Sound Doctrine, the Bible above all. by E.G - HTML preview
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WHAT DOES THE EXPRESSION TO YOU MEAN I WILL GIVE YOU THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM?
Jesus made this statement in the following biblical quote:
(Matthew 16:19: "And to you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.")
THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM:
The keys represent the authority God delegated to Peter and the church. In this topic, we will study what authority means and the purpose for which the Lord gives us authority. The Lord made us through Jesus His children (John 1:12) and in calling us He gives us authority to preach (Mark 16:15 "And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."), to meet darkness and unclean spirits and to heal (Mark 16:17-18 "And these signs will follow those who believe: In my name they will cast out demons; they will speak new languages; they shall take serpents in their hands, and if they drink anything deadly, it shall not harm them; they shall lay their hands on the sick, and they shall be healed").
Furthermore, Luke's gospel emphasizes this authority that he gives us as a church over Satan and his demons, since the gates of hell do not prevail over the Church (Matthew 16:18).
Luke 10:19 "Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over every strength of the enemy, and nothing will harm you."
This authority that Jesus delegates over the church we can exercise over places for the purpose of spreading the good news of salvation, with the help of the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:8 "But you shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Through these keys, believers:
● They rebuke sin and put ecclesial discipline into practice. (Matthew 18:15-18: "Therefore if your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him when you and he are alone; if I hear you, you have gained your brother.
16 But if he does not hear you, take one or two with you, so that every word may be recorded in the mouths of two or three witnesses.
17 If he does not listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he does not listen to the church, consider him a Gentile and a tax collector.
18 Verily I say unto you, whatever ye bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.")
● They pray effectively for God's cause on earth. (Matthew 18:19-20: "Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about whatever they ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.")
● They bind the demons and set the captives free.
● They announce the guilt of sin, God's standard of righteousness, and the judgment to come.
Acts 2:23 |
"This man, delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you seized and killed by the hands of wicked men, crucifying him;" |
Acts 5:3,9 |
"And Peter said, Ananias, why did Satan fill your heart that you should lie to the Holy Spirit, and subtract from the price of the inheritance? Peter said to him, "Why did you agree to tempt the Spirit of the Lord?" Behold, at the door, the feet of those who have buried your husband, and they will bring you out." |
● They proclaim salvation and forgiveness of sins for all who repent and believe in Christ.
Acts 2:37-40 |
"When they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off; as many as the Lord our God shall call. 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation." |
Acts 15:7-9 |
"And after much discussion, Peter arose and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how long ago God chose that the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel by my mouth and believe. 8 And God, who knows hearts, bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit as well as us; 9 And he made no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith." |
What is authority?
• Authority is the right to use divine power.
• To impose the power of God in all spheres of life.
• It is the power we have to make ourselves obeyed.
• The word "authority" is intimately related to the word "Power".
What we should not understand by authority:
- Authority doesn't come from a feeling, depending on whether I feel safe or not.
- It is not the one that is related to a certain type of personality.
- It is not the product of maturity or how long we have been saved.
- It is not to impress his neighbor with displays of anger.
What is God's purpose in giving us authority?
Example: To an army general due to his investiture and position, the high command gives him the description of his job and together with the position authority is delegated to him. The authority held by this general does not belong to him; rather, authority has been delegated and entrusted to him to carry out his office.
Its responsibility lies in making good use of the authority entrusted to it. The same is true of the members of Christ's church. God has entrusted us with authority to carry out our ministry, our great responsibility is to use the authority given and above all to know how to use it.
Why did God give authority?
- To heal the sick. (Matthew 10:1)
Jesus delegated to his disciples authority to heal every ailment.
- To cast out demons. (Luke 10:19; Mark 16:17-18)
- To exercise authority over places. (Acts 1:8; Matthew 10:6)
- Exercising authority over the past. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
- To exercise authority for protection. (Isaiah 54:17; Mark 16:18)
- Exercise authority to prevent. (Matthew 10:16)
Attempting to correctly interpret the text of Matthew 18:18 is controversial, but when studying the word "bind and loose" in the context of the New Testament, it is observed that these two words refer to spiritual warfare against Satan.
Satan has the specific function of binding the human being through the multitude of demons; that is, to restrict him, to make him a slave, to immobilize him in order to destroy him. (Thank God that in Christ Jesus we have been free) John 8:36 "Therefore if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." And He has rejected the work of the evil one (1 John 3:8)
In addition, the Lord gives us freedom to have a submission to Him and reap eternal life. For if submission is to sin, the harvest of sin is death.
Romans 6:16 |
"Do you not know that if you submit yourselves to anyone as slaves to obey him, you are slaves to him whom you obey, whether from sin unto death, or from obedience unto righteousness?" |
If Satan binds people, Jesus Christ loosens him because the apostle said, "... For this purpose the Son of God appeared, to destroy the works of the devil." (1 John 3:8)