits of the cause, gives sentence accordingly. Such is the power of the keys, wherever it is lodged, with reference to church-membership and the privileges thereof.

            [1.] Christ’s ministers have a power to admit into the church; “Go, disciple all nations, baptizing them; those who profess faith in Christ, and obedience to him, admit them and their seed members of the church by baptism.” Ministers are to let in to the wedding-feast those that are bidden; and to keep out such as are apparently unfit for so holy a communion.

            [2.] they have a power to expel and cast out such as have forfeited their church-membership, that is binding; refusing to unbelievers the application of gospel promises and the seals of them; and declaring to such as appear to be in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity, that they have no part or lot in the matter, as Peter did to Simon Magus, though he had been baptized; and this is a binding over to the judgment of God.

            [3.] they have a power to restore and to receive in again, upon their repentance, such as had been thrown out; to loose those whom they had bound; declaring to them, that, if their repentance be sincere, the promise of pardon belongs to them. The apostles had a miraculous gift of discerning spirits; yet even they went by the rule of outward appearances (as <Acts 8:21; 1 Cor. 5:1; 2 Cor. 2:7; 1 Tim. 1:20>), which ministers may still make a judgment upon, if they be skilful and faithful.

 (from Matthew Henry’s Commentary)

 

Thomas Nelson:

KEYS, POWER OF

            A phrase used by Jesus to describe the authority given by Him to His disciples. In ancient times a KEY expressed the idea of authority, power, or privilege. Jesus told Peter that He would give him “the keys of the kingdom of heaven” <Matt. 16:19>. The result of this authority in Peter’s life would be the power to bind or loose. These words for bind and loose stem from Aramaic words which carried the idea of excommunication and reinstatement, or determining objects either clean or unclean.

            The general Protestant view is that the church is the agent of this power or authority to bind or loose, either through its official leaders or through all believers. This authority or power was best applied in New Testament times when the apostles announced the conditions for entrance into the kingdom. This authority was continued through the preaching of the gospel by Peter and the church as described in the Book of Acts.

(from Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary)

(Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)