Bible Truth #79 - Matthew 16:18

Matthew 16:18
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.

Let’s make sure we get something straight here. What is the definition of the “church,” generally speaking or in this text? The Church is the Bride of Christ, the body of believers, ALL those who are saved. OK, do we agree?

What did Jesus tell Peter here in this passage? Jesus said that HE will build His church. Jesus did NOT say, you and I will build my church. Figuratively speaking, He will put each brick in place, one by one. He does not ask the brick if it wants to be a part of His church, nor do those bricks NOT delivered by the Father to the job site even know that they are not a part of His magnificent structure.

Jesus will build His church by saving souls. Man does not contribute one thing to his own salvation. He simply responds to what God has ALREADY done. That’s why Jesus said those the Father has given me, WILL come to me (John 6:37). God is sovereign and what He has foreordained WILL happen. And how will He accomplish it? He will DRAG you to Jesus and Jesus WILL raise you up (John 6:44). Why does He drag you? It’s not because you resisted Him, it’s because you were DEAD and could not come on your own.

Another example? Acts 2:47 - the Lord added to their number daily those being saved... the apostles weren’t doing it, God was.

Now another important point. Jesus said that He would build His church on “this rock.” Some people believe that Peter was the rock upon which Christ built His church. Sorry, that is supported nowhere in Scripture. The times it is prophesied in the Old Testament (Isaiah 28:16, Zechariah 10:4), or written of in the New Testament (Ephesians 2:20, 1 Peter 2:6), the Rock is ALWAYS referring to Jesus Christ, no one else. And did you notice, one of the places in the New testament is Peter himself writing that the cornerstone is Jesus. Paul also tells us the same in 1 Corinthians 3:11 - For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

There are even some who say Jesus isn’t in the Old Testament... consider this passage then to obliterate that theory:
1 Corinthians 10:1-4
1  Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
2  And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
3  And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.