“And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”

Matthew 16:19 NLT

Why on earth was Jesus talking about? Keys? Binding and loosing? Theologians have made some heavy weather of these statements!

What was Jesus promising to do? He was promising to give them His authority to open the kingdom of heaven. 

“Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭18‬-‭19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Let’s examine some of the possible keys. 

First, what do keys do? They open what is inaccessible without a key. 

Jesus had an issue with the Pharisees because they had keys they should have used to give people access to the truth of God’s rule. Instead, they shut the door to the kingdom of God, blocking the entry to those who wanted to go in. 

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭23‬:‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

What did the religious leaders do to prevent people from entering the kingdom? They bound on God’s people laws and rituals impossible to keep but they themselves were rotten inside, pretending to be what they were not and only letting the laws show on the outside.  

So, the laws of God, without the power of God, locked people out of the kingdom. They could never obey God’s law with a sinful heart. X They needed a new heart and a new disposition, a “rebirth”, to gain access to God’s rule, to please God. 

Key number one…so Jesus told Nicodemus, is…

“Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.”

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

For this key to open the kingdom, the first step is to exchange “works of the law” for faith in Jesus. 

“Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭2‬:‭16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Key number 2…For the key of faith to work, God must intervene to activate spiritual life. 

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins…But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬, ‭4‬-‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Through the Holy Spirit, God gives life to the dead spirit, and activates faith in Jesus for salvation. Confession confirms the faith that raises the dead spirit to life. 

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God completes the transaction by declaring the sinner “not guilty” because Jesus had paid the debt. 

“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Key number three…the master key, the object of faith that activates all the other keys…the blood of Jesus!

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭10‬:‭19‬-‭22‬ ‭NLT‬‬

These and others, are the keys that give a guilty sinner access to God and all the benefits of His grace. However, Paul made clear that these keys are in the hands of those who use them. Without the ones that open the kingdom of heaven with the right keys, the doors to God’s kingdom will remain firmly locked. 

“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬-‭10‬, ‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The keys of the kingdom reside, not just in the hands but in the mouths of those who bring the good news. 

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭52‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

So, when Jesus promised His disciples the authority to open the kingdom, He was giving them an assignment…” Preach  the Good News so that those who hear may believe “

 “Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭18‬-‭20‬ ‭NLT‬‬

There is no secret to entrance into God’s kingdom…not the works of our flesh but faith in the blood of Jesus. This faith is activated, through grace, by the power of God, by hearing and believing the message about Jesus, by confessing faith in His death and resurrection, by the Spirit of God raising us to new life…and by total commitment to trust in and obedience to Jesus as Lord. 

From start to finish, salvation is a partnership between God and us …God initiates, and works…and we respond by faith, confession, and obedience. 

A postscript… keys have a

second function. They also lock doors that no one can open.  Jesus claimed to hold those keys as well. What does He keep locked? 

“In the Bible, Jesus holds the keys of Hades (hell) and of Death, and He also speaks of giving out the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

The Keys of Hades and Death

• Reference: Revelation 1:18 (“I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death”).
• Meaning: They symbolize Jesus’s absolute, supreme authority and dominion over death, the grave, and the spiritual realm. Through His resurrection, He conquered death and holds the power to grant eternal life.” (Google AI)

As much as Jesus has the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and gives authority to open heaven to His disciples, so He also holds the keys to death and Hades. He alone has the authority to lock the realm of the dead so that no one escapes who have consigned theirselves to that place.