THE KEYS
OF THE KINGDOM
A STUDY BY
GARY RAY BRANSCOME
Lesson 16
By telling His
disciples that He was the door to eternal life, Jesus made it clear that there
is no salvation apart from Him (John 10:9). At the same time, because it is
only through the gospel that we receive God’s promise of forgiveness in
Christ, the gospel is the key that opens that door (Romans
We use those keys whenever we tell
others about Christ, or assure those who are contrite, of forgiveness in
Christ. And, that is exactly what Jesus was talking about when He said,
“Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted
unto them” (Luke 24:47, John 20:22-23, see also Matthew 16:19, Matthew
18:18). In other words, we have the power to forgive the sins of others by
telling them about Jesus, and pointing them to Him for forgiveness.
Furthermore, the way in which we are to do that is revealed by the way in which
Christ forgave sins. Therefore, it is important to notice that He never used
self-exalting language to magnify His own importance, but instead simply said,
“Be of good cheer your sins be forgiven thee” (Matthew 9:2, Luke
That being the case, in dealing with a person who is
sorry he sinned, but unsure that God will forgive him, we follow Christ’s
example by saying, “Be of good cheer God has forgiven your sins for
Christ's sake.” And, because that word of forgiveness is the Word of God,
all who believe it receive forgiveness, not because of us but because through
us they have come to faith in Christ (Ephesians 4:32, Galatians 3:6,22, Romans
1:17).
In other words, Christ is the source of forgiveness, not us. Faith
simply receives the forgiveness that Christ obtained for us through His death
on the cross. Therefore, we have no reason to boast, and should never act as if
the power to forgive somehow lies in us. In fact, egotism only undermines our
credibility. Instead our aim should always be to lift up Christ, pointing
people to Him as the source of forgiveness. When that is
done, the Spirit of Truth will bless our efforts and use us to build up the
faith of others (Romans
The key to
understanding what the Bible says about baptism, lies in realizing that any
mention of forgiveness in connection with baptism, is a promise of forgiveness
in Christ (Acts
In other words,
even though God uses the ceremony of baptism to give us His promise of
forgiveness in Christ, because that promise is only meant for those who trust
in Christ, it is only through personal faith in Christ that we receive what is
promised (Romans 5:2, Galatians 3:22). Therefore, just as someone can listen to
a sermon yet receive nothing because they fail to look to Christ for
forgiveness; someone can be baptized for the remission of sins yet receive
nothing because they do not regard Christ as the source of forgiveness (Hebrews
11:6, Mark 16:16). In contrast, those who come to baptism believing that there
is forgiveness in Christ, go away assured that when they came to Christ their
sins were washed away (Acts 2:38 and 22:16, Galatians 3:6,22, Ephesians 2:8-9).
Once we
understand the relationship of God’s promises to faith in Christ, we can
see that when Peter called on his listeners to “Repent, and be
baptized… in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,”
he was saying “there is forgiveness in Christ” (Acts
When Christ
instituted the Lord’s Supper, He never intended for people to be pointed
to the ceremony itself, as if the ceremony was the source of forgiveness (ex opere operato). On the contrary,
the Lord’s Supper, like baptism, was intended to point people to Christ.
And, the way it points them to Christ is by assuring them that Christ’s
body and blood were “given” and “shed” for them for the
remission of sins. Therefore, the key part of the ceremony is the gospel
message that it was designed to proclaim, the good news that Christ affirmed
when He said, “Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you”
and “Drink ye all of it // This cup is the new testament in my blood,
which is shed for you” (Matthew 26:28, Mark 14:24, Luke 22:19,20, 1Corinthians 11:24). All who partake of the ceremony
believing that Christ’s body and blood were “given” and
“shed” for them, receive the forgiveness promised to them in the
ceremony (Galatians 3:22). [Note: We retain the sins of those who are
unrepentant, by excluding them from the Lord’s Supper (1Corinthians 5:1-11).]
Since the
Lord’s Supper was designed to proclaim the good news of forgiveness in
Christ, whenever the one administering the Lord’s Supper repeats
Christ’s words, Christ, in effect, says through him, “Be of good
cheer, “My body” was “given for you” and “My
blood” was “shed for you for the remission of sins”.
Therefore, like baptism, the Lord's Supper, is a proclamation of the gospel to
which a visible element (the bread and cup) has been added.
One point that I
have been trying to make throughout this essay is that when we proclaim the
gospel we forgive the sins of those who believe. However, in order to avoid
misunderstanding, I want to make it clear that no one is forgiven because they
believe. On the contrary, it is Christ’s death on the cross, not our faith, that is the source of forgiveness. Our faith simply
accepts the forgiveness that Christ died to obtain for us (Romans 5:2). My
reason for stressing the fact that we only receive what is promised (in either
baptism or the Lord’s Supper) through personal faith in Christ, is to
make it clear that God’s grace does not come to us simply by performing a
rite (ex opere operato).
While God may use the rite to give us His promise, we fail to rightly divide
the Word of truth if we give the unrepentant the impression that they can
escape God’s wrath or receive His grace, simply by taking part in a
ceremony (2Corinthians 1:20, Galatians 3:6-22).
In order to
rightly divide the Word of Truth, the law must be used to show people their need
for forgiveness, while the gospel is used to assure those who repent of
forgiveness in Christ. In short, the entire purpose of preaching (and of
God’s Word in general) is to point people to Christ for forgiveness
(1Corinthians
1-
What is the key that opens the door to eternal life?
2- Who has the keys to the kingdom of heaven?
3- What do we accomplish by telling others about Jesus?
4- What is the key to understanding what the Bible says about baptism?
5- How do we receive what is promised to us in baptism?
6- Did Peter see baptism as a work?
7- How does the Lord’s Supper point people to Christ?
8- What is the entire purpose of preaching?
9- How do we receive God’s grace?
10- What are two ways in which we retain sin.