To these officers the keys of the kingdom of heaven are committed; by virtue whereof, they have power, respectively, to retain, and remit sins; to shut that kingdom against the impenitent, both by the Word, and censures; and to open it unto penitent sinners, by the ministry of the Gospel; and by absolution from censures, as occasion shall require.
Church officers are entrusted with the keys of the kingdom (Matthew 16:19). Contrary to the teaching of some communions, the sacraments are not the keys. Instead, as we have established rather thoroughly by now, the sacraments are the signs and seals of that to which men are admitted or from which they are excluded. The biblical keys are the faithful preaching of the gospel and the faithful exercise of church discipline.
The keys are used to bind and loose, or to retain or remit sins. They also shut the kingdom against the impenitent by the proclamation of the "bad news" of the wrath of God coming upon sinners, and the use of church discipline in the case of wayward members. And they open the kingdom unto the penitent through the gosple and by absolution/restoration of the penitant.
Tomorrow: The purpose of church censures.
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