The keys that Jesus was talking about are the keys to the Kingdom of God. Jesus is the door.
Question 83 of the Heidelberg Catechism asks: “What is the Office of the Keys? The preaching of the Holy Gospel and Christian discipline; by these two the Kingdom of Heaven is opened to believers and shut against unbelievers.” Preaching and discipline. Preaching is talking about God and the Bible, where we learn about God, who sent Jesus, who sent the Holy Spirit to be our guide. We talked about preaching last week, and learned that all Christians are called to be preachers. That is, to talk about God in their ordinary circumstances.
Who holds the keys to the door of the church? The answer is that God’s Holy Spirit holds the keys, and that complicates things in a Trinitarian way because the Holy Spirit is the link between the Father and the Son. And He is the link between Jesus and His body, the church. And He is the link between God and believers.
In the fullness of time, when Christ returns, the various Christian denominations will all participate in the finality and fullness of the Kingdom of God on earth. There will be mutual support, understanding, and cooperation as each member of the body of Christ engages in their various functions of the body. There are an infinite number of particular functions in the fullness of the body of Christ on earth. They will be different, and will function differently, but will have the same ultimate purpose: the glorification of God on earth in Christ Jesus. …
