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Using the Keys to the Kingdom

October 25-27, 2001
Pausing for a Purpose Conference, Azusa Pacific University

Kingdom of God Rest Spiritual Formation Audio Conference

Dallas delivered “Using the Keys of the Kingdom” at the Pausing for a Purpose conference held at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California, in October 2001. The conference was connected with the C. P. Haggard Graduate School of Theology and included Richard Foster among its speakers; in fact, Dallas opens by referring to Foster’s talk on sleep from the previous evening. In this morning session, Dallas develops the conference’s emphasis on rest and spiritual formation by exploring what it means to live from the resources of God’s Kingdom and to allow every dimension of life to be increasingly transformed into Christlikeness.

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Using the Keys to the Kingdom

Dallas explores what Jesus meant by the “keys of the kingdom” and how they give us access to the abundant resources of God’s life. He connects Kingdom living with spiritual formation, rest, trust, and the transformation of the whole person.

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Using the Keys to the Kingdom

Highlights:

  • Rest belongs to spiritual formation: The reality of God’s Kingdom must reach ordinary bodily life—including sleeping, eating, and learning again what it means to be genuinely rested. 
  • What we truly believe about Jesus is spiritually decisive: The central question is not what we have been taught to say about him, but whether we actually regard him as the greatest authority in every area of life. 
  • The “keys of the kingdom” are fundamentally about access and abundance: Keys are not primarily given so that we can control who gets in; they enable us to enter and live from the resources of God’s present action. 
  • Spiritual formation happens to everyone: The issue is not whether we are being formed, but what kind of person we are becoming as our spirit or will takes on a definite character.
  • Transformation involves the whole person: Thoughts and feelings, choices, the body, social relationships, and the deeper dimensions of the self all interact and must increasingly come under the rule of Christ. 
  • Kingdom living releases us from carrying responsibilities that belong to God: Much of our strain comes from assuming responsibility for outcomes; faithful action means doing what is ours to do while trusting God with what only he can accomplish.