Third, nobody can deny that we have the true and ancient keys, and do not use them in any other way than to bind and loose sins, committed against the command of God. This we do in accordance with Christ’s institution [Matt. 16:19; John 20:23] and the practice of the apostles and the whole of Christendom until the present day. We have therefore one kind of keys and one common practice with the ancient church. Hence we are this same ancient church, or are, in any event, in it; for we make no new keys, we make no new laws, nor do we exclude kings and lords from, or admit them to, temporal power, but it is only sinners that we exclude from, or admit to, the kingdom of heaven. This we do just as the ancient church did at the Lord’s command, so that the papists libel us once more, indeed, slander us and in us make the ancient church, the apostles, and Christ himself heretical. (Luther’s Works, v.41, p.195-196)
Picture: Baptismal font at History Trinity Lutheran Church, Souland Market, St. Louis MO