Exposition

Having now shown who are to be admitted to the Lord’s supper by the church, the doctrine respecting the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven, comes naturally next in order, which, in addition to other things, teaches in an especial manner, how those who are not to be admitted to the Lord’s table ought to be kept back and excluded from the sacraments, lest they profane them by coming. The things which claim special attention in regard to this subject are,

I. What is the power of the keys given to the church, and what are the parts thereof?

II. Is there any necessity for ecclesiastical discipline, and excommunication?

III. To Whom is this power committed; against whom and in what order is it to be exercised?

IV. To What ends ought it to be directed, and what are the abuses to be avoided?

V. In What does the power of the keys differ from civil power?

I. What is the power of the keys given to the church and what are the parts thereof?

The power of the keys which Christ delivered to the church, is the preaching of the gospel and Christian discipline, by which the kingdom of heaven is opened to believers, and shut against unbelievers. Or it is the office of the church, according to the command of Christ, to make known the will of God by the preaching of the gospel, and ecclesiastical discipline and to declare and publicly testify the grace of God, and the remission of sins to such as are truly penitent; that is, to those who live in true faith; and repentance; and, on the contrary, to denounce upon the wicked the wrath of God and exclusion from the kingdom of Christ, and to exclude them from the church as long as they shall shew themselves estranged from Christ in doctrine and life; and to receive them into the church again when they promise, and show real amendment. It is called the power of the keys from a metaphor, or form of speech borrowed from stewards, to whom are delivered the keys of the house in which they are stewards. The keys signify the office of the steward by a metonymy, or change of terms between the sign and thing signified, as we use the term sceptre for kingdom. The church is the house of the living God. The ministers of the church are the stewards of God. For what a faithful steward is in his master s house, managing all things at his master’s command, the same is a faithful minister in the church. The declaration of the will of God in the church therefore, is accomplished by the ministers, as by stewards, in the name of God. Christ himself is the author of the ministry. He gave this power to the church, and designated it by the term keys, saying to Peter 4 I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven;” (Matt. 16:19,) that is, the office or power to open and shut the kingdom of God. At another time He said to all the disciples; “Whatsoever ye shall bind on, earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matt. 18:18.) The keys of the kingdom of heaven are, therefore, the power to open and shut, to bind and loose; and are so called from the efficacy of this power. For the church opens and shuts, binds and looses by the word of God and in the name of Christ, in whose stead ministers act; and the Holy Ghost works effectually by His word, according to the promise of Christ: “Whosoever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them; and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained.” (John 20:23.)

The keys of the kingdom of heaven consist of two parts: the preaching, of the Gospel, or the ministry of the Word, and Christian discipline, to which excommunication belongs; by these two the church opens and shuts, binds and looses. It shuts and binds, by the preaching of the Gospel, when it declares and testifies to unbelievers and hypocrites, that they stand exposed to the wrath of God and eternal condemnation, so long as they are unconverted; and it opens and looses when it declares and testifies to the faithful and penitent the remission of sins and the grace of God, for the sake of Christ’s merits. It shuts and binds by Christian discipline, when it excommunicates wicked and obstinate offenders, or forbids them the use of the sacraments, by which they are excluded from the Christian, church, and by God himself from the kingdom of Christ; and it opens and looses, when it again receives the same persons, if they repent, as member of Christ and his church.

This distinction, however, must be observed, as it respects the order of those two parts: The keys, by the preaching of the Gospel, first loose and then bind; but, in Christian discipline, they first bind and then loose. Again, the keys loose and bind the same or different persons, by the preaching of the Gospel; but they bind and loose the same persons only, by Christian discipline. Excommunication is the rejection, or the excluding of a gross offender one that is openly wicked and obstinate, from the society of the faithful, by the judgment of the elders, with the consent of the whole church, done in the name and by the authority of Christ, and of the Holy Ghost, in order that the offender, being thus put to shame, may repent, and that such things as bring a reproach upon the cause of Christ, may be carefully guarded against. This is not merely an exclusion from the sacraments, but from the whole communion of the faithful, with which the obstinate and disobedient have no connection. It is two-fold: internal, which belongs to God alone; and external, which belongs to the church. The former is declared on earth by that which is external; whilst the latter is ratified in heaven by that which is internal, according to the promise of Christ; “Whatsoever ye shall bind in earth, shall be bound in heaven.” (Matt. 18:18.)