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Christ is building his church, one revelation of himself at a time.
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Matthew 16:18 (Jesus is speaking) And I say also unto you, That you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Was Jesus saying that he would be building his church through Peter and his successors, as the Roman Catholic church believes? It’s important to read the whole context of this section of Scripture. We’ll have a much better chance at arriving at the truth if we do.
Matthew 16:11, 12 How is it that you do not understand that I spoke not to you concerning bread, that you should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then they understood how that he ordered them not to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
The context of this discourse which Jesus had with his disciples ended up being the how of the building of Christ’s church. It begins with Jesus telling them how it will not be done.
Christ’s church will not be built according to the doctrine of the Pharisees….. The Pharisees exalted religious formalism, worship of tradition and self-righteous judgmentalism above the experience of God.
They attached such weight to the traditions of men that they regarded them of more importance than God’s actual word. They valued excessive strictness in their attention to all the ceremonial requirements of the Mosaic law. They thought way too much of their religious heritage, fancying that because they were descended from Abraham, they were not in peril of hell like other men, and that their descent from him was a kind of title to heaven.
They made a great show of the outward parts of religion, and such things as could be seen by men. They were great at name-dropping, They were very zealous to make proselytes. They thought much of having others look up to them as spiritually “something special.”. These things, and many such-like things, the Pharisees did.
You encounter such people today. They’re not called Pharisees today, but they walk in the influence of the same family of spirits. Jesus had this to say to the Pharisees.
Matthew 15:7-9 You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draws close to me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. And in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Christ’s church will not be built according to the doctrine of the Sadducees. The Sadducees exalted rationalism, and skeptical freethinking above the experience of God.
Their creed was less popular than that of the Pharisees. They believed that there was no resurrection, no angel, and no spirit, and tried to laugh men out of their belief in these things, by coming up with what they thought were difficult questions meant to confound their audience.
One instance of their type of argument is found in Matthew 22:23-28, where they tried to confound Jesus by their story of the woman who had had seven husbands, when they asked, ‘In the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the seven?’ And in this way they probably hoped, by rendering the truth of the law absurd, and its chief doctrines ridiculous, to make men altogether give up the faith they had received from the Scriptures.
The Sadducees were not technically unbelievers. They did not deny revelation altogether. They observed certain aspects of the law of Moses. Many of them were found among the priests in the times described in the Acts of the Apostles. Caiaphas who condemned Jesus was a Sadducee. But the practical effect of their teaching was to shake men’s faith in any revelation, and to throw a cloud of doubt over their minds. Jesus had this to say to the Sadducees who tried to trick him with an absurd question.
Matthew 22:29 Jesus responded and said unto them, You do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
Now back in our original section of scripture. After warning his disciples to beware of the doctrines of the Pharisees and Sadducees, here is what follows.
Matthew 16:13-17 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the son of man am? And they said, Some say John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He said unto them, But whom do you say that I am? And Simon Peter responded and said, You are the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus responded and said unto him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you, but my Father who is in heaven.
Now you and I may not think much of what happens here. If we are already believers, then of course Jesus is the Christ. Big deal! Everybody knows that, right? I mean, isn’t that why these disciples were following Jesus? The answer is a big NO! Some were just swept up in his popularity. Some truly hungered for what he offered. But believing he was THE Promised One, who would save the world and bring to pass all the glory and power of God? No way! That person would be bigger than life, powerful beyond understanding. He would be untouchable, invulnerable He would be superman!
But Jesus was no superman. He was a man. He walked, talked, urinated. He got tired, hungry, thirsty. He was affected in his being by the people with whom he came into contact. Certainly the Christ would not be so!
Jesus understood that what Peter was stating was none other than revelation from God.
(Interesting to note that Jesus defines “blessed” here, as having been imparted something by God. When we say “Bless you” to someone, we’re actually asking that God impart something to them).
Matthew 16:18-20 And I say also unto you, That you are Peter (petros – a stone), and upon this rock (petra – a rock) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was (Jesus not in the text) the Christ.
Now look back over the context, both before and after. Before this “rock” statement, Jesus says that God Himself revealed unto Peter that he, Jesus, was the Christ. After this “rock” statement, Jesus says that he, as the Christ, will give unto men the keys to the spiritual kingdom of heaven. Voila! There it is!
By the spiritual revelation of Christ given by God to men, not only entrance into, but also the power of, heaven is given unto men.
Peter, a stone all by himself, wouldn’t be enough. But Peter, with the rock of the revelation of Christ within, would be enough.
Christ builds his church by revealing himself to men by means of God’s holy spirit. (See recent study The Form of our Doctrine)
That revelation of Christ is received by faith (and it isn’t blind!). The following verses are only a few that speak of this power of living by faith. I’ll let you look them up yourselves.
Romans 1:17b Romans 3:22 Romans 3:28 (see last week’s study The Law vs. Faith) Romans 4:5 Romans 4:13 Romans 5:1
Romans 10:17 So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word (rema) of God.
Rema is not like logos. Where logos is that which a thing communicates of itself, rema is what happens when the logos of God touches, becomes alive, to you. It’s God speaking directly to you! As such, it often imparts an answer, or carries a promise, or command. Faith comes by hearing God specifically speak to you! (Even if it’s not an audible voice).
This is how Christ builds his church. He reveals himself to each individual believer by means of his spirit, which is within each believer. Thus is the church of Christ built, one revelation of Christ at a time.
John 16:13-15 However when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father has are mine; therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.
Jesus was foretelling of a future time. However, for the apostle Paul, it was a very real present day reality.
Galatians 1:11, 12 But I guarantee you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not supplied by man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
What Paul here reveals about the gospel he preached is but a fulfillment of what Jesus foretold in the gospel of John regarding the future work of the Holy Spirit.
To conclude this study (which is just the beginning of an eternal lifetime of spiritual revelation of Christ), we’ll read in the epistle of I John.
I John 5:9-11 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God (revelation) is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified (by revelation) of His son. He that believes on the son of God has the witness in himself (the Holy Spirit); he that believes not God has made Him a liar; because he believes not the record that God gave of His son. And this is the record that God has given to us – eternal life, and this life is in His son. He that has the son (accessed by means of the faith received by the revelational rema of God) has life, and he that has not the son of God has not life.
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See also studies:
What EXACTLY God wants from you.
What Christian Group Should I Belong To?
Your Spiritual Home
Belonging to the Tribe
The Form of our Doctrine
