by Pastor Brian Onstead, Trinity Baptist Church
When we hear the word “discipline,” we tend to think of giving consequences to a child when he disobeys. However, this is not the case when it comes to church discipline. While it shares the element of correction, it is not consequences for faults but restorative of the individual and protective of the church. The instrument of church discipline is not a rod but a key. It is exercising the keys of the kingdom. The focus of this article will not be laying out the so-called “steps” of church discipline. Rather, I explore the connection between church discipline and the keys of the kingdom that Christ has entrusted to his church.
What are the keys?
Jesus told Peter in Matthew 16:19, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Jesus speaks of keys to his kingdom, which he has given to another. In this case, he gives them to Peter. However, as I will show, these keys have been given to the church. First, let’s consider why Jesus calls them keys. It is helpful to simply ask, What do keys do? Well, just like today, keys grant or deny access by opening and shutting secure. A home school co-op uses our church building two days a week. Oftentimes, I’ll get a knock on my office door from one of the teachers who will ask me if I have a key to a particular door in the building. When they want access to a room with a locked door, they ask me if I have a key. They do not ask if I have a sledge hammer or a crowbar. Rather, they ask for a key. A key is what is used to both open and lock doors. Keys are used to both grant and deny access. Jesus says that there are keys to his kingdom, which means that access needs to be granted and can also be denied.
The way that Jesus describes the function of these keys is binding and loosing. Binding refers to firmly shutting something up to secure or protect it from another. It can also mean to tie something down, fastening it securely. Loosing refers to releasing something or opening something up. When these two concepts of binding and loosing are coupled together in some rabbinic schools, they are used in the sense of the rabbi forbidding or preventing a student from doing something (binding), and permitting a student to do something (loosing).1 The keys both lock things up to prevent someone access to them, and unlock things to release them to others.
Obviously, these are not literal keys, but is a figure of speech to refer to real power and authority to both deny and grant access to certain things. The Congregationalist minister, Isaac Chauncy, says, “The keys are the power of Christ which he has given to every particular congregation to open and shut itself by…it being Christ’s house, holy temple, garden, vineyard walked in hedged and enclosed.”2 Chauncy goes on to say, “The keys of the kingdom of heaven are they [by which] he manages his visible churches…and gives a power of opening, and shutting a visible church”3 So, we see that the keys are Christ’s power and authority stewarded to the church to both open and close off the holy things of the church entrusted to it by Christ.
To whom have the keys of the kingdom been given?
In traditional Roman Catholic thought, these keys are given to Peter as the first pope. This is why in all the stories or jokes of people wanting to enter heaven through the pearly gates, it is Peter who is standing there and asking them why they should be let in. However, Particular Baptists maintain that the keys have been given to the church. The reason for this is because when Jesus mentions the keys to Peter, he immediately speaks of using them to bind and loose. Binding and loosing are the function of these keys. This same function of binding and loosing is given to the whole church. Jesus uses this same phrase as an action of the whole church when it comes to church discipline in Matthew 18. If a person remains unrepentant after being confronted privately and then with one or two witnesses, Jesus commands that the matter be told to the church. At this point it is the church’s responsibility to call the church member to repentance. However, if he refuses to listen to the church, then he is to be regarded as a Gentile and tax collector. Jesus immediately follows this with, “Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 18:18). Each “you” in this statement is plural in the Greek. It is referring to more than one individual. The subject here is the church – the collective group of saints brought together by way of covenant into one body. So, we see that the keys have been given to the church, for binding and loosing are the function of the keys of the kingdom, and this action is done by the church.
What keys are on the key chain?
The keys have been variously named; however, Chauncy names at least two keys: the key of knowledge and the key of discipline. Chauncy says, “The key of knowledge is the gospel preached, the Spirit of Christ working inwardly to open the heart to receive it.”4 In Luke 11:52 Jesus condemns the teachers of Israel for their neglect of this key: “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.” We gather from this that knowledge is a key. It opens the door to the kingdom. The knowledge of the truth, which has been entrusted to the church, is what is declared that people may believe and enter the kingdom of heaven. As the Apostle Paul says in Romans 10:17, “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” These teachers misused this key and ended up shutting the door to the kingdom of heaven by mishandling the word of God in teaching works righteousness.
The other key on the key chain, if you will, is church discipline. Sometimes this is referred to as the key of church government or the key of order. We saw from the so-called church discipline passage in Matthew 18 that binding and loosing is what happens in church discipline. Therefore, church discipline is using the keys of the kingdom. How is this utilizing the key? It is shutting the door to certain individuals. It is to secure the holy things that have been committed to the church and to protect the church itself. In 1 Corinthians 5, the Apostle Paul warns that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. He therefore commands to remove the wicked man from amongst themselves. This is the point in the final step of church discipline, which is excommunication. It is to remove the leaven and protect the church by locking the door shut to the unrepentant offender.
While part of exercising the key of church discipline is to protect the church, another part of it is to guard the holy things. Our Lord Jesus Christ commands us, “Do not give dogs what is holy” (Matt. 7:6). Not only does the church have a responsibility to guard the holiness of its members from leavening influence, it also must guard the holy things of the Lord against dishonor and defilement from “dogs,” – that is, those who are outsiders. The key of church discipline is what locks the door to ensure this protection. It locks the church up to them to keep them outside, handed over to the realm of Satan. However, this is done with the hope that this sinning member will come to true repentance and be restored to the church. If he truly does, then the church unlocks the door to him and joyfully welcomes him back in.
Why exercising the key of church discipline is so important!
This might sound harsh, especially in our culture which idolizes tolerance and acceptance. So, why be so bold as to put out and shut the door on certain people, and to first unlock the door before someone can gain access rather than just leaving the door wide open at all times? Isn’t this too judgmental? Won’t this make someone feel unwelcomed? Won’t this diminish the size of our churches and discourage people from visiting? Of course, we want to see our churches full, but we have to keep in mind that the church is not our business that we are seeking to grow with the latest sales strategies. Rather, it is a holy house, a sacred space, a consecrated temple where the special presence of Christ dwells. This requires us to guard with our greatest care.
This sacred space of God’s special presence initially existed in the garden of Eden where God walked with man (Gen. 3:8). However, Adam failed to guard this holy place and allowed the serpent to defile it with his unholy doctrine. Rather than being a faithful priest to keep the garden holy, he allowed the devil to infiltrate it and even submitted to his deceit. Upon this egregious sin, Adam and Eve were cast out of this holy place. However, God made a promise to Israel that he would make his dwelling among them and walk with them. This language of walking with them alludes back to God walking with man in the garden. This indicates that God would be restoring his holy presence among his people. However, Israel turned away from God and her priests greatly failed to keep God’s holy place pure (Mal. 2). When Jesus came, he had to cleanse his Father’s house because it had been turned into a den of robbers. Christ’s great zeal for his Father’s house consumed him so that he even used a whip to drive the defilement away.
While the physical garden and temple no longer exists, yet a holy temple remains today. In no uncertain terms the Apostle Paul calls the church the temple of God. In proving this, Paul quotes the promises given to Israel regarding making his dwelling among them and walking with them (2 Cor. 6:16). The church is the sacred garden, the holy temple where his special presence has been restored among man. And since all believers are priests to God (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6), we have the duty to guard the temple by preserving its holiness. This is why we are commanded to deal with sin and to remove the leaven from amongst us (1 Cor. 5). We would not allow men with evil intentions into our home to expose our families to danger because of how precious our families are to us. Similarly, the holy house of God where our dear brothers and sisters reside, for whom Christ shed his blood, should be very dear to us. As stewards of God’s house, Jesus has given to us, not a whip, but a key to guard it. He has given us the key of church discipline to keep the temple holy. May we have the same zeal of our Lord Jesus that consumed him for God’s house also consume us!
- Walter Bauer and Frederick William Danker. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. (Chicago, Ill: University of Chicago Press, 2000), s.v. δὲω ↩︎
- Isaac Chauncy, The Divine Institution of Congregational Churches, Ministry and Ordinances, As has [Been] Professed by those of that Persuasion, Asserted and Proved by the Word of God (London: Princes Arms, 1697), 101. ↩︎
- Ibid. ↩︎
- Chauncy, Divine Institution, 101. ↩︎