Ekklesia: Keys of Kingdom Management, Part 2
by Dr. Patti Amsden
by Dr. Patti Amsden
Jesus gave His ekklesia keys that would have the power to bind, which means to shut out or close the door and deny admittance, and to loose, which means to allow entry or to open the doors and permit admittance. How do kingdom stewards know what may be bound and what may be loosed? What were the keys that Jesus transferred to His church? By what standard would the church determine what had legal admittance and what did not?
The standard for that which is legal, or holy, or righteous, or allowed must come from God. No believer would argue with that concept. Man, or humanism, may not be the author of what is right and wrong. That truth was firmly established and enforced in the Garden. God told Adam the standard – “Do not eat” – while Adam attempted to alter the standard to one more suited to his own liking. Right and wrong are God-ordained, God-appointed, and God-enforced edicts. Man in Adam could not change it; man in Old Covenant days had to accept it; man in New Covenant days must acknowledge it. God gives the standard for all binding and loosing. So, what are the keys? They are the laws of God.
God redeemed Israel from the satanic bondage of the Egyptians and sent the nation forth to occupy the Promised Land. In their new land, they would build an earthly reflection of God’s kingdom rather than a replica of the Egyptian culture. To build the new thing, they would need to be given a template of that which was God’s will. In route, they were guided to Mt. Sinai. On that holy mount, Moses was given keys. God revealed how the nation should build a religious community – a priestly nation – and how they should build a civil community – a kingly nation. No aspect of their life would be open to private or human standards. The keys of what would be allowed and what would not be allowed were given to Moses and the Israelites when God gave Moses the law. The standard of good and evil, that which is allowed or not allowed and the law: these are all synonymous concepts. Israel of old, who were God’s stewards of the kingdom, were given keys to the kingdom. They were commissioned to apply the law as the determining factor as to how they built both their religious and their civil societies.
The Apostle Paul, when addressing the need for both Jew and Gentile to have a circumcision of the heart rather than only a circumcision of the flesh (Rom. 2:25-29), seems to be placing the covenantal structures under which the Jews served God into an unimportant or inferior position. A closer examination of the passage reveals, however, that Paul is emphasizing the covenantal truth expressed by circumcision to be of more importance than just the performance of the ritual without understanding and faith to back the ceremony. Paul is not putting down His countrymen for their obedience to the God’s commands but rather exposing where their obedience was incomplete because it lacked true worship and faith. Into the context of discussing the Jews, Paul asks the question, “What advantage then does the Jew have?” He then answers His own inquiry by replying, “Much in every way but the main advantage is that they were given the law of God.” (Rom. 3:1-2)
When God gave his standards – His laws – to the Jews, they were given a great advantage. They were given the keys to the kingdom. They were given knowledge of what was good and evil, what was right and wrong, what was allowed and what was not allowed. They would be able to bind or deny admittance and loose or grant admittance in accordance with the will and Word of God. The law – the keys – were advantageous in kingdom building and kingdom management.
When Jesus announced that His ekklesia would receive the keys of the kingdom, Jesus was stating that His called out nation would follow the pattern of the former ekklesia that was called out under Moses. One could say that the baton of authority was transferred from the old Israel to the new. Not only did Jesus identity His new nation, but He also identified the tools or keys. One could ask the question, “What advantage then does the church have?” and then answer the inquiry by replying, “Much in every way but the main advantage is that they were given the law of God.”
Certainly the law is understood and operated differently in the New Covenant than it was under the Old Covenant. The cross created a dividing point. Some law comes through the cross unchanged. “Thou shall not kill” remains the same in both covenantal structures. The sacrifices of animals and the laws that pertain to the Levitical ceremonies are not the same post-Christ and His cross. Shadows of things promised disappear in the full light of the materialize provision. It has been said that the Old Covenant is the New Covenant concealed while the New is the Old revealed.
Accommodating for the changes, the law still remains the standard for that which God allows and for that which God does not allow. Jesus commissioned His ekklesia and gave the church the keys (the law) by which to bind and loose. For more instruction of the law as it pertains to New Testament believers, follow Dr. Patti’s School of Biblical Law on her You Tube channel.
The standard for that which is legal, or holy, or righteous, or allowed must come from God. No believer would argue with that concept. Man, or humanism, may not be the author of what is right and wrong. That truth was firmly established and enforced in the Garden. God told Adam the standard – “Do not eat” – while Adam attempted to alter the standard to one more suited to his own liking. Right and wrong are God-ordained, God-appointed, and God-enforced edicts. Man in Adam could not change it; man in Old Covenant days had to accept it; man in New Covenant days must acknowledge it. God gives the standard for all binding and loosing. So, what are the keys? They are the laws of God.
God redeemed Israel from the satanic bondage of the Egyptians and sent the nation forth to occupy the Promised Land. In their new land, they would build an earthly reflection of God’s kingdom rather than a replica of the Egyptian culture. To build the new thing, they would need to be given a template of that which was God’s will. In route, they were guided to Mt. Sinai. On that holy mount, Moses was given keys. God revealed how the nation should build a religious community – a priestly nation – and how they should build a civil community – a kingly nation. No aspect of their life would be open to private or human standards. The keys of what would be allowed and what would not be allowed were given to Moses and the Israelites when God gave Moses the law. The standard of good and evil, that which is allowed or not allowed and the law: these are all synonymous concepts. Israel of old, who were God’s stewards of the kingdom, were given keys to the kingdom. They were commissioned to apply the law as the determining factor as to how they built both their religious and their civil societies.
The Apostle Paul, when addressing the need for both Jew and Gentile to have a circumcision of the heart rather than only a circumcision of the flesh (Rom. 2:25-29), seems to be placing the covenantal structures under which the Jews served God into an unimportant or inferior position. A closer examination of the passage reveals, however, that Paul is emphasizing the covenantal truth expressed by circumcision to be of more importance than just the performance of the ritual without understanding and faith to back the ceremony. Paul is not putting down His countrymen for their obedience to the God’s commands but rather exposing where their obedience was incomplete because it lacked true worship and faith. Into the context of discussing the Jews, Paul asks the question, “What advantage then does the Jew have?” He then answers His own inquiry by replying, “Much in every way but the main advantage is that they were given the law of God.” (Rom. 3:1-2)
When God gave his standards – His laws – to the Jews, they were given a great advantage. They were given the keys to the kingdom. They were given knowledge of what was good and evil, what was right and wrong, what was allowed and what was not allowed. They would be able to bind or deny admittance and loose or grant admittance in accordance with the will and Word of God. The law – the keys – were advantageous in kingdom building and kingdom management.
When Jesus announced that His ekklesia would receive the keys of the kingdom, Jesus was stating that His called out nation would follow the pattern of the former ekklesia that was called out under Moses. One could say that the baton of authority was transferred from the old Israel to the new. Not only did Jesus identity His new nation, but He also identified the tools or keys. One could ask the question, “What advantage then does the church have?” and then answer the inquiry by replying, “Much in every way but the main advantage is that they were given the law of God.”
Certainly the law is understood and operated differently in the New Covenant than it was under the Old Covenant. The cross created a dividing point. Some law comes through the cross unchanged. “Thou shall not kill” remains the same in both covenantal structures. The sacrifices of animals and the laws that pertain to the Levitical ceremonies are not the same post-Christ and His cross. Shadows of things promised disappear in the full light of the materialize provision. It has been said that the Old Covenant is the New Covenant concealed while the New is the Old revealed.
Accommodating for the changes, the law still remains the standard for that which God allows and for that which God does not allow. Jesus commissioned His ekklesia and gave the church the keys (the law) by which to bind and loose. For more instruction of the law as it pertains to New Testament believers, follow Dr. Patti’s School of Biblical Law on her You Tube channel.
