The Bible records that the Lord Jesus said to Peter, "And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:19). We believe that brothers and sisters may have the same confusion: " Peter didn’t do any great work nor were the epistles he wrote very famous. On top of that, when the Lord Jesus was arrested and stood trial, Peter denied Him three times. Why didn’t the Lord give the keys of the kingdom of heaven to other disciples, but only to Peter?” We have this confusion, which proves that we are not very clear about what kind of people God blesses and praises. In this way, in the process of following God, we will not have a clear goal to pursue, nor will we easily practice in line with God's will. Therefore, understanding this issue is directly related to whether we can be blessed and praised by the Lord. Let's discuss this issue.
The reason why the Lord Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven was that the Lord chose him. Why do we say so? This is because when the Lord Jesus asked His disciples who He was, only Peter received the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit and recognized the Lord Jesus as Christ, the Son of the living God. Also, when the Lord Jesus said that He was the bread of life and that people need only eat His flesh and drink His blood to gain eternal life, quite a few people developed notions and gave up on following the Lord. Only Peter said, “Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? you have the words of eternal life.And we believe and are sure that you are that Christ, the Son of the living God.” (John 6:68-69).
From these two events, we can see that Peter had a true understanding of the Lord Jesus from His work and words, that he was entirely certain that the Lord Jesus was Christ and the way to eternal life. So no matter how the Pharisees judged, condemned, and attacked the Lord Jesus, he never became confused, and no matter whether or not others abandoned the Lord Jesus, he was never constrained and continued to maintain his devotion, following the Lord until the end. And after the Lord Jesus was resurrected and ascended into heaven, Peter shepherded the churches in accordance with the Lord’s command. He spread the gospel of the Lord and was ultimately crucified upside down for His sake, bearing a resounding, beautiful witness. We can see from all of this that Peter had a true understanding of the Lord and he possessed a genuine heart of love for Him. Otherwise, he would not have been able to give his entire life to following the Lord and spreading His gospel, and he especially would not have been able to bear the witness of the ultimate love for God and obedience to the point of death. Because of Peter's various manifestations of loving God, the Lord gave him the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
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