Summary: In the New Testament we read where Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven, But exactly what are those keys? More than this, Jesus told Peter that whatever he sealed on earth would be sealed in heaven, and whatever he loosed on earth would be loosed in heaven but what does that mean? When we look at the explanation Christian scholars give, we see a number of different answers, showing there is no consensus of an answer among them. This article examines the answer as given by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

One day, as Jesus was alone with his specially chosen followers, “he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” They gave him various answers, but “Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:13-19).

What are “the keys of the kingdom of heaven” that Jesus gave to Peter? The Catholic church says they gave Peter the authority to govern the church. However, others say it gave Peter and the other apostles the authority to open the doors to heaven by “proclaiming the good news of the kingdom” (Matthew 4:23). Still others say that the keys “represent knowledge, faith, and the means to help others find salvation.”

The injunction that whatever Peter sealed on earth will be sealed in heaven, and whatever he loosed on earth will be loosed in heaven, has been interpreted by the Catholic church to mean that Peter has the authority to either forgive or not forgive sin, while others say it means that the disciples of Christ can open the doors to heaven for some people and close them to others.

Some say that these “keys” were only given to Peter, while others say they were given to all the apostles as leaders of the church, while still others say they were given to all believers in Christ.

But if this is so, then what are we to make of the scripture that says, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death” (Revelation 1:18). In this verse it is the resurrected Jesus who is saying that he is the one who holds “the keys of hell and death.” It seems that these keys are different from the ones he gave to Peter, so what are they?

One commentator said that the keys of hell and death that Jesus holds means he has overcome death by rising from the grave at the time of his resurrection. Someone else has said it’s a symbolic honor, such as when someone is given the key to a city. Still, someone else says it means that as the king of heaven, he rules over both heaven and hell.

What we see is there is no clear consensus among Christians as to what the word “keys” mean, but what most of these explanations have in common is that the keys represent authority in some form.

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the word “keys” is associated with the priesthood, and they have a very specific meaning.

The priesthood is defined as “the power of God delegated to man by which man can act on the earth for the salvation of the human family.” What this means is that the power by which God governs his kingdom is done by use of his priesthood. When he delegates some of his priesthood authority to mortal men, it allows them to act in the capacity as one of God’s authorized agents. As such, they become his ambassadors, serving as one of his official representatives.

However, when God delegates, or loans some of his priesthood authority to man, that doesn’t mean they can do whatever they want with it. Instead, the priesthood allows someone the power to do only those things that God would do if he were here. In other words, a priest works under God’s direction, doing only those things he authorizes them to do.

The implication of this definition is that whenever someone who has not received God’s priesthood does anything in the name of God, their actions are not recognized by heaven. For example, the scriptures say that baptism is for the remission of sins, but if someone who has not been officially given the priesthood of God baptizes someone, heaven doesn’t recognize that baptism as being valid. In that case, that person’s sins have not been washed away while thinking they have.

In the Old Testament, under the law of Moses, the sacrifices God required could only be done by an authorized priest. When the nation of Israel split in two after the death of King Solomon, the Levite priests, who were the only ones authorized by God to perform the necessary sacrifices in the temple, remained in the kingdom of Judah. Since the kingdom of Israel had no authorized priests to perform the required sacrifices, they built their own temple and appointed their own priests to perform the prescribed sacrifices. However, God didn’t recognize or accept their offerings.

In the New Testament we read that as the church of Christ was growing, they ordained people who were called to be apostles, bishops, priests, deacons and teachers. From the historical records we learn that even from the earliest times, bishops held authority over who could be baptized and that ordinance had to be performed by an authorized priest. In fact, after the death of the apostles, there were people who claimed to have been ordained to the priesthood but who had no proof of their ordination. For this reason, the church kept a record of who ordained which person to which order of the priesthood, and if a person’s name wasn’t on this list, any act they performed was not recognized by the church,

This was the way the Chrstian church operated for nearly 1600 years, and when Martin Luther broke away from the Catholic church and started his own version of Christianity, even he believed that only authorized priests could perform the sacred rites of the church, including baptism, communion, marriage, etc. The same was true of the Church of England and many of the early Protestant churches.

What we see throughout the history of God’s dealings with man is that he only accepts the ordinances performed by his authorized representatives and this pattern has been the way God has always done his work. It has only been relatively recently that Chrisian churches have begun teaching that the priesthood is not needed to perform official acts of God.

But if no priesthood is needed, then anyone could baptize anyone else and God would have to accept whatever baptism anyone performed, regardless how it was done or what was believed about it. But God is a God of order, not a God of confusion, and to maintain order, God accepts only those acts that have been performed by one of his authorized agents, as long as they carry out their duties according to his will.

The keys of the priesthood are defined as “the authority God has given to priesthood [holders] to direct, control, and govern the use of His priesthood on earth.” Stated differently, “Priesthood keys govern, or give direction to how the priesthood of God may be used to bring about the Lord’s purposes.”

What this means is that everything a priesthood holder does must be authorized by someone who has the keys (i.e., the authority) to direct what is being done in the name of God. Since Jesus Christ is the head of the church, he holds all the keys of the priesthood. As such, he is the one who ultimately gives direction to his church, and therefore, he is the one who determines what keys are delegated to which mortals and how he wants them to use those keys.

Just because someone has been given the priesthood of God doesn’t mean they are allowed to do everything and anything they want, anytime they want to do it. If that were the case, there would be chaos in the church. Therefore, to keep order in God’s house, there has to be someone in control or has the authority to direct who does what and when, and that controlling authority is found in the keys that a priesthood holder has been given.

We see this order of authority in the military where a person’s rank of authority is visible in the insignia they wear on their uniform. For example, a captain has the authority to tell any soldier what to do but he cannot tell a major what to do, and a major cannot tell a colonel what to do.

In the world of business, when someone works for a company, they are assigned to do a particular task, and to make sure they do what is expected of them, there is a supervisor who has the delegated authority to oversee what the people under their supervision do, But that supervisor has someone who has authority over them, and so forth all the way up to the president of the company who has the authority to oversee the entire organization.

God is the president of his organization, or as the scriptures put it, he is the king of heaven, but under his direction he governs his vast kingdom through a system of supervisors who have descending authority over how God wants his work carried out.

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this order begins with the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles who work under the direction of Jesus Christ, who works under the direction of his Father in heaven. Assisting the apostles are General Authorities, then area authorities, then stake president, then bishops, and then quorum presidents. In effect, these are all supervisory positions and each of them have been given keys, or specific authority to direct the affairs of the church in their area of responsibility.

To illustrate this principle, by virtue of his position, the vice-president of a company has the authority (keys) to hire someone to the position of a supervisor over the accounting department. When that person assumes their position, they automatically receive the authority to direct and control the affairs of their particular department. However, their position doesn’t give them the authority to dictate what the sales or shipping and receiving departments do.

This same principle applies in Christ’s restored church. For example, when someone is called to be a bishop, they are set apart by the Stake President who has the authority to perform that ordination, but they do so under the direction of the First Presidency. When a new bishop is set apart in their calling, they receive the keys that authorize them to direct the affairs of their ward (congregation), but not the affairs of any other ward.

In Christ’s restored church, there are two levels of the priesthood – the Aaronic and Melchizedek. When someone is ordained to the Aaronic priesthood they automatically receive “the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins” (D&C 13:1).

“The power and authority of the higher, or Melchizedek Priesthood, is to hold the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church” (D&C 107:18). Those who receive this priesthood receive all the keys associated with the Aaronic priesthood, plus the keys to give the gift of the Holy Ghost, give blessings, and to ordain others to the Aaronic priesthood and to the office of elder in the Melchizedek priesthood.

But just because someone holds these keys doesn’t mean they can use its powers anytime and in any way they want. For example, even though a priesthood holder has the authority to baptize someone, and have it accepted by heaven, they can only do so under the direction of their bishop because he holds the keys to direct the use of the priesthood in his ward. Without his authorization, any baptism performed would be invalid even though it was done by someone who held the priesthood of God.

To illustrate how this works, in 1829 Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdrey received God’s priesthood under the hands of John, the Baptist, and the ancient apostles Peter, James, and John, who were acting under the direction of Jesus Christ himself. The reason why they could confer the priesthood of God on Joseph and Oliver was because they held the keys to officially perform this ordination.

But just because Joseph and Oliver now had God’s priesthood didn’t mean they had the authority to go out and preach the gospel. They could only do that after they had been given permission, and that didn’t happen until after the Book of Mormon had been published.

In the same way, just because Joseph and Oliver held the priesthood didn’t authorize them to start a church. They only did that in 1830 after being commanded to do so, and then they did it according to the instructions God had given them (see D&C 21).

But even then, they were limited in what authority they had. It wasn’t until April 3, 1836 when Moses appeared to Joseph Smith in the Kirtland temple and committed to him the keys for the gathering of Israel (D&C 110:11). Why Moses? Because he anciently had been given those keys or had been given the authority from God to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt and had authority over them. But he didn’t assume this authority on his own. Rather, he was first given the priesthood of God, which authorized him to act in the name of God, and then was given the keys necessary to preside over the Israelites.

After Moses had given his keys to Joseph, then “Elias appeared and committed the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham” (D&C 110:12). That gave Joseph the keys for the preaching of the gospel throughout the world. After that, Elijah the prophet appeared and gave Joseph the keys “To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers” (D&C 110:15).

With these keys, Joseph now had the authority to oversee, direct, and control the process of gathering Israel, the preaching of the gospel, and to seal or bind families together forever, for both those here on earth as well as those who had died and were living in the spirit world.

And with those keys, Joseph could also delegate any part of his authority to others to act in his place, but only after receiving inspiration from God in prayer. It’s in this way that the president of the church can oversee, control, direct, and manage the affairs of God throughout the entire world.
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Since God governs through the use of his priesthood, without someone on earth who had that priesthood properly conferred upon them there could be no work of salvation because there would be no one who had authority from heaven to preach the true gospel of Jesus Christ nor baptize someone unto repentance nor give the gift of the Holy Ghost. And anyone who attempted to do these things without God’s priesthood authority would not have their works accepted by God.

This is no different than someone wanting to be a doctor. Without an official license from their state, they would not be legally authorized to practice medicine. In the same way, no one can act as an agent for God without first having the priesthood of God properly delegated to them by someone authorized to confer it upon them

But without the presiding keys of the priesthood, the work of salvation would be disorganized, chaotic, and ineffective. It is the keys of the priesthood that brings order and ensures that the church edifies “the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the statue of the fulness of Christ. That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the slight of men” (Ephesians 4:12-14).

As we look at the many different Protestant churches today, instead of seeing a unity of the faith that gives us a true knowledge of the Son of God, we see Christians being tossed to and fro by a myriad of doctrines about how to be saved. This is why it is critically important that those who teach the gospel do so with the authority of God’s priesthood, but more importantly, that they do so under the direction of the keys of the priesthood.

 

Related articles can be found at The Nature of the Priesthood