Keys of the Kingdom

Years ago I accepted a position with a small swimming pool supply store in Salt Lake City. I was 18 at the time and ready to make the jump from mall retail to the grey area between management and indentured servitude. I was grateful to have some additional responsibility in my new job and for the support of a good store manager with whom I became fast friends.

After a few weeks in my new position, the store manager gave me a key to the store. He wanted me to open the store several days a week and run things until he could get there.

This felt like a major promotion. I remember setting multiple alarm clocks to make absolutely certain that I would wake up with enough time to stock the shelves, turn all the merchandise so it faced forward and prepare the registers for the day. The key to the store in my pocket and the trust it represented were sources of professional pride that elevated all aspects of my performance.

Two thousand years before I started stocking chlorine tablets and inflatable lounge chairs on long retail shelves, Christ had a similar conversation with his disciples. To Peter he said:

Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church... And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:18-19).

The keys to which Christ referred were not physical keys to a store, a chapel or even a temple. Instead Christ referred to priesthood keys that would authorize Peter and the other apostles to lead the church in Christ's absence. It is only by virtue of priesthood keys that divine authority can be accessed to perform saving ordinances and enter the kingdom of God. Though the keys themselves are not tangible, they are literally the 'keys of the kingdom'.

President Joseph Fielding Smith taught:

[Priesthood] keys are the right of presidency; they are the power and authority to govern and direct all of the Lord’s affairs on earth. Those who hold them have power to govern and control the manner in which all others may serve in the priesthood.

Elder Dale G. Renlund adds:

Some priesthood keys are given to all priesthood holders, and some priesthood keys are given only to leaders. Except in the case of Apostles, priesthood keys of leadership are held only temporarily and are relinquished upon a release. Priesthood keys are the mechanism by which the Lord organizes His priesthood on the earth. A man with priesthood keys has specific and special responsibilities in addition to those that accompany his ordination to an office in the priesthood (Renlund, Dale G. and Ruth Lybbert Renlund. The Melchizedek Priesthood. Deseret Book. 2018. 176.).

Ultimately, all priesthood authority belongs to the Lord, Jesus Christ. He has commissioned prophets and apostles in every dispensation and given them the keys necessary for their time. Moses was given stewardship over the keys of the gathering of Israel; Elias (possibly Melchezidek) held the keys for the dispensation of Abraham; and Elijah was responsible for the keys of sealing power, or the priesthood power to validate ordinances on earth and in heaven. These are just a few priesthood keys that have been entrusted to mankind; and still others, such as the keys to the powers of creation or resurrection, the Lord retains for himself.

Many of those who have received priesthood keys from the Lord, including Moses, Elias and Elijah, have appeared in modern times to restore those keys to the earth. Restored priesthood keys have, in turn, been passed down through ordinations performed by the laying on of hands. In this way, the same way the Savior himself gave the keys of the kingdom to his twelve apostles, each generation has been called to serve as prophets, apostles, bishops and quorum presidents. Only those who have been ordained in this way and by one holding the requisite priesthood keys are divinely authorized to act in the Lord's name for the salvation of His children.

Technology is now changing the way we understand keys. Fundamentally, keys are still needed to gain access to a facility, resources or functionality, but tangible keys are disappearing. Instead, digital keys are embedded in your new car fob, your nametag at work, the online password to your bank account and your favorite hotel chain app.

We cannot see priesthood keys, but that doesn't take away from their authority or their absolute necessity to gain access to the powers of heaven required to perform sacred saving ordinances. Those who hold priesthood keys have a solemn duty to be as diligent as I was on my first day opening the small swimming pool supply store in Salt Lake City. With worthy striving, the Lord promises that the work that is done to benefit His children on earth will be acknowledged in heaven-- that through His priesthood keys we may all gain access to the Kingdom of Heaven.