The Apostles Have the Keys

Speaking for the Lord, the Old Testament prophet Hosea said…

Hos 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge… [emphasis added]

Centuries later, Jesus chastised Israel’s religious lawyers for depriving God’s people of the knowledge that would have saved them from destruction when He said…

Luke 11:52 “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.” [emphasis added]

Notice the common theme of knowledge. It was key for God’s people.

The Apostles Have the Keys to Jesus

The most important knowledge for us to have is knowledge of Jesus. Who provides the keys to that knowledge? The apostles. Notice how Peter described the role of an apostle when he gave the qualifications necessary to fill the vacancy left by Judas Iscariot.

Acts 1:21 “Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us–
Acts 1:22 beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us–one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

The apostles were people who spent considerable time with Jesus, knew Him and His teaching, and, could bear witness to the fact that He rose from the dead. Without this critical information, where would we be? Theologians can’t give it to us; only the apostles could. And the only place we can find their testimony is in the New Testament.

The Apostles Have the Keys to the Old Testament

The essence of Jesus’ teaching was His interpretation of the Old Testament. During the days of His flesh, He said…

Matt 5:17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.

John 5:39 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;
John 5:40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

And after He rose from the dead, He told His apostles…

Luke 24:44 …“These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

Only in the New Testament can we learn how to understand the Old Testament the way Jesus did. It’s the only right way to understand it.

The Apostles Have the Keys to the Kingdom of God

Jesus famously promised to give His apostles the keys that would grant entrance into His kingdom.

Matt 16:19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven…

Listen to what one of those apostles said about those keys without actually using the word “key.”

2 Pet 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;
2 Pet 1:3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
2 Pet 1:4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
2 Pet 1:5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,
2 Pet 1:6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness,
2 Pet 1:7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.
2 Pet 1:8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Pet 1:9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.
2 Pet 1:10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;
2 Pet 1:11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.

In the words of that passage from Peter, as well as throughout the New Testament, you will find the keys that grant entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

Summing all this up, the apostles have left us the keys

to the historical knowledge of Jesus,
to understanding the Old Testament,
and for entering the kingdom of God.

Seek these keys in the New Testament…and you will find them.

10/23/25