“Keys to the Kingdom of God” is a phrase Jesus used to describe something that He would give to someone. Specifically, He said this phrase to the disciple, Simon, right after He changed his name.
Does that make you wonder what Jesus meant? What are kingdom keys? What if you were given the keys to unlock and lock up an entire kingdom? Maybe that isn’t quite what Jesus meant – control of the door…
I’m thinking that if you have a set of keys, it simply means you have access to the other side of the lock. Having keys to the kingdom might just mean you can get in.
Maybe having keys to a kingdom means being able to get in any time we want just to see what’s going on.
It could mean we have access to the King as well. If the King gave us the keys, does that mean we can go in and stay as long as we want?
If we go in to see the King, do we bring gifts? Or does He give us the keys because we too are royalty?
Kingdom Living
The bible talks about the Kingdom of God often with the three words
- righteousness
- peace
- joy
Are these three of the keys to the kingdom?
Romans 14:17
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
Luke 17:20
“For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
If the kingdom is inside me, why do I need keys? Why would anyone need them? Is the kingdom of God inside everyone?
1 Corinthians 6:9+ (ESV)“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. “
Note – that’s pretty much all of us, right? But read on…
“And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
The keys to the Kingdom are given to sinners saved by grace, washed by the blood of Christ, sanctified and justified in His name and by His Spirit, the Spirit of God.
We can’t unlock the door of our heart to enter into the kingdom of God without righteousness, the righteousness that comes to us washing and by regeneration.
Newness of Life
Regeneration means a completely new creation, a change like a catapiller experiences in becoming a butterfly.
In the bible, regeneration means the change an individual experiences when he becomes a citizen of the kingdom of God.
