And in Matt 16:19 , read, And I will give unto thee ( Peter in verse 18 ) the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven , and what soever thou shalt BIND on Earth shall be bound in Heaven and what soever thou shall Loose on Earth shall be Loosed in Heaven >
Question for all , when did this happen ??
What does the Kingdom of Heaven mean ?
What did Peter BIND or when did Peter LOOSE ?
And when did it Happen ??
When were these Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven used n, during Peter's ministry ?
Why was Paul not given the same Keys ?
I do see two programs here , one of CIRCUMCISION , which is Peter's ministry !
And one , called UNCIRCUMCISION for Paul , that is written in Gal 2:7 .
dan p
One of the revelations I had, as a dispensationalist, is realizing that
Peter's status was so intimately linked to the status of the nation of Israel in the eyes of God.
As Israel fell in the eyes of God, the status of Peter fell accordingly, and the Holy Spirit gave clues in the book of Acts to let all of us know.
Peter, as designated by Christ himself, was suppose to lead the little flock of Jewish believers.
And boy, did he started off with a bang from Acts 2 onwards, he was leading the rest.
But by the time Stephen was stoned, we could see that the kingdom program was indeed fading away, Israel the nation was rapidly diminishing and by the time Acts 12:17, the interesting remark Peter made when God rescued him from Herod's prison
17 But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things
unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place.
The name James came into the picture, and I think for the first time, this half brother of Jesus was mentioned as the leader of the little flock.
A few years later at Acts 15:19-22, we saw the same James leading the flock and it was him who made the final decision,
indicating the keys of the kingdom has passed from Peter to James.
More evidence of that passing came from Paul's writings in the 2nd part of Galatians 2, where Peter was recorded as
11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
12 For before that
certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself,
fearing them which were of the circumcision.
Imagine, Peter was chosen by Jesus himself to be the head of the little flock and given the keys to the kingdom.
However, by the time Galatians 2 came about, which recorded events after Acts 15,
he was afraid of the men who "came from James"
And the final confirmation of that passing was found in Acts 21:18-25, Peter is no longer even mentioned as a key member of the little flock, its all "James and the elders".