When Jesus reached the edge of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples who the people said that He was. Upon getting their answer to this, He then asked them, “But whom say ye that I am?.” It was Simon Peter that answered, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:13-16). There is a great lesson in that brief discourse in that it shows that what others think of Christ is not nearly so important as what we think. The belief and practices of others will neither save or lose our souls. Each person is individually responsible for himself or herself. Yet Jesus’ response to Peter’s answer contains many great truths about the Lord’s church to which it would do us well to give consideration and to which we would like to direct our attention in this article. Jesus pronounced a blessing upon Peter and proclaimed Peter’s answer as having been derived by divine inspiration. He then stated, “And I say also unto thee, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18).

Before delving into the great truths that we have in mind, I need to clarify a point that has been misused and abused by some over the years. Peter is not the rock upon which the Lord said that He would build His church! The name “Peter” is the same root word as that for “rock”, but both grammatically and contextually, Peter is not the rock. The rock or very foundation upon which the Lord’s church, yea all of Christianity, rest is the truth of that great confession that Peter had just made, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God”. That is what Christianity in general is built upon.

First of all, that Jesus said, “I” will build my church. He used the personal pronoun, “I”. He would be the one that built His church. And build it He did! In fact, the last words of that sentence where He stated He would build His church point to something quite different than what most recognize. He said, “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”. Most use this to indicate that Satan will never overthrow the church. Though it is true that the kingdom of the Lord will never fall (Dan. 2:44), this verse is talking about something different. Jesus is saying that though He were rejected by the people, arrested, tried and found innocent and then crucified anyway, it would not stop him from building His church. The Jews did reject Christ and crucify Christ, but He arose, He did build His church. Also involved in this “I” will build my church is the fact that since Jesus was the builder of His church, any church built by anyone else cannot be the church that Jesus promised to build.

Secondly, notice that Jesus said, I “will” build my church. It was future tense at the time that Jesus was teaching His disciples on the coast of Caesarea Philippi. In previous lessons we have shown that the church and the kingdom are the same institution. In the next verse from our verse of interest at present, Jesus used the word “kingdom” instead of “church” when stating where the keys could be found (Matt. 16:19). It was still future tense, though in the near future, when Jesus said, “Verily I say unto you, that there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power” (Mark 9:1). A study of God’s word reveals the beginning of the church of the Bible on the first Pentecost following the crucifixion and recorded in the second chapter of the book of Acts. Every mention of the church or kingdom prior to this is always future tense, while every mention of each is always present tense after that event on Pentecost.

Thirdly, Jesus said, I will build “my” church. The church was bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ (Acts 20:28). The church that Jesus built belongs to Jesus. It is His church. This is the reason that we, as well as Bible writers, use the description, “church of Christ” in reference to the church. When we use this term, we are talking about the church that Jesus build, over the which He is head (Eph. 1:22-23) and of which He is the savior (Eph. 5:23).

Last point is seen in that Jesus said, I will build my “church”. Notice that the word is singular, Jesus never promised to, nor did He ever build more than one church. Though there are numerous congregations of that one church, there is only one church that is found in the pages of the Bible. Jesus is “the” head of “the” body (Eph. 1:22) and “the” savior of “the” body (Eph. 5:23). When one obeys the commands of God required in order to obtain salvation, God adds that individual to the church, His one church (Acts 2:47). There is no authority found in the Bible for any institution larger than the local congregation but small than the one universal church. Paul said that the church is the body (Eph. 1:22-23) and then he said that there is but one body (Eph. 4:4, I Cor. 12:20).

It is truly amazing just how much truth Jesus could reveal in just a few words, “I will build my church”, and He did

Prioritizing Jesus: The Key to Enlightening Your Soul