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“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).<\/p>\n
What are we to make of Christ’s statement \u201cthe keys of the kingdom\u201d? If Roman Catholics have read much of this text, Protestants may have read little. Jesus’ statement is of fundamental importance, and should have a significant impact on our thinking.<\/p>\n
To Peter, and likewise to the rest of the apostles, Christ said that “the keys of the kingdom of heaven” would be given to them. Obviously, they would not have the authority to make state laws, as only God can do that, but the apostles would be given that role. To communicate that law officially.<\/em> The conditions for entry into the kingdom revealed by the apostles, and the rules for living in the kingdom, will also be those that God determined. When the apostles taught (or wrote), you can no more ignore what they said than you can ignore Christ himself. (Consider the implications of 3 John 9 for example). According to God’s plan, the keys of the kingdom were placed in their hands, so the normative nature of their work must be taken seriously. We are the Lord’s church today only insofar as we conform to what the apostles directed the church to do in the first century.<\/em><\/p>\n Therefore, the apostles played an important role in the New Testament period. Since then no one has had the authority of Christ like him, and his teaching will always be the standard against which everything should be measured. So are we free to \u201cevolve\u201d apostolic teaching to make it more relevant to our times? Paul, the thirteenth and last of the apostles, left no doubt: “If we or an angel from heaven preach any gospel to you contrary to the gospel we preached to you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8). And what did John say to the brothers, troubled by the supporters of the more enlightened gospel? “Whatever you have heard from the beginning, let that remain in you” (1 John 2:24).<\/p>\n “Christian theology is based not only on certain historical events which culminated in the saving career of Jesus, but on the official apostolic witness to these events and their interpretation. The Christian can never weigh anchor and descend into the depths of speculative thought. Nor can he abandon the primitive teaching of the apostles for later human traditions” (John R.W. Stott).<\/p>\n Gary Henry – WordPoints.com AreYouaChristian.com<\/a><\/p>\n