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Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven

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Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven

Lots of churches and church leaders want to use Matthew 16:19 and Jesus’ statement to Peter about the keys of the kingdom of heaven as justification for judging and condemning others for their beliefs or their behavior. We saw yesterday in my post about Locking Others out of Heaven that there are two main views about Matthew 16:19.

Some think that we do have this authority, or at least, some church leaders (such as the Pope) have it. When a decision is made by the church, or one of these select leaders, Jesus “rubber stamps” it from heaven.

The other main view is based off the “periphrastic future-perfect passive participles” of the verse, and says that the decisions which are made on earth, are decisions that have already been made in heaven, and we are simply implementing these decisions here.

Theological Magic Shows

I suppose that when it comes to translating the verse, I side with the “periphrastic future-perfect passive participle” view.

But frankly, with my understanding of the verse, it really doesn’t matter too much how you translate the words, or whether you know what a “periphrastic future-perfect passive participle” is.

I am convinced that most of the big theological debates in church history are a result of theological sleight of hand. It’s like in a magic trick when the magician is waving one hand about, with lots of color, light, and flourishes, that is the time to watch what his other hand is doing. If he says, “Look over there at my beautiful, scantily clad, periphrastic future-perfect passive participle partner!” that is the time to look the other way, and see what is happening on the other side of the stage.

When it comes to Matthew 16:19, the events on the other side of the stage is the phrase “Kingdom of heaven.” Most of the lights and fireworks of the debate surrounding Matthew 16:19 have focused on who Jesus is speaking to, whether it applies to the church or not, and how to translate the “periphrastic future-perfect passive participles.”

Almost nobody asks what Jesus meant by “Kingdom of heaven,” which is where the solution to this verse lies.
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King Jesus Gospel Redux

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The King Jesus Gospel by Scot McKnightAfter my failed attempt yesterday to review Scot McKnight’s new book, The King Jesus Gospel, I am taking a second stab at it today.

Scot McKnight is concerned that that most evangelicals have a very narrow and unbiblical understanding of the Gospel. Most of us, he believes, hold to something which he calls “a soterian Gospel” which is the idea that the Gospel message primarily concerns me and my salvation.

The soterian Gospel is found in most pulpits, pamphlets, and presentations of the Gospel, and usually contains several bullet points about God’s holiness, our sin, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, and how we can get to heaven by believing in Him.

While Scot McKnight doesn’t have a problem with this message per se, he contends that this message is not the Gospel.

What is the Gospel?

Instead of a simple message about how to get saved, the Gospel is a story. A very long story. So long, it pretty much takes the entire Bible to tell it. It can be summarized, of course, but not in 4 Spiritual Laws. McKnight’s summary takes just over four full pages in his book (pp. 149-152).

The Gospel story contains details about God, creation, the fall of mankind, the selection of Abraham, the people of Israel, and the prophets. The Gospel story finds fulfillment and a new beginning in the birth, life, miracles, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The Gospel story continues with Jesus creating a new people of God in the church, which continues to accomplish the mission of Jesus in bringing God’s Kingdom to earth now, and in eternity to all creation.

McKnight does a masterful job defining and defending this understanding of “Gospel” and includes chapters about the Gospel that Jesus preached, the Gospel that Paul preached, and the Gospel that Peter and the other apostles preach, and how this understanding of “Gospel” shows that they all preached, proclaimed, and lived the same gospel. Their messages were not at odds with each other, but in complete harmony and agreement.

Ultimately, the Gospel is “the Story of Israel as resolved in the Story of Jesus” (p. 79).

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Can We Lock Others Out of Heaven?

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Jesus is the only judge of the souls of other people, but some believe that Jesus gave this authority to the church, or at least to certain leaders within the church.

Keys of the KingdomMatthew 16:19 – The Keys of the Kingdom

The primary verse used to defend this idea is Matthew 16:19, where Jesus said, “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” (Matt 16:19).

Jesus is speaking to Peter, and so some believe that what Jesus said applied only to Peter. Based on their teaching of Apostolic Succession, the Catholic Church argued that this authority has been passed down to the Pope.

Not everyone agrees with this interpretation, and some believe that though Jesus was speaking to Peter, Peter was viewed as the spokesman and leader of the Apostles, and later one of the leaders of the church, and so while Jesus was speaking to Peter, what Jesus says can be applied to the entire church.

What is the Authority?

Either way, the real issue is what Jesus meant when He said that He was giving the keys of the kingdom to Peter. And here that has been surprising agreement by the majority of Christians throughout church history, whether they are Orthodox, Catholic, or Protestant. The vast majority of people throughout church history believe that Jesus was in fact giving to the church some of His authority to make judgments regarding spiritual issues, whether they are theological matters, or the eternal destiny of other people.

The idea is that if the church makes a decision regarding a theological matter or someone’s eternal destiny, then Jesus supports and backs up that decision from heaven.

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King Jesus Gospel

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The King Jesus GospelScot McKnight recently wrote a book called The King Jesus Gospel. I finished reading it yesterday.

I know it is vain, but as I read it, I kept waiting for him to quote from a journal article I wrote back in 2006 called “The Gospel is More than Faith Alone in Christ Alone.”

Of course, Scot McKnight never did quote from it.

So either he plagiarized me, or he never read the article…  Hmmmm… I wonder which one it is?

The Gospel is about more than How to get Saved

In the  2006 journal article, I studied the New Testament usage of the word “gospel” and ended up concluding that

The gospel contains everything related to the person and work of Jesus Christ, including all of the events leading up to His birth, and all the ramifications from Christ’s life, death, and resurrection for unbelievers and believers.

Then, in 2009, in a blog post titled “The Gospel is Full of Good News” I stated that

The full gospel is full-orbed in the claims it makes about our present life and eternal existence, and what Jesus wants to do with both.

Later, I did a whole series on “Gospelism” (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6) in which I argue many of the points that Scot McKnight made in his book, but which he referred to as “Gospeling.”

As I was reading Scot’s book, it often felt to me that I was re-reading some of those old posts.

Sure, Scot McKnight and I don’t argue along exactly the same train of thought, and he nuances things differently than I did, but in general, we are in agreement. I found this very comforting, since in 2006, some people blasted me pretty hard for the article I had written. I imagine Scot might be taking flak also. People don’t like their “gospel message” to be challenged.

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Judging Jesus

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Jesus is the Judge, we are NotThe first major problem with the way doctrinal statements are used is that they tend to set up individual churches and church leaders as judges over the eternal destiny of others, rather than leave this up to Jesus. Yes, the church is supposed to judge others, but only in areas of personal disagreements and breaking the law (1 Cor 5:12; 6:1-6), not in the areas of eternal destiny.

Far too often, doctrinal statements are used to issue anathemas against other groups who believe different doctrines, issue excommunications from the church, and consign others to the pit of hell for all eternity.

Nowhere in Scripture, however, do we read that churches or individual Christians are supposed to make such determinations. Jesus alone is the judge of others in regard to their eternal destiny. When we tell people that they are going to hell because they read the Bible differently than we do, or believe something we think is incorrect, we have usurped the role of Jesus.

Yes, we can disagree with others. Yes, we can tell others that we think they are wrong. Yes, we can debate and discuss doctrine. But we can never tell others that because they disagree with us, they will spend eternity in hell. It is not our place to say such things or make such judgments.

In our hearts, we know that we do not control the eternal destiny of others, but we fear for the eternal destiny of others who do not believe as we do. This fear causes us to try to force others to believe as we do. We say, “If you don’t believe like I do, you are going to hell.” This works on some people, but others simply respond with the same argument thrown right back at you: “No. I’m not the one going to hell. You are, unless you change your beliefs to match mine.”

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Human Trafficking Media

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Stop Human Trafficking

Matt Aznoe is a friend of mine from High School and College. Like me, he seeks to do what he can to stop human trafficking in the United States and around the world, and has recently recorded a song about involvement in the human sex trade.

Check it out here:

“Another Long Day” by More Than I

Also, Anthony Ehrhardt alerted me to a movie that is coming out about human trafficking which is called “Cargo.” Here is the Cargo Movie website, and below is a trailer. Warning: Even the trailer will make you cringe. But you should watch it anyway. This sort of thing happens every day around the world, and even here in the United States.

To learn more about Human Trafficking and sex slavery, check out some of these posts:

Human Trafficking Posts

  1. Sex Slaves
  2. Would You Fight Slavery?
  3. Rescue Russian Sex Slaves
  4. Rescue Russian Girls from Sex Slavery
  5. Stop Her Nightmare
  6. Another Girl Rescued Today
  7. Girls for Sale
  8. Goal Reached!
  9. I Want to be a Prostitute
  10. $52,000 raised!
  11. 31 Million Sex Slaves
  12. Renting Lacy
  13. More Than Rice
  14. Human Trafficking Ring Busted
  15. The Other Big Game
  16. Sex Slavery, Planned Parenthood, and Your Tax Dollars
  17. How to Minister to Prostitutes
  18. Wisconsin Woman Held as Sex Slave in Brooklyn
  19. Coked-Up Whore
  20. Human Trafficking has Many Faces
  21. Into an India Brothel
  22. You Need a Girl?
  23. Human Trafficking Media
  24. The Son of God is Selling Children
  25. My Girls Raised $300 to help stop Human Trafficking
  26. Rape for Profit
  27. Human Trafficking Statistics
  28. Help Rescue Girls from Forced Prostitution

The Creeds of Christendom

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Long Doctrinal Statements

From the simplicity of the Apostles’ Creed spawned an ever-increasing number of doctrinal statements, with ever-increasing length and complexity. Some of the more well-known and famous doctrinal statements of church history include the following: Doctrinal Statements

  • The Nicene Creed (325 AD)
  • The Second Nicene Creed (381 AD)
  • The Definition of Chalcedon (451 AD)
  • The Canons of Constantinople (869 AD)
  • The Augsburg Confession (1530 AD)
  • The First Helvitic Confession (1536 AD)
  • The Council of Trent (1542-1563 AD)
  • The Belgic Confession (1561 AD)
  • The Thirty-Nine Article (1571 AD)
  • The Canons of Dordt (1618 AD)
  • The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646 AD)
  • Vatican II (1962-1965 AD)
  • The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (1978 AD)

These statements and creeds are only some of the more well-known and widely accepted by large segments of Christianity. We are at the point today where there are thousands of different doctrinal statements for the thousands of different denominations, churches, and ministries. While the vast majority of these doctrinal statements were created primarily for the purpose of defining one group’s distinctive beliefs without condemning those who believe differently, nearly every statement contains points that are considered “non-negotiable” and which will cause churches to separate from others who believe differently, and even condemn these other groups as “unsaved.”

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Seeking the Next Demotion

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DemotionI once heard a sermon given by Francis Schaeffer in which he counseled his listeners that if they were ever faced with two options, and one would lead to better pay, more fame, and greater recognition, while the other led to poverty and obscurity, we should choose the lesser and more humble of the two.

Why?

Francis Schaeffer based this statement on James 4:10: “Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

Francis Schaeffer, of course, enjoyed much fame and popularity. He was a well-known author, and people traveled from all over the world to meet him and learn from him at  L’Abri in Switzerland. I wondered then, and I still wonder now: Did Schaeffer follow his own advice? Or was this just the advice he was offering now, after he had achieved world-wide recognition and fame?

It often seems to me that the only ones who say this are those who are already famous. Who are already published. Who have already “arrived.” They preach it at conferences where they have been asked to speak. They tell it to radio audiences.

I cannot help but wonder, “Did they choose the way of weakness to get where they are at? Did they follow the path of poverty? Did they humble themselves, and let God lift them up?”

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History of Doctrinal Statements

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Scriptural Doctrinal Statements

It is historically uncertain when, where, and how the first doctrinal statements were developed. But we do have some clues.

Scriptural Doctrinal Statements

It is likely that some of the first creeds are found in Scripture, in passages like Philippians 2:5-11, 1 Corinthians 15:3-6, and 1 Timothy 3:16. However, some believe that these were not exactly creeds, but were hymns. Furthermore, and I will return to this point later, these Scriptural statements are not exactly creedal confession of doctrine, but are summaries of stories about Jesus. They are narrative summaries; not doctrinal summaries.

Also, some like to point to the statement that came out of the Jerusalem council in Acts 15:23-29 as an early statement of belief. And while this statement from the church leaders is not a summary of the life of Jesus, it is not a doctrinal statement either. It is not a statement of beliefs, but a statement of behaviors. It is not telling Gentile Christians what they must believe, but rather, telling them what they must do.

Both of these points, that early statements were based primarily on the narrative of Scripture and the behavior of believers, will become critical later in this chapter for understanding how we as twenty-first century followers of Jesus can stand up for the truth without the damaging and destructive statements of doctrine that have divided Christianity for so long.

Church Doctrinal Statements

Once we get outside of Scripture, we see other doctrinal statements develop rather quickly as well. There are two statements that developed quite early, the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed. Some believe that the Nicene Creed was first, but I tend to believe that it was preceded by the Apostles’ Creed, even though the Apostles were probably not the ones who wrote it.

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When I got Burned at the Stake

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Burned at the Stake

I didn’t really get burned at the stake for being a heretic. But I did get “fired” for my theological beliefs.

Kind of.

The story would be amusing, if it weren’t so sad. And if it still didn’t hurt so much.

My Personal Experience

I was working as an editor and conference coordinator at a Christian non-profit organization. After three years there, I wrote a post on this blog about some doctrines and theological ideas I was reading about and investigating.

The simple fact that I was studying these ideas made the founder of the organization nervous. Though my job performance was faultless, and not a single one of the doctrines I was studying had anything to do with the doctrinal statement of the organization, the founder thought that if donors heard that I was studying these doctrines, support for the organization would decrease. So, he, with the backing of the board, terminated my employment.

One of the board members even said that I should be “thrown under the bus” in order to protect the ministry. Yes, he literally said that. It felt like I was stabbed in the back or burned at the stake.

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