Tag: Peter

Jesus Built His Church

“18And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” – Matthew 16:18 (ESV)

And there you have it, Jesus states that He will build His church. And that brings us to where we are today. Jesus built His church and nothing can destroy it (as noted in the third part of the verse).

Let’s look at the first part of the verse where Jesus is addressing Peter. Peter is the rock that the church is built on. Why is that so? Yes, the word Peter is similar to the word rock or stone in Greek. But I also think that there is more to it than just Peter being the rock. And for that look at a couple of verses prior to the above to speak to my thoughts.

“15He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ 16Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” – Matthew 16:15-16 (ESV)

And there it is, Jesus asks the disciples who they say Jesus is. Before anyone else could answer, Peter speaks up to declare Jesus and Christ and the Son of God. Peter beat them all to the punch and stated what I believe the other disciples would have stated as well. I have written in the margin of my bible that the questions asked by Jesus is “the question we all have to ask”, and “can we state the same with conviction” as Peter so boldly declared.

This is where my thoughts come in. I believe that Jesus built His church as the people who have declared Him as Christ, LORD, and Son of God. When we accept the free gift of salvation we declare Jesus as our LORD and Savior. We boldly state, as Peter did, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”.

“19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” – Matthew 16:19 (ESV)

The you here is identifying us all. As noted in the commentary of my bible: “Peter is give the authority to admit entrance into the kingdom through preaching the gospel, an authority that is subsequently granted to all who are called to proclaim the gospel.” We are all called to proclaim the gospel as followers of Christ and therefor all have the authority Jesus mentions in verse 19 above. We are all the church on which Jesus builds. We are not some building that will eventually fall to the ground. We will stand throughout this world and will always prevail.

How do you think about the church? Are you stuck in the idea that it is a building where services are attended? What if the church is the people who follow Jesus and declare, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”?

Continued Message and Work in Alignment with Jesus

John the Baptist was aligned with Jesus, before He really began His ministry. Jesus spent His time continuing to preach and teach of forgiveness following repentance and demonstration through baptism. And as He reached the end of His time here in this world, Jesus turned the work over to His disciples and me to continue with the same message to all through the Great Commission.

Peter is chronicled in Acts with delivering the same message of repentance and forgiveness and baptism as a demonstration of the continued work of Jesus.

“38And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.’” — Acts 2:38-39 (ESV)

I read this morning and every morning in the Word of God and see the consistency in the gospel. I do not see contradiction in the message. I see the continued delivery of the gospel as from God through others who have been tasked with that delivery. In this example, I see John the Baptist and Peter aligned with Jesus in the message even as one came before and the other after. And as I study and remember, Paul and Timothy and more contemporaries were aligned as well.

I am here in this world and am tasked with continued delivery of the gospel in alignment with Jesus. I am to be giving the message of repentance, forgiveness, and baptism as demonstration of my cleanliness and devotion to the work of Christ to do all He has me to do and to go everywhere He has me to go.

My path is likely different than yours and our field of evangelism will likely be different as well, yet our work and message is the same. We are to deliver the gospel and the message is repent, be forgiven and be baptized to demonstrate your new cleanliness and devotion to continue the work of Christ. The key is that last part in that we are to continue the work and message of Jesus everywhere He would have us go.

What is your take on the gospel and the work to be done? Are you trying to figure it all out and working to create a new plan of the work and message? What if you just continued the work and message in alignment with Jesus as those who came before you (John the Baptist, Jesus Himself, Peter, etc.)?