3:7
The penultimate letter to the churches is addressed to the church at Philadelphia. This was another prosperous trading city. The church appears to have been small, but like the one at Smyrna, it receives no criticism. There was opposition from Jews (or who claimed to be Jews) and from the Romans. It was a centre of worship for the god Dionysos.
Jesus introduces Himself as the one who is “holy and true”, who hold the “key of David”. And we are told that what He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts, no one can open. These qualities were relevant to the situation in Philadelphia. The Jews would probably have claimed to be holy, but Jesus declares that He is the only truly holy one. And in the midst of many ideas and claims, Jesus is the truth. The Jews would also have claimed to know the way to be in God’s kingdom, by following the Law. Jesus is telling the church that He holds the key of David. It is Jesus, not the Jews who decide who is in the kingdom and who is not. So if Jesus says someone is “in”, then they truly are “in”. So the church did not need to feel afraid, or to doubt their salvation. Today society claims to know how we should view sexuality and gender. In reality their views count for nothing. It is God who decides the truth.
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