Explain Matthew 16:19

Actually there is no verse that gives the pope infallible declarations. The passage you gave is one that is miss-used for such however. The passage is speaking of giving men the keys to open the church age which is the word of God. Nothing more.

 

Geneva Study Bible

16:19 6 And I will give unto thee the n keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt o bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
(6) The authority of the Church is from God.
(n) A metaphor taken from stewards who carry the keys: and here is set forth the power of the ministers of the word, as (Isaiah 22:22 </desk/?query=isa+22:22&gt says, and that power is common to all ministers, as (Matthew 18:18 </desk/?query=mt+18:18&gt says, and therefore the ministry of the gospel may rightly be called the key of the kingdom of heaven.
(o) They are bound whose sins are retained; heaven is shut against them, because they do not receive Christ by faith: on the other hand, how happy are they to whom heaven is open, who embrace Christ and are delivered by him, and become fellow heirs with him!

From John Gill: (too much to paste)
http://www.searchgodsword.org/com/geb/view.cgi?book=mt&chapter=016&verse=019

From Mattew Henry:
http://www.searchgodsword.org/com/mhc-com/view.cgi?book=mt&chapter=016

 

I was taught that giving the keys is the church representing Christ's authority. It's singular here but in Matt. 18 the same phrase is repeated and the "you" there is plural.

It has nothing to do with Peter being the Pope or head of the church, but rather that the church derives its authority from heaven, and what is bound first in heaven is bound on earth. It also has nothing to do with spiritual warfare and binding demons although this passage is misused to teach that.

The Matt. 18 passage has to do with church discipline. The authority to discipline in the church, when according to God's word, is from God.

Here's a link that responds to the Catholic claim that this passage makes Peter the first pope:
Was Peter the Rock?

 

ZeroTx,
Here is some comentary that I found in my study bible.
This verse has been a subject of debate for centuries. #1. Some say the keys represent the authority to carry out church discipline, legislation, and administration (Matt.18:15-18); #2.while others say the keys give the authority to announce the forgiveness of sins (John 20:23) #3.Still others say the keys may be the opportunity to bring people to the Kingdom of heaven by presenting them with the message of salvation found in God's Word (Acts 15:7-9)
The religious leaders thought they had the keys to the Kingdom, and they tried to shut some out. We cannot decide to open or close th Kingdom of heaven for others, but God uses us to help others find the way inside. To all who belive in Christ and obey his words, the Kingdom doors are swung wide open.
I hope you find it helpful.

BTW, I prefer #3. as to what it is talking about.

Music4Him

 

The Greek soi means "thee," which is singular. So are the verbs rendered "thou shalt bind" and "thou shalt loose."

However, much more important: Matthew 18:18 is in the plural.

 

Two questions really have been brought up here:

The first is whether or not Peter is the rock - and I think the answer to this is yes. Marcia's link is interesting but unconvincing as Jesus calls Peter a rock and then says he'll build the church on the rock.

This has been a puzzler since Aramaic has only kepha and thus cannot explain the 2 Greek words petros and petra. The best explanation likely involves an understanding of some of the rabbinic themes behind this reference (Matthew as Donald Hagner says seemed to want to portray jesus as the master Torah interpreter). The Yalkut Shimoni midrash speaks about Numbers 23:9 - the king dug and dug looking for a suitable place to build a palace - he finally found PETRA. He then likens this to Abraham - the PETRA on which God would lay the foundations for a people.

As such petra was a loan word in Hebrew, arguably more common than "tsur" in some writings. And here as an example of a story with which 1st century Jews might have been familiar (although as M. Bivin points out we don;t have any attestation of this prior to the 13th century AD).

So Peter IS the ROCK!

The second question is whether or not the keys of the kingdom imply Peter's authority and thus the "papacy".

This answer is clearly NO! The idea of binding/loosing (as Hagner points out again) is very much in keeping with early rabbinic theology. This likely reflects Jesus appointing the Peter and the others as the foundation for the spread of the faith, and as such responsible for officiating it on earth.

 

The passage refers to the authority given to the local church to receive and expell members. Jesus makes a very similar statement in Matthew 18 where the context clearly shows He is talking about exercising church discipline.

Also, in I Corinthians chapter 5 Paul charged the church at Corinth to exercise this authority when they were "gathered together" and to excommunicate the impenitent whoremonger from the church.

These are the passages from which Baptists derive their beliefs about congregational government and discipline. Unfortunately, many Baptists have been so deceived by Protestant ways of thinking that they have forgotten these things. Some Baptists even view our polity as just a tradition and not the teaching of Christ.

Not only so, even among the Baptists who acknowledge the true meaning of these passages, there are few who actually put them into practice. It seems to me that the Baptist churches stand in sore need of using the keys given them by Christ and to unlock the "exit" door from the church.

Mark Osgatharp

 

Dr. Homer A. Kent, Jr., Th.D. Professor of N.T. and Greek at Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana says about Matthew 16:18, that 'There is obvious play upon the words Peter {Petros}, proper name denoting a piece of rock, and (petra) a rocky mass. The spiritual body, the church, mentioned here for the first time, is build upon the Divinely revealed fact about Christ confessed by Peter [I Cor. 3:11; I Peter 2:4]'

Ray is saying, 'God would never have build His church on a flesh and blood man, more especially on the shifting sands of Peter's commitment to Christ, via his denials.'

God does not even hint of an apostolic succession as the Roman Church declares. And yet every lay Christian witness and pastors have the responsibility to lead men and women to Jesus.

Verse 19 tells us that the will of God in Heaven will also be His will toward earth people like ourselves. For example, it is His desire to save all of His human beings. [I Tim. 2:4 & 6]

Everything that we pray for on earth that is His will here, will also be approved above in Heaven where He is in His spiritual body during this era of time. [vs. 19]

I see Matthew 18:15-17 as one complete thought and guidance for church discipline, but in verse 18-19 as another separate truth for us to learn and is not connected at all with disciplining a brother of the faith. We must always request of the Lord things that are within His Divine will for us. Demanding things from the Lord leads to nothing but frustration, because He will not agree with us if we are not praying within His Divine will and providence for ourselves and other people.

Notice other references to Christ being the Rock. [Psalm 118:22; Isaiah 8:14; Isaiah 28:16; Romans 9:33]