The Keys To The Kingdom

(Matt. 16:18) "…and the gates of hell will not prevail against it."
The Church of Jesus Christ is the most powerful entity in the world today. Its strength however is not found in its numbers or its membership, but rather in its founder Jesus Christ and his promises. 1) Jesus promised us that the gates of hell would not prevail against us. Why? Because the power of Satan was crushed at the cross, and when Jesus arose he was given the keys "to both hell and death" (Rev. 1:18), meaning that hell and death have no more power over the church. 2) Jesus also gave the church the keys to victory. The Apostle Peter 1st used the keys to open the door of salvation to both the Jew and the Gentile (Matt. 16:19), but after, he gave the church the keys to govern for God, by "binding and loosing on earth" (Matt.18:19). Binding is accepting, where loosing is casting away. The church has the authority on earth to both govern and correct itself when it agrees together to do so. Therefore, our true power is not found in division but rather unity. If the Church then desires to prevail against the gates of hell, we must do it together and in agreement and not alone.