The Roman Church Confuses the Kingdom of Heaven with the Church

Matt. 16.18 "Also"—One thing has just been said, now something else is being added.

"I will"—When the Lord utters these words it is evident that the church is not yet built.

"Peter . . . upon this rock"—In the Greek text "rock" is petra, a massive piece of rock; whereas "Peter" is petros, a stone. These two terms are therefore different. A foundation cannot be laid upon a petros, a small stone. No one ever builds a house on such a foundation. Peter is but a little stone, but the Lord Jesus is the Petra—the Rock (see 1 Peter 2.7-8). In confessing Christ, Peter becomes a small stone. Whoever confesses Christ is a small stone—that is to say, a living stone. The spiritual house (the church, the habitation of God) is made up of living stones. So that the rock is the Lord Jesus Christ whom Peter confesses. Had the rock been Peter, the church would have soon fallen into ruin since Peter was one who had quivered before a maid and had denied the Lord three times. Without this confession of Christ there can be no church (according to some ancient authorities, Philip baptized the eunuch after the latter had made the confession; see Acts 8.37 mg.).

"Church" in the Greek is ecclesia, the called-out assembly—those who have been called out and separated from the world. Consequently, every saved person is a saint who has been sanctified ("For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"—Heb. 9.13-14).

"Gates of Hades"—Gates serve as entrance and exit. Neither Hades nor death can hold on to believers or the church, because the incorruptible life has already been manifested in them (see 2 Tim. 1.10).

The body of Christ is twofold: (1) the physical body of Christ through which is manifested the life of God; and (2) the corporate body of Christ—the church—with which Christ, after His resurrection and ascension, clothes himself on earth. Hence the church is where the Lord deposits His life today. This incorruptible life has come out of Hades (Abraham's bosom). For the Lord has the authority to have His life enter in and exit out of Hades at will. Hades has no power to hold back this life. And what has been deposited in the believer is this very same life. For this reason, Hades cannot withhold us either. Believers too shall be resurrected first, because of their having this life. As to non-believers, though, their life will be detained by Hades after their death. Resurrection is the life which cannot be held back. However vicious the environment—trial, persecution, malice, murder, and so forth—and though we may be walled in on all sides, we have a life which can neither be withheld nor overcome by any environment.

v.19 This verse is easily misunderstood. "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven"—Are the keys given only to Peter? Does the binding refer to forgiveness of sins? The word keys is cast in plural number—is there then one for the Jews (as used on the day of Pentecost) and one for the Gentiles (as used in the house of Cornelius), as is explained in the Scofield Reference Bible? Obviously the keys cannot be changed in their purpose in the hands of different users.

Verse 18 speaks of the gates of Hades; this is in contrast to the door of the kingdom of heaven. The subject in verse 18 is the church while that of verse 19 is the kingdom of heaven. The church in verse 18 is built by the Lord himself ("I will build my church"). Yet the kingdom of heaven in verse 19 seems to be built by men. Hence the keys are not those of the church, rather they are the keys to the kingdom of heaven as the verse itself says. Otherwise, Peter could really be a pope.

The kingdom of heaven: (1) whereas, on the one hand, the church is built by none other than the Lord himself (through regeneration, life, the Holy Spirit, and revelation from above) and not by flesh and blood—on the other hand, the kingdom of heaven is the realm in which we are called to be disciples; (2) in the kingdom of heaven, God causes us to enjoy our privileges as disciples; and (3) in the kingdom of heaven we are also to perform our duties and fulfill our responsibilities as disciples.

The kingdom of heaven has no location. But when a person says they belong to such and such church, the only qualifer ever is the church of this city or that city. Not a building, not a congregation, not a group, but the city as the identifier. Hence, the church is according to locality, not according to a denomination. Therefore, there is no board of directors, not tax forms to fill out, no legal burden. Just a gathering together with 5 to 10 people or so in a home free of charge. This constitutes but one of many meeting places in a church locale.

Here the Lord is telling Peter, "You shall bring people into the kingdom of heaven"—so that the keys mentioned here suggest the first step in the procedure of entering the kingdom of heaven, the first few things which help people to enter through the door. Peter used them in the events recorded in the book of Acts: (1) He had the key of witnessing—his preaching on the day of Pentecost (2.14ff.); (2) he also had the key of baptizing—his exhorting the people to be baptized into Christ (2.38-41; see also Rom. 6.3) that they might be obedient to the Lord and His command. Thus in Matthew 28.19, we have Christ’s command to His disciples to "make disciples of all the nations" (the use of the first key) and this to be followed by "baptizing them" (the use of the second key). He who is not baptized can be in the church, but not in the kingdom of heaven (see Matt. 21.31-32).

It is the Lord who adds to the church day by day those who are being saved (Acts 2.47 mg.; 16.5). Preachers can only bring people into the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven in its outward appearance can be likened to the outer precincts of the house of God which is the church. In these outer precincts one may find the tares, but in the true church these tares never exist.

The keys are not only given to Peter but also given to us. For please note that in Matthew 18.18 the Lord is recorded as giving the same promise again, but there the pronoun is "ye"—not just Peter but all who are in the church (see Matt. 18.19,20 where the church is brought into view). So, we too have these keys. With these keys we have the authority to bind (close) as well as to loose (open).

Since the keys which Peter has denote preaching and baptizing, naturally our keys are the same. Peter receives the keys first only because he confesses first.

"Loose"—We begin to preach the gospel and to baptize. "Bind"—Because the keys are in our hands we have the authority not to preach or not to baptize.

In Matthew 28 those who receive the great commission are eleven disciples, not apostles (the latter are God’s gift to the church). The emphasis is therefore on the kingdom of heaven. In the entire Bible there are two distinctive yet inseparable lines: namely, the church and the kingdom of heaven.