What are the keys of the kingdom of heaven?

Matthew 16 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.19 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.  -kjv 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  -niv 15 “But you,” He asked them, “who do you say that I am?”16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!”17 And Jesus responded, “Simon son of Jonah, you are blessed because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the forces of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven.”  -hcsb Question from moody radio listener on Sept 10, 2016: In Matthew 16, Peter states that Jesus is God and Jesus says I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. I wonder why He gives him that key and what does that mean to us because Jesus is our saviour? I was raised a Catholic and they used that verse to allow for confession or say that it is necessary. Can you comment on that for me? Answer from Doctor Michael Rydelnik: Well it says that Simon son of Jonah, you are blessed because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but my father in heaven. God opened his eyes to understand who Jesus was, that He is the Messiah, the son of the living God and I say this to you that you are Peter and on this rock, people say that rock sometimes is the rock of Peter's confession but I don't think that's it. I think on this rock I will built my church is what he's saying I'm going to built it on Peter, not that Peter is the foundation stone, I mean obviously the Lord Jesus is. He's the stone the builders rejected. He's saying on this rock I'm going to build my church and then he says that the forces of Hades will not overpower it, in other words, we are called to storm the gates of hell, not that they are coming after us and they can't overpower us but when we storm the gates of hell, the body of Christ, that they will not be able to withstand us and then they say that I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, now what are the keys?Well, the keys that opens the door to the different peoples, remember who's the first who preached to the Jews in Acts 2? Peter. Who's the first to lay hands on the samaritans so that they receive the Spirit of God? Peter. Who's the first to preach to a gentile? Peter. He unlocked the kingdom for Jews, Samaritans and Gentiles, that's what it means that he was given the keys and then it says whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth is already loose in heaven, what that means is that your authority to proclaim the gospel, when you say if you believe in Jesus, your sins are forgiven, that's bound in heaven, and if you say if you don't believe in Jesus, your sins are not forgiven, that's bound in heaven as well. So, your proclaimation concurs with what God has authorized you to proclaim. That's all it's saying, it's not talking about confession there.