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The first thing to consider is
Q: what constitutes the keys of the kingdom of heaven?
*A key is that which unlocks or locks; it is anything by which we gain access to any place, or which enables us to understand any given thing.
Q: Now what is it that opens heaven to mankind, and enables us to understand God?
*A key is that which unlocks or locks; it is anything by which we gain access to any place, or which enables us to understand any given thing.
Q: Now what is it that opens heaven to mankind, and enables us to understand God?
A: Evidently the gospel, and nothing else.
Paul says that Christ has... 2 Timothy 1:10 ...brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Revelation 3:7 ...He that has the key of David, He that opens, and no man shuts; and shuts, and no man opens.
The sure mercies of David are the blessings which are assured to us through Christ, the Son of David.
Revelation 3:7 ...He that has the key of David, He that opens, and no man shuts; and shuts, and no man opens.
The sure mercies of David are the blessings which are assured to us through Christ, the Son of David.
While the gospel opens the
kingdom of heaven to men,
it also shuts out those who reject it.
The apostle Paul says:
2 Corinthians 3:14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and makes manifest the savor of His
knowledge by us in every place.
15 For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish; to the one we are the savor of death unto death; and to the other the savor of life unto life.
Thus the gospel opens and shuts.
It seems plain, therefore, that when Christ said, Matthew 16:19 And I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, –He referred to the gospel, which He was about to commit to Peter and his associates."
E.J. Waggoner
